The credo of our Christian faith is deeply rooted in the celebration of Easter. That Christ died and rose from the dead on the third day as we celebrate is the crux of the matter. That He did not only die for Christians, but for the entire human race is the reason the joy of this celebration reverberates throughout the world today. “The greatest love you can have for your friends is to give your life for them” (John 15:13). Celebrating the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus is the greatest gift ever that can be marked among His creatures.
It is not just a celebration of Him coming back to life, but our own; “I am the resurrection and the life, he who believes in me shall live, even though he dies” (John 11 vs 25). Jesus will not die again, forever and ever. Jesus’ coming back to life after death is a proclamation of freedom from the shackles of sin that bound us in chains. By His rising, we no longer have to be imprisoned by sin. We have freedom to live eternally as Christ paved the way with His own life and holy blood shed for us on the cross of Calvary. Having commanded us to always commemorate this in His remembrance, Easter is a day set aside by the Mother Church to acknowledge and herald this great freedom readily available through Christ. He deserves all our praise, when we believe in what He has done for us, as death no longer has a hold on us, if only we believe and trust in Him alone.
The only way to appreciate what Christ has done, whether as individuals, families or as a nation, is to allow the message of love which Christ preached even on the Cross to permeate into our whole lives. As a nation, we can start anew. God hates pride and loves humility. Nigeria, our country should at this time in history do away with so many vices that seek to hold her down; ethnic rivalry and profiling, tribal sentiment, religious bigotry, greed, corruption, hatred etc., that are currently threatening the fabric of our collective wellbeing. We should live a life of truth, love and peace. That is the only way we can resurrect with Christ, even though we die. Easter is the celebration of this new life that we received when Christ rose on the third day after His death on the Cross.
We have all sinned, but are reborn each day we surrender our lives to Him. That is the only way, the message of Easter and the works of redemption which Christ brought to the world would make meaningful impact, either in the life of any individual or nations of the world, which today are in turmoil, occasioned by the absence of the real truth, which can only be found in Christ, who died for all on the Cross of Calvary.
