Easter and Faith

It is so simple that it is easy to miss, after all, people are busy Easter weekend with hunting down eggs with the kids, eating chocolate bunnies.  That we almost forget about the empty tomb, that Christ defeated death and sin so that we could have a relationship with Him.  But Easter doesn’t amount to anything unless we put our faith in God.  If we come to God but, we do not really believe that Christ was His Son, or that He raised from the grave then this is really just all about nothing.  Paul wrote this to the Romans; “Abraham never wavered in believing God’s promise. In fact, his faith grew stronger, and in this he brought glory to God.  He was absolutely convinced that God was able to do anything he promised. And because of Abraham’s faith, God declared him to be righteous. Now this wonderful truth—that God declared him to be righteous—wasn’t just for Abraham’s benefit. It was for us, too, assuring us that God will also declare us to be righteous if we believe in God, who brought Jesus our Lord back from the dead. He was handed over to die because of our sins, and he was raised from the dead to make us right with God. Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us. Because of our faith, Christ has brought us into this place of highest privilege where we now stand, and we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God’s glory.” (Romans 4:20-5:2)

Let us for just minute think about what Paul is telling the Romans and us in this section of His letter.  He is saying that just believing in God or in a god isn’t really going to do much for you.  He is saying that we must put our faith in God, we must come to an understanding that God is not just real but that He is all powerful, that He is the great and mighty creator.  If He so desires He is able to not only raise the dead but He can raise a nation.  If we decide to only half believe or we believe the majority of what the bible says that does nothing for us.  We have to put all of our faith in God.  What does our faith in God do for us?  Paul tells us this, “because of our faith, Christ has brought us into this place of highest privilege where we now stand, and we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God’s glory.”  Our faith in Christ brings us to a place of privilege, but with this privilege comes a responsibility we are to share our faith with others we are to let others know about God’s great glory.

Think about the last great movie you saw or book you read, you didn’t keep it yourself did you?  No you told your friends, your coworkers about it.  You wanted them to experience it to.  You don’t keep your favorite dessert to yourself you are so sure that others are going to like you tell them about it.  You see when we put our faith in God we should want to share it with others, Easter is about the defeat of sin, darkness, about the light of the world conquering the darkness of the world.  If we truly believe in the empty tomb then we need to put our faith in God, and watch Him work in mighty ways.  In verses 20-22 in Chapter 4 Romans Paul tells us this; “Abraham never wavered in believing God’s promise. In fact, his faith grew stronger, and in this he brought glory to God. He was absolutely convinced that God was able to do anything he promised. And because of Abraham’s faith, God declared him to be righteous.^”