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Easter (or Resurrection Sunday) is the quintessential spring holiday. Spring is the time of warmth and beauty coming back to the world: the return of the sun, flowers, bees, rabbits, and baby chicks: all the classic signs of new life and growth. So, it is fitting that Eastertime heralds the coming of life. This is when we remember, celebrate, and embrace the resurrection of Jesus Christ, and the salvation He brought to all mankind.

We often hear how "Jesus died to save us from our sins," and take that to mean that Jesus' primary purpose was to protect us from a wrathful Heavenly Father: He took our punishment, so that we wouldn't have to, and so, we can live in eternity with God forever. While there is truth to this statement, I think it can be quite misleading and give us the wrong impression of the Father.

Sin blinds us to the love and life that is found in the Father. It is like the dark winter months, where we cannot see the sun. The sun is still there, but we are trapped in darkness, and so experience a cold world where it is always winter and never Christmas. How tragic! Sin must be done away with, so that we might come into the light of spring and see the truth. Thank God that Christ came to save us all! But again, the idea of an angry Father, looking to punish us for our crimes is deceptive. Jesus does not stand up to defend us from a Father who seeks to harm us. This would put the Son and the Father at odds with one another: desiring different things. The opposite is quite true.

Jesus, as He sat around the table at the Last Supper, explaining His infinite love for us said this, "Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father" (John 14:9). What we see from Jesus (His compassion, His acceptance, His selfless love) is found in the Father. The Father seeks forgiveness as well, not judgment and punishment. The Father and Son are One. A house divided against itself cannot stand. This is as true for God as anyone else. The Father and Son are not at odds, especially when it comes to love and mercy. So, what exactly (beyond that generic religious word "sin") did Jesus come to save us from? From our own blindness to the love and goodness of God! He came to restore the sun of spring to our souls still freezing in the winter without Christmas. He came to lift the burden of guilt, shame, and condemnation, so that we might taste and know the infinite goodness of God. "Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus" (Romans 8:1).

He came so that we might be free to love as the Father loves: with a Love that keeps no record of wrong: a Love that knows no fear! "There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment" (1 John 4:18). Do you see the Father's will concerning you? It is not punishment, as though He were an earthly father subject to mood swings. He is infinite and eternal love. He sent the Son (with whom He is One) so that we might be forever free of the lonely winter of judgment, darkness and fear. The Spring has come! Jesus rose from the earth that sunny spring morning, just as the first heads of grain pierce the soil in early spring: the Bread of Life!

This is truth and light: that by grace you have been saved! Awake on this spring morning and know that by faith, you are a new creation, for whom God has no judgment. Therefore, do not judge what the Father does not (yourself or your neighbor). The sun (Son) has risen!

Pastor Evan Elwell

Pomeroy Church of the Nazarene