On Easter Sunday, love wins

No other holiday represents breakthrough like Easter.

Easter is a day filled with promise: of wholeness and healthy relationships, of a genuine relationship with God, of peace, and of purpose. To followers of Jesus Christ, Easter Sunday is exciting because this one day can become a life-changing experience for anyone with an open heart. If we take the events that it celebrates at face value, Easter can be the most exciting and significant day of our lives.

The reason for this significance is Jesus Christ. On a Spring day around 30 A.D., human history was marked forever when a Jew named Jesus from the Galilean town of Nazareth was hung on a cross outside of Jerusalem. His death was that of a common criminal. On the third day, however, when people went to find his body, Jesus’ tomb was empty. He had done something no other religious figure has ever done—Jesus Christ had beaten death itself. The God of the universe had raised Jesus from the dead.

In conquering the one thing that defeats all human beings—death—Jesus triumphed over the powers of this world. Because of Jesus’ resurrection, God proved to the world that even death cannot stop God’s Love from reaching us. In Jesus’ resurrection, Love won. Fear, shame, hatred, evil—the powers that plague our world were defeated, forever.

There is great joy and delight in realizing that nothing can conquer us if we partner with the Love of God. So many of us feel stuck or hopeless because of difficult life situations, but to followers of Jesus Christ, the Easter message is one of hope. God can change our circumstances. Easter is about seeing people face challenges and difficulties with hope. Easter is about experiencing genuine breakthrough. On Easter, love wins.

SCOTT A. WOOD and KATHE WOOD are pastors of Crescenta Valley Community Church. Reach Scott at scott.wood@cvchurch.com. Reach Kathe at kathe.wood@cvchurch.com.