Let’s embrace tenets of Easter
From today to next Monday, Christians throughout the world will celebrate Easter. It is a period when they remember the death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ. Christians believe that Jesus, who is the Son of God, died for everyone's sins and then came back to life three days later to defeat death and evil.
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The critical thing is that their belief in Him and the Resurrection will give them everlasting life.
The crucifixion of Christ was unique. It was part of God’s eternal plan that Christ, His only begotten Son, should die as an innocent sacrificial lamb as a propitiation for the sins of mankind.
The hope of every Christian is centred on the Resurrection of Christ and the consequent salvation that this offers. Jesus’ death was necessary to prove that He was who He claimed to be and to accomplish what He had promised.
Easter is often a busy period for Christians. As part of the celebration, there are church services, during which we often see worshippers in a sombre mood. But some of those same worshippers are the perpetrators of every type of sin that Christ died for and for which our country remains under-developed.
Easter is also marked with merrymaking, especially on Easter Monday. There are often beach parties and picnics. It is a time when there is a lot of eating and drinking; when some drivers take to the wheel even under the influence of alcohol, resulting in death from accidents.
The Daily Graphic finds this unacceptable because it does not believe that the celebration of the death of Christ, which has brought salvation to Christians, should be a time for people to die needlessly. Such incidents undermine the very essence of Easter.
We are happy that as part of efforts to make our roads safe at Easter, the National Road Safety Commission (NRSC) last week launched the annual Easter road safety campaign. We also hope the drivers will abide by the road safety regulations to make road transport a pleasurable experience.
The daily Graphic believes that Easter offers deeper lessons. If Christians are followers of Christ, who died for their sins, then they should also be ready to use Easter as a time for forgiveness and reconciliation, a time to do whatever is necessary to ensure peace. It should be a time to give to the needy in our society and a time to protect the vulnerable.
We would want people to see Easter as a time for sober reflection on our personal lives, whether we are Christians or not. We need to use Easter as a time to examine our shortcomings and resolve to chart new paths that will culminate in nation building.
This will help us prevent the very many pockets of violence that seem to be engulfing us as a nation and aid in our quest for national development.
Jesus’ death must not be in vain. Happy Easter!
