The speaker at my training seminar emphasized the importance of knowing “the why” as opposed to only knowing “the what.” It’s easy to know what has happened: The weather outside is hot. A child is misbehaving. A horrific car accident has occurred. An airplane crash has claimed 120 lives.
When we know it is the middle of summer, this “why” helps us understand the hot outside temperature. When we learn a child has suffered from parental neglect, this helps us understand his or her misbehavior. When we discover a motorist was driving too fast for weather conditions, it helps us understand why the car accident occurred. When a plane crashes, investigators spend thousands of man-hours in an effort to understand why it happened.
The What
Perhaps you are thinking to yourself, so what? Allow me to explain to you “the what” premise for this article: On this Sunday in April, we celebrate Easter. Unfortunately, there are still many who don’t understand “the why”!
Christians celebrate Easter because it commemorates the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. History has confirmed Jesus lived and died. The Bible provides us with a lot of information about His horrific death. (Matthew 27:33–35; Mark 15:20–25) This “why” helps us to understand what happened in His last hours of human life on earth.
Why Joy
Christians should have a climate of joy in their lives. When others dig a little deeper and microscopically examine “the why” behind our joy, they should find the Apostle Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians 15. Paul said this:
And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. 15 More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that he raised Christ from the dead. But he did not raise him if in fact the dead are not raised. 16 For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either. 17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. 18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. 19 If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men. But our joy lies in the fact, “Christ has indeed been raised from the dead. . . .”
I Corinthians 15:14–20
Paul helps us to understand “the why”: Preaching would be useless if we proclaimed a dead Savior. Faith in a dead Savior would be useless if we could not trust Him when we faced death ourselves. Our claims to eternal life would be false or misleading. We would have no permanent forgiveness for our sins. Those who died and put their hope for eternal life in Jesus would have believed in vain because their hope was sealed in the grave with Him. We would have no grounds for boldness in our spiritual convictions, because our foundation is based on a man who paid with His life for claims He could not prove.
Everything changes with the Resurrection of Jesus. This event proved that Christ had defeated Death. It also assures us we will experience life after death.
Why Easter
Today as we celebrate Easter, let us remember “the why” is not new Easter bonnets, Easter eggs, or even little kids saying Easter speeches. Easter eggs will spoil; Easter bonnets will wear out; and most of us will forget the Easter speeches. The joy of eternal life through the risen Jesus Christ is a “why” worth celebrating!
Article by Dr. L.W. Edwards
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