A Divine Perspective 01: For God so Loved the World…

A Divine Perspective—Looking at Life through a Heavenly View

Jesus was not sent to the world to judge you, but to love you.  His love is what is needed to help fulfill your emptiness.  His love is what is needed to Save the world.    Even when you believe no one does or can love you, He does and ALWAYS will.

“For God so loved, the WORLD, that he gave his one and only son, that whoever believes in HIM shall not perish, but have eternal life.  For God did not send HIS son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through HIM.”            John 3:16-17 NIV

 

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Easter, the 2nd Christmas

It’s that time again! Pastel colors are everywhere.  New nests are being made for new bird families.  The scent of freshly bloomed flowers are in the air; along with the frightening buzz of bees and wasps. (Maybe it’s just me)   The “tormentuos” sounds of sneezes from me and all of my fellow allergy sufferers as pollen and ragweed dance in the beautiful bright rays of the sun.  Ahhh, this is spring. The season that brings us Easter.   As the weather warms up I have memories of dying eggs and the invisible crayon that added designs.  Memories of being allowed to again where white and practicing my Easter speech specially written by my mother.  When entering any grocery store, one can not help but be reminded of Easter when seeing the grey aisles filled with spring colors of various shades of greens, blues, pinks, purples, and yellows on the Easter baskets.  As eye catching as these baskets may be, it’s what’s inside that truly matters.

These baskets are filled to the brim with goodies.  There’s more than just candy, plastic eggs, and colorful grass in these baskets.  They are teeming with basketballs, footballs, water guns, jump ropes, baby dolls, army men, Disney character toys, clothing items, and hair items. Growing up, I was content with real eggs and Easter bunny shaped chocolate bars that I placed inside of my Easter Basket.  It did not come already prepared for me with gifts I hadn’t received for Christmas or my birthday.  Now it seems as if Easter is Christmas #2.  I didn’t know the Easter Bunny and Santa were related, but apparently, I was incorrect.  The other day at work, a co-worker was searching online to purchase something for her daughter’s phone.  I was thinking that maybe her child’s birthday was coming, but I eventually found out that the gift was to be placed in her daughter’s Easter basket.  I then asked, “When did Easter become like a second Christmas?” There was no response.  I hope she didn’t think I was being sarcastic.  This has been a question on my mind for a while now and I thought she knew, since she was a mother.  Do kids even dye eggs anymore?  Are real eggs still being used or just the plastic eggs with the money inside?  This brings me to my point…The true focus of Easter is no longer at the forefront.

Easter has sadly become a time of the year where the miracle of the resurrection of Jesus is ignored.  The media attempts to discuss Jesus.  The Ten Commandments is shown on television, although I don’t understand what that movie has to do with Easter.  Is it the Bible thing because that’s all I can think of.   You begin to see more of the “Who was Jesus” type of documentaries on network television or certain cable channels, but many also attempt to disprove Jesus as the Savior of all Mankind.  Of course churches do what they can with reminding all about the message of Easter with plays and special services to reach those that would probably never attend.  Many people attend their church or visit a church with their family.  Hopefully, they are focused more on the message and not just on how *so fresh and so clean they look.

The things mentioned above have become a tradition.   It is imperative that we keep in mind that Easter is celebrated not because of Spring, but because Jesus died on a cross and on the third day he was resurrected.  He rose from the grave with the power over life and death.  The Power of the Cross was and is for the world, not just for the church. All because He Loves You! He died for your sins.  He forgave you before you even were born to commit the sin.  Easter is not just a day to get together with one’s family.  It’s not just a day to bestow your child with gifts and new clothes.  Easter is not just a day to show up to church with your family to show off your new Easter clothes.  I am in no means trying to say that being with family, buying toys, or buying new clothes is wrong, just don’t allow those things to replace the true reason for Easter. Even if you don’t believe this happened, doesn’t mean that it didn’t happen.

(John 3:16- For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten son.  That whosoever believeth in him should have everlasting life.)

*Outkast

Bunny+Egg=?

A few years ago, I asked my class if they could tell me why in the world the Easter bunny brought eggs for the children on Easter.  I was teaching 6th graders at the time and we were beginning a new Reading unit on Symbolism.  I had started the lesson with pictures that were symbolic of various things that I knew they would be familiar with.  I showed a picture of the cross, they said Jesus or church.  I showed a picture of a heart, they said Love.  A picture of the Golden Arches, they said McDonald’s.  A picture of a bunny a plus sign and an egg and they knew it meant Easter.  Everything started off great until I asked them why.  Why did these two completely different things mean Easter.  I mean, have you ever seen a bunny lay an egg?  Have you ever seen a bunny hatch from an egg?  They have nothing to do with each other, right?

There are sometimes issues in the Christian arena concerning the use of a bunny being used to correspond with Easter, but being the symbolic nerd that I am, I love it.  I like discussing it with anyone so that they can make sense of why some traditions use what they use in their traditions or why things represent whatever it is they are representing.

A QUICK BREAKDOWN of Symbolism used in Easter

For those of you unaware, rabbits have a lot of babies.  Babies represent new life.  Spring represents new life.  Eggs hatch and bring forth baby animals.  Therefore, eggs equal new life.  Flowers are blooming, trees are getting new leaves, and baby animals begin to be seen.  It’s like the world is being REBORN.  Let’s not forget about the True Life being REBORN…Someone coming back from the dead, is like being REBORN.  Thank the Lord for the Cross and your RESURRECTING Power.  You came back to life with all power over Life and Death in your hands! Amen!

(John 3:16-For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten son.  That whosoever believeth in him should not parish, but have everlasting life.)

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