Easter in a Nutshell

As we prepare for Easter Sunday, let's remember who and what we are celebrating. I thought this was a great "Easter in a Nutshell" account from, https://www.christianity.com/wiki/holidays/true-meaning-of-easter-why-is-it-celebrated.html

"Easter is celebrated by Christians to commemorate the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, as described in the New Testament of the Bible. According to Christian beliefs, Jesus was crucified on Good Friday, and three days later, on Easter Sunday, He rose from the dead, symbolizing victory over sin and death." 

Thus we say, "He is risen," over death and sin making a way for us as sinners to be free from death and sin and one day be with God. Matthew 28:5-7 tells us, "The angel said to the women, 'Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples: ‘He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.’ Now I have told you.”

We are not just absorbed into the Kingdom of God. We haven't always been Christians, but we've always been sinners (Romans 3:22-23). In my own testimony, there was a time when I made a decision to follow Jesus Christ. Since God is a God of love and love requires a choice, He's not going to force people to believe in His Son. So if we want to be saved from hell and live in heaven one day, we must make a choice to personally ask Jesus Christ to come into our hearts and forgive us of our sins. We must believe that He is the Son of God, and that He died on the cross and rose again three days later for us and ask Him to be our Savior and Redeemer. If we do make that decision, we become Children of the Most High God and members of His Royal Family. All this is to say, as Christians our hope is in the reality of Easter. If Christ hadn't died and rose again three days later, we would be without hope, death would have won. 

John 3:16 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.