The promise of a new birth!

Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again. “How can someone be born when they are old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be born! Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’

The promise of a new birth! This is what Easter means to me. To grasp the true meaning of Easter I had to believe that I had offended God. I had to believe that I was a sinner and that my sin had separated me from God. Luckily acceptance of my sinful state was not the end of the story. But rather the beginning of my beautiful redemption story. Recognising that I was a sinner was a good start but it was just the beginning. I needed to then believe that there was a solution and this solution has been provided. It has been provided by Jesus Christ, God the Son, dying on the cross.

God is the authority over our lives

God says in His word that He created the heavens and the earth. Therefore if you live on planet earth, He is the authority that we should honour and obey. In a typical democratic state, even if you did not vote for the party in power which has become the government you have to recognise that you are under its authority. Now if you go against the law, rules and regulations of the country you are most likely to face consequences and so it is in the Kingdom of God. You did not vote for God to be creator of earth but He is. And so His rules, laws and regulations should be followed. When we disregard His laws, rules and regulations we fall into sin. Sin which is disobedience to God leads to spiritual death.

Jesus is the answer

I know this sounds cheesy but there is no better way to put it. My favourite verse in the bible (and I am not the only one :)!), is John 3:16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. This verse clearly informs us that God is the one who initiated the recovery process, He confessed that He loved the world. This means everyone is included, no one is excluded, it is open to all. He did something about this love, He gave us His one and only Son. He did this by having Jesus become a sacrifice for the atonement of the sins of the world. All anyone has to do to receive this grace is to believe that Jesus died on the cross for one’s sins.

The bread and the wine

The bread and the wine are symbols of the Holy Communion. Jesus on the night He was betrayed asked us to break bread in remembrance of Him. Because before the resurrection which we celebrate tomorrow on Easter Sunday, Jesus died on the cross. He was crucified on the Friday before, which was yesterday, Good Friday. John 6:33 Jesus says that He is the bread of God that came down from heaven to give life to the world. In Matthew 26 we learn that Jesus’s blood is poured out for the forgiveness of sins. So at the cross Jesus body was broken to give us life and His blood was shed to deliver us from the death grip of sin. This Easter I would encourage you to contemplate what the promise of new birth cost Jesus the Saviour.