He arose, He arose, Hallelujah, Christ arose!

Holidays are often busy times for families. Without careful intention, their significance can quickly be crowded out due to busy schedules, events and gatherings. If that happened to you this Easter, let me encourage you to now reflect with your children on the glorious hope of the Resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus, the Christ. Here are some simple truths to remind our families the reason we rejoice at Easter.

He Came.

Easter is the culmination of another wonderful holiday, Christmas. During Advent season, we celebrate the coming of Christ the babe to earth. But Easter answers the question, “Why did Jesus come to earth as a man?” The ultimate reason for the incarnation was the atonement of God’s people. In Luke 19:10, Jesus Himself says, “The Son of Man came to seek and to save that which was lost.”

He Died.

Without the death of Jesus on the cross, we would not have forgiveness of sins. Jesus is our substitute, bearing in our place the punishment we deserved. God forgives us because Jesus paid in full a debt we could never pay ourselves.

He Arose.

But the story of Easter does not end at the cross, or with Christ’s body in the tomb. The culmination is in the literal, physical, bodily resurrection of Jesus. We must tell our children that though Jesus died, he did not remain dead, but after three days, ROSE, victorious over sin and death.

He Lives.

Jesus Christ is our only hope for reconciliation with God, forgiveness of our sins, and eternal life in Heaven. In 1 Corinthians 15, Paul states “..and if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain, and your faith is in vain.” The apostle Paul directly links the fact of Christ’s resurrection to how we know the Christian faith is true.

With that in mind, we must tell our children that death is not the end. Each of us has an eternal soul. Each of us will give an account to a just and holy God. Parents must communicate to their children the vital importance of being united to Christ through saving faith. This should change the way we view earthly life, physical death, and eternal life. In his later years, Billy Graham said, “Someday you will read or hear that Billy Graham is dead. Don’t you believe a word of it. I shall be more alive than I am now. I will just have changed my address.”

In summary, we must tell our children that they are sinners, and that our sin has kept us from God. But God made a way through his Son, Jesus. Because Jesus took our sin upon Himself and died on the cross, we must repent of our sins, trust in His work alone, and be forgiven. We know this is true because Jesus did not stay dead; he rose in power from the grave, beating sin and death itself.

In short, Easter is an opportunity to remember the Gospel anew for ourselves and our children. Parents, we serve a living God Who loves us and went to great lengths to save us. May God likewise save our children for his glory. May they confidently answer the first question of the Heidelberg Catechism in the affirmative:

Q. What is your only comfort in life and in death?

A. That I am not my own, but belong – body and soul, in life and in death – to my faithful Savior, Jesus Christ. He has fully paid for all my sins with his precious blood, and has set me free from the tyranny of the devil. He also watches over me in such a way that not a hair can fall from my head without the will of my Father in heaven; in fact, all things must work together for my salvation. Because I belong to Him, Christ, by His Holy Spirit, assures me of eternal life and makes me wholeheartedly willing and ready from now on to live for Him.

Stephen LaSpina is the Digital Magazine Coordinator and E-News Editor for CHAP.  He resides in Northeastern Pennsylvania with his wife and daughters.