He is risen {FREEBIE}

Easter, what does this day mean to you?  Is today a day where you will chase around the open field looking for eggs?  Perhaps its a day where you will set aside some time for family gatherings.   Maybe today is the day you go to church to remember the Christ who died for your sins. 

How our family celebrates Easter is by remembering the Christ who died upon the cross:

"Pilate said to them, 'What then shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ?' They all said to him, 'Let Him be crucified!'  Then the governor said, 'Why, what evil has He done?' But they cried out all the more, saying, 'Let Him be crucified!' When Pilate saw that he could not prevail at all, but rather that a tumult was rising, he took water and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, 'I am innocent of the blood of this just Person. You see to it.' And all the people answered and said, 'His blood be on us and on our children.' Then he released Barabbas to them; and when he had scourged Jesus, he delivered Him to be crucified."

(Matthew 27:22-26)

The Soldiers Mock Jesus

^"Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the Praetorium and gathered the whole garrison around Him.   And they stripped Him and put a scarlet robe on Him.  When they had twisted a crown of thorns, they put it on His head, and a reed in His right hand. And they bowed the knee before Him and mocked Him, saying, 'Hail, King of the Jews!' Then they spat on Him, and took the reed and struck Him on the head.  And when they had mocked Him, they took the robe off Him, put His own clothes on Him, and led Him away to be crucified.

(Matthew 27:27-31)

The King on a Cross

Now as they came out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name. Him they compelled to bear His cross.  And when they had come to a place called Golgotha, that is to say, Place of a Skull,  they gave Him sour wine mingled with gall to drink. But when He had tasted it, He would not drink. Then they crucified Him, and divided His garments, casting lots,that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet: They divided My garments among them, And for My clothing they cast lots. Sitting down, they kept watch over Him there.  And they put up over His head the accusation written against Him:

THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS.

(Matthew 27:32-37)

Jesus Christ Dies on the Cross

Now from the sixth hour until the ninth hour there was darkness over all the land.  And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, 'My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me? Immediately one of them ran and took a sponge, filled it with sour wine and put it on a reed, and offered it to Him to drink.  And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit.

(Matthew 27:45-50)

He is Risen

"But the angel answered and said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. ⁶ He is not here; for He is risen, as He said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay. ⁷ And go quickly and tell His disciples that He is risen from the dead"

(Matthew 28:5-7a)

What an amazing account in history of the Christ who died for not just my sins, but every person who has ever been alive, is alive and will be alive in the future!  What does this mean to us?  Its just an account in history?

Jesus Christ is the only One who has ever risen from the dead, proving that he is the Lord of Lords and King of Kings!  Without his resurrection from the grave, man would not have the opportunity of salvation!    What is salvation; what am I talking about?

How You Can Know God's Love
Most people believe in God, while others do not believe in a higher being. We
know God must be holy and good. We see ourselves as unholy and not good.
We conclude that God is angry with us and we cannot know Him.

Good News! This Testament of God's love is His Word to tell us that He loves
us as we are. That love will save us from our sin and make us what we should
be as God's children.

John 3:16 "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that
whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life."

We hear Jesus say, "God so loved the world." God's love has no limitations.
He loves "so". More than we can imagine. He loves everyone - not just
some ones.

Romans 5:8 tells us that God loved us so that "when we were in our sin
Christ Jesus came to die for us."

Romans 3:23 "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,"

This verse tells us that all people have sinned. We have fallen short of
God's intended purpose for us. God made us to know Him, to receive His
love and to love him in return.

For love to be love, for God to be God, and for humans to be humans,
God gave us a choice. We can choose to love ourselves and turn to our
selfish pursuits. That is sin. In our sin we cannot know God and His love.
The result of sin is that we are lost-separated from God.

Romans 6:23 "For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in
Christ Jesus our Lord."

Wages are just payment, due reward, of what one has coming because of
labor. The just payment for our sin is death.

Death here means spiritual insensitivity. When we are still in our sin, we
have no life with God. We are alive physically but dead spiritually. If we
continue in that condition, we will be separated from God for all eternity.

The wages of sin is death. but God's free gift is eternal life. While wages
are earned, a gift is offered; no strings attached. God says He will give us
eternal life - life with Him - in the place of sin's payment of death.

How can God remain true to His holiness and forgive unholy sinners?
Because Jesus, His Son, has paid the price for sin by His death on the cross.

II Corinthians 5:21 says, "He who knew no sin became sin for us, that
we may be made the righteousness of God through Him."

Jesus arose from the grave to conquer sin and death for all who receive Him
as God's free gift.

How can you receive God's free gift of love and life?

Romans 10:9-10 "that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart
that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a
person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he
confesses, resulting in salvation."

A person receives God's free gift of love and life by placing faith in Jesus
Christ. To believe is simply to take God at His word. With our heart
(whole believing) we believe that Jesus is God's Son who died for our sin
on the cross and arose from the grave to live in us as Savior and Lord.

To believe in Jesus will result in confessing that faith with one's mouth.
Do you acknowledge that your are a sinner?
Do you believe by faith that Jesus, God's Son, died for your sin on the cross?
Will you now confess Him as your Savior and Lord?

Romans 10:13 "for Whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved."
This verse says that any person who will call upon the name of Jesus,
the Lord, shall be saved.

To call means simply to ask in prayer. The verse does not require one to
know more... do better... clean up one's life... or in any way try to add to
what Jesus has done for us.

All this is possible, because Jesus Christ died on the cross for every one's sins.  Not only did he die on the cross, He rose from the dead, taking all our sins with him.  All we have to do is believe we are sinners (do wrong in our daily lives) and call (speak, pray, voice) upon the name of the Lord.  It is with that action, that faith, that you will spend all eternity with our Lord!

Easter is an amazing day in history, one that our family will use to tell of our faith, of the one who died for our sins.

Now I didn't bring you to my blog to preach at you but merely tell you about what Easter means for our families and many other families around the world.  Also, as a token of my appreciation, I have created a mini as a way of saying, "thank you for taking the time to read about why we celebrate Easter" 

This is a free gift, there are no strings attached with this one.  I am not asking for comments (please leave your negative comments in your head and not on my blog or email), nor am I asking for layouts in return.  I am just thankful that you took the time on this wonderful day to visit my blog, read about why we celebrate Easter.

If you would like this kit, please download at the following sites:

I am sorry, this is no longer a freebie.
You can now purchase it here in my blog store

Happy Easter!
Until next time . . .