Right in the centre- Hope for the future

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Published on Thursday, April 2, 2015

By Ken Waddell

The Neepawa Banner

The Good Friday and Easter Sunday weekend has for 20 centuries provided a renewal of hope for mankind. Be it in times of prosperity or famine, in peace or in war, the Easter message is, if nothing else, a message of hope. 

People were created and are still being created, in the image of God, to have a free will. If God had created people as puppets, there would be no free will and therefore no choice about worshiping God or any choice in anything for that matter. We have a choice and we daily exercise those choices. People don’t have to be told they are sinners, the evidence of that abounds. Even if one takes a finger-pointing position and continually points out the sins of others, there comes a point in life when one has to admit, “I have sinned”. The Bible says all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. That’s pretty much self evident.

For those who deny the existence of God, life is a bit easier, for sure. They choose to believe that God doesn’t exist. That is their choice. I believe that God exists. To believe otherwise is your choice. God created the world, it couldn’t possibly have just happened. It matters not if you look at a leaf, a hair or a mountain range, there’s no way it could have just happened by chance.

So what about Easter? God sent his Son Jesus who was born, lived and then died just like every human who has ever existed. But there’s one big difference, Jesus rose from the dead, conquering death as is said at many funerals. If we believe in the story of Jesus, then we too will conquer death as well. When they die, believers in Jesus will conquer death. It’s the world’s simplest message but it is also the world’s most profound message.

The Easter message “He is risen!” “He is risen indeed!” echoes around the world and through the centuries for the benefit of all mankind.

People can reject the message, that’s their free choice. People can downgrade the value of the Christian church. One can pile up horrible evidence of wrong doings by Christians and the church over the centuries and in every community. That people have distorted the Easter message, the Christian message is beyond doubt. Some distortion of Christianity has been in error, perhaps even innocent error. Some distortion has been very deliberate and for deliberate personal gain. Nationalism, colonialism, wealth and sexual gratification have all been motives for those who have distorted Christianity. Unfortunately, it’s still happening today.

Christianity is a bit like looking at a beautiful scene through a clean window. Then someone, or simply the passage of time, makes the window very dirty. The scene doesn’t change, it’s the window that changes. Actually, even the window doesn’t change, it’s just all the dirt and grime that gets spread over the window. 

In spite of all the shortcomings of people and nations, Christianity is like no religion ever dreamed up by man. That’s because Christianity isn’t a religion. Religion is when man reaches up or out to God. Christianity is when God reaches out or down to man. Think about it. There’s a huge difference. Hundreds of millions of people still try to make Christianity a religion today but it is not a religion. Christianity is a a free choice relationship, the only belief system that truly follows the way God made us. We have a free will. 

May you have a truly Good Friday and a Happy Easter.