So as today is Good Friday and Sunday is Easter allow me to wish one and all a happy Easter! Of course we all know that Jesus is the reason for the season and the Easter Bunny is the sign of the times. It was Jesus's death that was a very big deal for the future of all mankind. It hearkens back to the old testament. Abraham was told by God to go and sacrifice his only son. Naturally Abraham was a man of faith and obediance and did what he was told. However, I think, in the back of his mind he must have thought God wouldn't let him go through with it. Because God promised him that he will be father of many nations. It logically didn't make sense. I suppose that is why God stopped him right before he was about to do it. However, I think God may have seen a father's love for Him be greater than his love for his son at that point in time. That was a big deal.
 
Now that I am an actual father to a son I get an even deeper respect for what was accomplished. Why? Because I love my son with a bond that cannot be broken. We have already bonded and as he grows up we will bond even more. I wonder if I will be here when he is 33 and I have been able to watch him and help him become a man. Because we have such a bond I can see why the death of Jesus was a big deal to God emotionally. God not only loved the world, but he loved his Son too. Now the world is filled with people who hate God, don't believe in Jesus and hate all things Christian. Why would God love those who hate him? I think maybe it is because we all have the free will to change. The free will to love God and worship him. We all can change. Often times we like to personify God as someone who is just like us and has our judgements of good and bad. The reality is, Gods ways are not our ways. God even says that no one is a good person, even Christians, which is why we all need salvation. He is not mortal and therefore has a different perspective than we can possibly imagine. But the one thing we know he has, and the one thing that is littered throughout the Bible is love.
 
So if God the father loves Jesus the Son and he sacrificed his only son for our sins, how much must he love us? It boggles the mind that God does love us. It is so unbelievable that most people turn away. It is when you turn back to God, and ask for forgiveness that you realize God does always forgive. He has to. Otherwise the death of His Son for nothing. So I always wondered, was it the death of Jesus or the resurrection that saves us? Was it the sacrifice or the belief in His divinity that saves us. It is both. You have to believe God gave his only Son as a sacrifice for our sins. You have to beleive Jesus is God because of John 8:
 23 But he continued, "You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. 24 I told you that you would die in your sins; if you do not believe that I am the one I claim to be, you will indeed die in your sins."
 
So to the non-believers out there. Believe and be saved. When you repent God forgives. When you believe you have eternal life. When you have eternal life you have joy. When you have joy you have a reason to live. Make that change. Why not?