The Christian calendar has some activities which are celebrated to commemorate historic events which occurred during bible days. Mention can be made of Christmas and Easter. This time around, Easter is being celebrated the world over and it is very important that the purpose of Easter is explained to inform persons who do not know the essence of Easter and its celebration.
Simply put, Easter is celebrated to commemorate the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ when He appeared on earth over 2014 years ago.
The first sin was committed in the Garden of Eden. God created Adam and Eve and put them in the Garden of Eden. Adam was charged not to eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil in the midst of the garden (Genesis 2:9). However, Adam and Eve ate the fruit from the tree because of deception of the devil who appeared in the form of a snake. Adam and Eve became spiritually dead (that is, spiritually separated from God) and consequently died physically after some years. This was not the intention of God for man but because man had the power of choice, God did not stop Adam and Eve from eating the fruit though God could have stopped them from eating the fruit. Man’s power to dominate the earth was then willed to the devil. All men and women became sinners!
For men and women to be saved from the sin brought about by Adam and Eve, it had to take another person not born of the seed of man to triumph over the devil. That was the reason God sent Jesus into the world. Jesus was not born of the seed of man but of God just like Adam. Isaiah 53 portended the coming of Jesus Christ as the savior and what He must go through. Finally, Jesus Christ shows up so as to wrestle with the devil to restore the glory of mankind. Because the devil owned the world before the advent of Jesus on earth, he (the devil) had the power to tempt Jesus but did not succeed.
Jesus was crucified on the cross. Since the sin of man was laid upon Him, He died spiritually therefore His confession in Matthew 27:46 “And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, my God, my God, why has thou forsaken me?”. Jesus died physically after this confession. What happened after the physical death of Jesus?
Jesus went to Hell to war with the devil. Colossians 2:15 states “And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it”. Jesus defeated the devil and all other principalities and took back from Hell what the devil snatched from Adam in the Garden of Eden. So the resurrection of Jesus from the death is a great sign of victory for every child of God. The child of God has no tangible reason(s) to fear the devices of the devil because of the victory of Jesus. Jesus became poor so that through His poverty, we may become rich. He has restored us back to our previous glory plus much more glory. This is purpose of Easter.
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