Easter
Written by the whole Sunbeam Devo Team
April 12, 2020
Noelle Bergstrom: Happy resurrection day! Click here to listen to my favorite worship song during Easter time. This is a beautiful day! For me, Easter is a great reminder of how life would be without hardship, it would be even darker and a worse world. So on Easter, I like to think of all the light that is in my life and all of the good. I like to think of how God’s presence is with me forever because I asked him to dwell inside my heart. Jesus, thank you for tearing the veil in two and brightening our darkened world. Thank you for always being with me and guiding me through your spirit. Thank you for not only dying but rising again. I love you and all that you have done for me. In your holy, powerful, name amen.
Zola Feasel: During Jesus’s final moments on the cross, he cried out to the Heavens, “IT IS FINISHED!” John 19 goes on to say that Jesus then gave up his spirit. His words seem so hopeless and death looks like the victor.
But we have the blessing of the Easter perspective. Whether you heard it once in Sunday school or you believe to be true in your heart, we know that Jesus rose from the dead three days after dying on the cross. Death is slain at the hands of Jesus Christ! To Jesus belongs the victory! Praise be to God!
So then why did he cry out “It is finished!”? I’ve heard different thoughts on Jesus’s final words, but I had a realization as I was pondering the Easter story. His life on earth was ending, though that wasn’t what he meant.
In John 3:16, it says that “Because God so loved the world, that He gave his only Song and that whosoever believes in him shall not perish but have everlasting life.” God sent Jesus for us. He sent his Son to die for us. But Jesus didn’t have to do it. He could have called on an army of angels to lift him from the cross and save him from death. But he didn’t. Jesus cried out “It is finished!” because he was fulfilling God’s rescue plan. He chose to die. Because he loved us and he wanted to save us. He died so that we wouldn’t have to. He died and ROSE AGAIN, conquering death so that we could too.
Now some of you are probably asking, “Well, I’ve heard that Jesus died for me but what I can’t be saved? What if I don’t live up to the sacrifice he made for me? What if I’ve done horrible things? What if I’m not perfect? What if I have doubts or I am scared or I make even more mistakes trying to thank him?”
Do you know what Jesus’s response to those questions is? Everything that you are worried about, I have already taken care of! It is finished!
No matter what you do, no matter how much you feel like you don’t deserve it, no matter if you think you can never be forgiven… it has already been done.
Jack Faulkner: Today is the day to put the world behind us and celebrate our new life before us. Take off the chains that we have been wearing and adorn ourselves with the victory of Jesus Christ. Come alive in the Spirit of the living God and Roll away the stone that has sealed our hearts and be marked by the Holy Spirit. Celebrate! Satan has lost, Jesus has won. Live like that’s true today!
Maddie White: Happy Easter my friends! A reminder for you today: your chains are gone. The things that you thought were holding you back, forget about them. You have been set free from the weight of sin. The Savior has paid the ransom for your life. He offers you unending mercy and love. The grace He offers us is amazing. God loves you so incredibly much, don't ever forget that!
Savannah Wanebo: Love is the most important thing to human life, aside from air. Love gives purpose, comfort, hope. Love is light, fierce, and unconditional.
There are many ways to express love for someone or something, which can be categorized into the 5 love languages:
1. Words of Affirmation
2. Gifts
3. Acts of Service
4. Quality Time
5. Physical Touch
As we reflect on Easter, God laid it on my heart to talk about how His love is for everyone. Through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, God speaks every single language of love. (the following coordinate to the love languages listed above)
1. He tells us that “It is finished.” In other words, “Beloved, I take your burdens upon myself so that you may live free from sin.”
2. His blood was the gift, the atoning sacrifice for our sins. He also gifted us with a way to be with God for all eternity.
3. This one is simple: he took our place and paid the penalty that we were supposed to.
4. After the resurrection, Jesus promised us yet another gift—or rather, a guide—the Holy Spirit. As he dwells in us, he is constantly with us because he wants to care for us and know us. If that’s not quality time, I don’t know what is!
5. God is with us through the Holy Spirit, which is His physical presence on earth. We are his hands and feet, the body of believers is how he touches us.
Essentially, God loves you. He paid a criminal’s punishment because he loves you. He defeated death because he loves you. That is the message of Easter: we have hope because of the love of God through Jesus Christ.
Brian Brogan: Finally!! The wait is over, but not for the candy and Easter baskets. Let’s sit down again as a family, lift up our frowns we’ve worn since Good Friday, if you’re old enough, break out the good stuff, it’s time for us to remember the world being turned upside down. The dead to life. Only God can do such things. To descend and release those waiting patiently, to bear our sins on His shoulders with that rugged cross, I see no better time than to dance like David and to appear as though you’re foolish, for the God of the universe now dwells within us, has paid the price for all our sins, and all in the name of Love. Glory be to God on High. Hallelujah!