We are really celebrating the resurrection of our Lord, not the spring equinox and the rebirth of the world! Our Lord is at the right hand of the Father and is waiting for the time to open the seals. The time of the Tribulation of the saints is nearly at hand.
But aren’t we supposed to be gone when all of that happens? What happened to the “rapture of the Church”? There are many different interpretations of Scripture and all of them don’t point in the same direction. Some have been taught that we will be “taken” prior to the Tribulation even beginning, others think that we will endure part of the Tribulation but be taken before the final 3 1/2 years begins. Actually, I have seen credible evidence for both scenarios so, I am just going to keep working for the Lord until I wake one day in His presence, whenever that may be.
The celebration of Easter was instituted by the early church in order to attract pagan worshippers into their services and since it falls near the time of the Resurrection it was given a name that would follow the world’s own celebration and hopefully allow the world to follow and come to know Jesus. In the past hundred years or so, Easter has become more like Christmas in that it is so commercialized until it seems that we have lost the meaning of the celebration. Its true meaning at least.
Why would you think that the celebration of Easter was anything less than it is? It is not a celebration of fertility or of rebirth, but of the Resurrection of the Son of God, our Saviour and Lord, Jesus the Christ! He died and shed His blood in order to pay the price for us that sin exacts. Death is the price for sin, regardless of the sin or its earthly consequences. It is true that we don’t die physically when we sin against God, but if we haven’t accepted Jesus as our Savior and repented of our life of sinful behaviour then we will die a spiritual death of being separated from God forever. Jesus was the only Perfect Lamb that could shoulder the burden and pay the price for the sins of the entire world, from the past up to the time of the end of the age.
We can’t do these things on our own and everyone knows this. When you were growing up, if your parents were religious at all, you may have felt an emptiness in your life at one point or another. Even if you have never been to church of any kind, you have felt that there is something more at one time or another…that something was missing, but you couldn’t put your finger on it exactly. The “need” that we have all felt is the need for Christ in our lives. Until we ask Him to come in and fill that empty spot, it will never be filled because nothing fits in that place except Him.
Study, read and pray about what you read from God’s Word and ask Him to show you what He wants you to get from His Word. Believe it or not, He will do just that! You will not be kept in the dark, God will show you exactly what you need, when you need it and give you the wisdom to understand it in the process.