Easter Eggs and Nativity Scenes

Happy Easter - Jesus Christ is risen!!

While we celebrate our risen Savior on Resurrection Sunday, the return of spring weather can make winter snow and the Christmas holiday seem a distant memory. But, during our Easter celebrations we should consider the connection between Easter and Christmas. Yes, a thread of Christmas spirit reaches into our Easter commemoration.

Christmas celebrates the birth Christ in the manger and the beginning of the gospel story of Christ. This story culminates at the empty tomb we celebrate on Resurrection Sunday. Jesus Christ, who was born of God, despised of men, betrayed and crucified as a criminal; has risen and defeated sin, death, and the grave for all who believe in Him.

On the first Christmas, Christ entered the world as a baby through the miracle of the virgin birth. Through the crucifixion the world thought that Christ was gone forever. But not so. In fulfillment of His own word and the scriptures (Matthew 16:21) Christ came into the world a second time after the Resurrection.

He returned not as a ghost, but as a man who was seen (Mark 16:14), touched (John 20:27-28), and ate with his disciples (Luke 24:41-43). From these scriptures we can see that after Christ's resurrection, He was every bit as real as the infant that lay in the manger.

So while you celebrate the Easter season, take a moment to remember where the Easter story began and the first time that Jesus came into the world in human form. Christmas marked the beginning of hope for a lost, sinful world. Resurrection Sunday marks the fulfillment of hope, the victory of Christ, and the salvation of man.