Growing up, I always loved Easter. The frilly dresses, good food, an abundance of candy, and time with family made me anticipate the day each year. What more could a child ask for? As my knowledge and appreciation of Scripture has expanded, so has my love for Easter. It is a reminder of promises fulfilled, a source of hope in present struggles, and an opportunity to anticipate heaven.
A Reminder of Promises Fulfilled
Throughout the redemptive-historical timeline of Scripture, we read of the many promises God made, which were fulfilled in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. I’m reminded of a few particular promises brought to completion at the cross and the empty tomb: the serpent’s head crushed, the ability for sinful people to commune with a holy God, and the eternal defeat of death.
In Genesis 3, we read of Adam and Eve’s fall into sin and the curses God brings upon the world because of their disobedience. Pain, toil, broken relationships, and death are a present reality. But God has words for the serpent as well: “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel” (Gen. 3:15). Through his death on the cross, Jesus crushed the head of the serpent.— Death, sin, and evil will no longer have lasting power or dominion because it’s been defeated!
Another promise fulfilled is the ability for sinful people to be in relationship with a holy God. After Adam and Eve sinned, they were barred from returning to the Garden of Eden and separated from God (Gen. 3:22-24). For the remainder of the Old Testament, God’s people lived with a degree of separation from him, never able to meet with him face to face. At Mount Sinai, only Moses could commune with God because God’s holiness barred Israel from meeting him (Ex. 20). When the tabernacle construction was finished, “the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle,” but the Israelites still could not commune with God without a priestly intercessor (Ex. 40:34-38, Lev. 8). For the rest of Israel’s history, their relationship with God was always mediated by an intercessor—usually a prophet or a priest—who could stand between them and God, but these men were temporary and imperfect advocates. At Easter, we celebrate that the veil separating God and his people has been completely torn (Matt. 27:51), and now the Holy Spirit (Acts 2) dwells in the hearts of all who come to God in faith. Sinful people can commune with a holy God because of Christ’s ongoing, heavenly intercession (Heb. 7–10), and through his death and resurrection, he assures us of another promise: one day, we will again see the object of our faith face-to-face (1 Cor. 13:12, Job 19:26).
Finally, Easter celebrates the eternal defeat of death in Christ’s resurrection. 1 Corinthians 15:20-22 explains, “But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.” Because of Christ’s defeat of death, we no longer need to fear death, as death ushers all who believe in him into heaven for eternity. As I celebrate Easter, I am reminded of how God fulfilled these promises (and so many others!), and it brings me great joy!
A Hope in Present Struggles
As I reflect on these promises fulfilled, I find hope as I wrestle with present struggles. Nothing on earth can separate me, a child of God, from his love and providence (Rom. 8:28-39). If God fulfilled his promises to Israel centuries ago, he will surely continue to fulfill his promises to me!
Even as the world constantly changes, God’s faithfulness to his promises reminds me that he does not change. For the Christian, then, hope is not something tentative but assured, guaranteed. On Easter, I celebrate the hope I have in a God who does not change, even when everything else around me changes.
An Opportunity to Anticipate Heaven
Finally, Easter gives me a greater anticipation of heaven. Death is inevitable for each and every one of us. However, death is not the end for those who know and love Jesus Christ! Rather, it is their beginning of eternity in the Father’s house with “many rooms” (John 14:1–7). One day, Jesus will return and usher in the new heavens and earth, where “He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God” (Rev. 21:3). Even as deep losses overwhelm our time on earth, those who believe in Jesus can look forward to eternity in heaven, where earth’s sadness, death, and sin won’t exist because it’s all been defeated by Jesus!
This Easter, take time to reflect on how God has fulfilled his promises—in your life and in the history of his people—and anticipate his ongoing provision of hope and eternity in heaven.
