This article is based on Pastor Adrian Rogers' message, The Cup.
Most people love to celebrate Christmas. But for Christians, Easter should be filled with even more wonder. While Christmas shone its starry light on God’s promise of redemption, Easter Sunday gleamed with the glory of redemption realized.
Easter provides a personal redemption story for each individual believer, a collective redemption story for all believers as the unified Body of Christ, and a story of creative redemption that will one day result in new heavens and a new Earth.
Even those of us who may be discouraged by life’s circumstances know our stories are not finished. Because Jesus came out of the grave, our difficulties are tiny pauses, like the commas that separate this phrase, in the glorious story of redemption.
We can look up and not down as we face the future. We must also look out and not in.
Jesus has called us to consider the implications of redemption: He is leading a victory train to Heaven, and we are called to help bring people from all over the globe with us on the homeward journey.
To better understand the promise of redemption and how Easter is God’s plan for redemption and eternal life, let’s imagine the story as a five-act play.
Let’s take a look at why we need Easter, at the role Jesus played throughout the story of biblical history, and at how the resurrection of Jesus Christ fulfills the promise of redemption.
And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters (Genesis 1:2b).
Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness” (Genesis 1:26a).
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made (John 1:1-3).
God has a triune nature. He is one God in three persons. You can recognize those persons at creation. The Spirit of God in Genesis 1:2b is God the Holy Spirit. The God speaking in Genesis 1:26 is God the Father. The Word who was with God in the beginning in John 1:1-3 is God the Son.
The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are three distinct persons, all fully God. Yet together, they are one God. The Trinity taught in the Bible is beyond our comprehension. We can’t fully understand how God can be three in one. But the fact that it is beyond our understanding doesn’t make it untrue.
While we can’t understand the Trinity, God’s nature is reflected in the order He established for this world. Space consists of height, width, and depth. You can’t have one without the other. Time is divided into past, present, and future. You cannot have one without the other. Time is triune. Space is triune. Man is triune. We’re made in the image of God—body, soul, and spirit. The body is the physical being we can touch. The soul consists of the mind, will, and emotions; the spirit is unique to Man and is the part of our nature through which we can know God. His plan is that we know and love Him deeply and eternally, just as He knows and loves us.
God created Man (all people) to know Him. In the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve related to God perfectly naturally, following His command to rule over the Earth wisely and lovingly. But that relationship was lost. Adam and Eve chose the temptation of trying to become their own gods over relationship with a loving God who desired to work in and through them for His benevolent purposes.
God immediately put into action His plan to redeem Man and restore the lost relationship. And that plan always involved Jesus.
For Adam and his wife the Lord God made tunics of skin, and clothed them (Genesis 3:21).
Jesus was the metaphorical blood in the Garden when God the Father sacrificed the first animal to cover Adam’s and Eve’s nakedness.
This imperfect sacrifice, and all of the blood sacrifices of the Law, foreshadowed the perfect sacrifice on Calvary, which ushered in God’s grace which makes our redemption possible.
Throughout the Old Testament, story after story provided abundant foreshadowing and numerous prophecies describing the One who would provide redemption for Mankind and win back the intimacy Man had lost with God and the Kingdom Authority Man had on Earth.
Jesus is the Ark of Safety for Noah and His family. He is the ram caught in the thicket who is sacrificed in place of Isaac on Mount Moriah. He is the lamb’s blood painted on the doorways of the homes of God’s people so that death would pass over them before the Exodus from Egypt. He is seen in the design of, and the rituals practiced in, the Tabernacle in which God’s people worshiped in the wilderness. Over and over, we see Jesus foretold in Old Testament stories and symbols.
Chapter 53 of the Book of Isaiah is a special treasure pointing to the Messianic Prophecies of Jesus.
“But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of you shall come forth to Me the One to be Ruler in Israel, whose goings forth are from of old, from everlasting” (Micah 5:2).
Jesus left Heaven’s throne to occupy an animal feed trough in a Bethlehem stable. He left the benefits of His legitimate Sonship and cosmic Kingship to become the “illegitimate” child (in the world’s eyes) of a poor teenage girl. Why? Because as the only one who was fully God and fully Man, the God-Man, He was the only one who could live a perfect life and provide a perfect sacrifice for Man’s redemption.
Through His birth, His life, His death, and resurrection, Jesus fulfilled not some, but all, of the Messianic prophecies in the Old Testament.
In His life and ministry, He was beloved by the seeking who were poor and powerless and hated by the godless who were rich and powerful. The only faults anyone ever found in Him were His claims to be God (which He was and is). He was crucified for those claims.
Read more about the significance of the incarnation of Jesus Christ in The Baby Jesus, the Thrill of Hope, Changes Everything.
He knelt down and prayed, saying, “Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done.” Then an angel appeared to Him from heaven, strengthening Him. And being in agony, He prayed more earnestly. Then His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground (Luke 22:41b-44).
In Luke 22, Jesus told His disciples about His coming crucifixion at the Last Supper. When He later came to the Garden of Gethsemane, He prayed three times: “Lord, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me.”
This wasn’t a literal cup; rather, a symbolic cup, meaning to experience something fully. Was He afraid of His coming crucifixion? Did the cup symbolize the physical pain He would soon feel? What was it that caused Jesus to dread the drinking of that cup? It was sin; every sin through all the ages polluted the cup, as well as the punishment of that sin. It was not the physical pain He would feel that caused Him to plead for another way. No; it was the vileness and filth of sin He would soon take on that caused Him agony. And the silence from Heaven said, there is no other way.
God will never overlook sin, for He is holy. By His holiness, He has sworn that sin will be punished. So, when Jesus took on our sins, God the Father, in holy justice, treated Jesus as if He were a sinner, and punished Him as such. Jesus knew this, yet He consumed the contents of the cup anyway. He chose the cup.
In His holy humanity, Jesus shrank back. But in His divine love, He said, “Thy will be done.”
Jesus wrestled between His holy humanity and His divine love. His love won.
There is one more cup, one that we drink. Just before Jesus went into Gethsemane, Jesus was at the Last Supper with his disciples.
Likewise, He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is shed for you” (Luke 22:21).
This is the cup of restored relationship, of communion with God, that Jesus won for us, and it is ours to drink.
He drank the cup of sin that we might have the cup of redemption.
The cross is God’s way to punish sin and forgive the sinner at the same time. —Adrian Rogers
That cup, drunk to the dregs at Gethsemane, sealed the torture and death Jesus faced over the next 24 hours.
Before Jesus was crucified, a crown of thorns was placed on His head. Though done by the hands of wicked men, this crowning was part of the magnificent plan of a sovereign God, who would use it as a message for all humanity.
When they had twisted a crown of thorns, they put it on His head, and a reed in His right hand. And they bowed the knee before Him and mocked Him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” Then they spat on Him, and took the reed and struck Him on the head (Matthew 27:29-30).
In one sense, this was an act of mockery. But oh, the fulfillment of prophecy!
When God created Man and put him in the Garden of Eden, there were no thorns. It wasn’t until after sin infiltrated the garden that God cursed it with thorns. When He was crucified, Jesus wore this crown of thorns because He bore the curse.
The crown of thorns highlighted the suffering, pain and brutality inflicted on Jesus. Why were the Roman soldiers beating and mocking Him? Because of their rebellion; they were ridiculing His right to rule.
People are still ridiculing that right, just as Adam and Eve had.
“The root of all sin is refusing to bow the knee to your rightful king.” —Adrian Rogers
When Jesus wore this crown of thorns, He was the sovereign majesty, not a helpless victim. Even when it seemed out of His control, He was in perfect control.
Read more about Jesus’ crown of thorns and about the timeline of events in the Easter Story in the article: The Easter Story Timeline of Events that Led to the Resurrection of Jesus.
For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit (1 Peter 3:18).
The cross of Jesus Christ is the cure for sin.
The word vicarious means “in the place of another.”. Jesus, the just, sinless Son of God, died for the unjust, us. He became our substitute.
In the Old Testament, God instituted the ritual of the Passover Lamb as a picture of the cross of Jesus Christ. Jesus' crucifixion perfects the symbolism of that Passover Lamb. The blood of Jesus provides our redemption.
“For Christ also hath once suffered for sin....” Once; once for all. The debt has been paid in full. To say that there needs to be another sacrifice for sin is blasphemy. Because of Christ’s sacrifice, it is finished.
“For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God.” Sin separates us from a Holy God. The cross reconciles us a Holy God.
On that cross, Jesus took Holy God with one hand, sinful man with the other hand and by the blood of His cross, He reconciled God and man. Oh the love that thought it; oh the grace that brought it—Adrian Rogers
For more about the power of the cross, read the article, The Meaning of Redemption in the Easter Story.
“O Death, where is your sting? O Hades, where is your victory?” (1 Corinthians 15:55).
Over the centuries, many people have questioned whether the resurrection of Jesus actually occurred. It’s an important question because all of Christianity hinges upon the resurrection. Unlike other religions, Christians don’t place their hope in a set of teachings or beliefs. We place our hope in Jesus Himself. No resurrection means no Jesus. No Jesus means no Christianity.
So how can we be sure that the resurrection of Jesus really happened? How can we be confident that our faith is true and not based on an elaborate lie? Here are three proofs to consider:
The disciples didn’t expect Jesus to rise from the dead; they didn’t even expect Him to die. They had witnessed Him die a slow, agonizing death and watched a Roman soldier thrust his spear into Jesus’ side and pierce His heart. He was dead. End of story. After He died, they behaved as if He were never coming back. When the women who went to His tomb to anoint His body told the disciples they had seen the risen Christ, the disciples didn’t believe them. But then Jesus appeared to all His disciples, proving to them He was indeed alive. They believed in the resurrection because they saw Jesus with their own eyes. They were transformed from scaredy cats hiding away from the world into bold evangelists willing to suffer and die for their conviction. James was beheaded. Stephen was stoned to death. John was sent into exile. Peter was said to be crucified upside down. Even doubting Thomas went to his death holding fast to the belief that Jesus was alive. Would the disciples have endured such suffering if Jesus hadn’t risen from the dead? Absolutely not. People aren’t willing to die for something they know isn’t true.
The Pharisees and religious leaders knew Jesus claimed He would rise from the dead. So, measures were taken to prevent that from happening. A heavy stone was rolled in front of the entrance to the tomb in which Jesus was buried. This stone most likely weighed several hundred pounds and required several people to move. The Pharisees placed a seal around the stone, probably made of clay. The seal would have been impressed with the Roman imperial seal. Anyone breaking the seal would incur the wrath of the Roman emperor. Guards were also placed around the tomb to prevent anyone from getting close to it. To get to the body of Jesus, someone would have to get past all the guards on duty and roll away a giant stone, all without making any noise. The disciples certainly weren’t in any position to do this. They were in hiding. Furthermore, why would the disciples steal Jesus’ body and then claim He had risen from the dead? It was those very claims after Jesus did rise from the dead that resulted in their being tortured and killed.
In addition to the historical proof that Jesus rose from the dead, there is also the fact that millions of lives have been dramatically changed by Jesus. Around the globe, the hopeless have received hope, the broken have received healing, and the lost have been found. This is the reality of new life in Jesus. The followers of Jesus didn’t have political or military power. They didn’t have access to the halls of influence. And yet the message of the risen Jesus spread around the globe, penetrating people groups, crossing language barriers, even transforming entire cultures—all despite significant opposition. The followers of Jesus faced consistent persecution. The leaders of powerful nations like Rome sought to exterminate Christians. Nero burned Christians alive, even using them as human torches. And yet the Gospel continued to spread. Rome is gone. The risen Jesus continues to change lives. The real question is, have you let Him change yours?
If Jesus Christ is still in that grave nothing really matters, but if He came out of that grave, nothing but that really matters. —Adrian Rogers
Read the article, How to Teach the Story of Easter and Redemption to Kids.
Jesus is alive and well; the Christ who walked the shores of Galilee, who was crucified and raised on the third day, is alive on this Earth through His new body, the Church, even today.
Now as they (Peter and John) spoke to the people, the priests, the captain of the temple, and the Sadducees came upon them, being greatly disturbed that they taught the people and preached in Jesus the resurrection from the dead. And they laid hands on them, and put them in custody until the next day, for it was already evening. However, many of those who heard the word believed; and the number of the men came to be about five thousand (Acts 4:1-4).
How did these uneducated fishermen preach and five thousand come to Christ? They were not dependent upon their power of persuasion or winsomeness to bring these people to Christ. It was the people’s encounter with Christ through the disciples that convinced them to believe.
There are things happening in this world today that are undeniably done by the hand of Jesus. He is still performing miracles.
After spending time with the resurrected Christ, Peter was compelled to tell others about Him. If we spend time with Jesus, we will be as bold as His disciples. His presence will compel us with a holy boldness; a knowledge that Jesus is alive and that He lives through us.
Acts 4:20 says, “For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard.” Anybody who has known that Christ is alive cannot keep quiet; we cannot hold it in.
Because He is alive, we can let Jesus convince, confront and compel others through us. Let us not be ashamed to confess what He has done in our lives, even though we may be persecuted.
The Book of Acts is not what the apostles were doing. The Book of Acts is what Jesus Christ was doing in the apostles. —Adrian Rogers
Read the article, What God’s Promise of Redemption Means for The Christian Life.
Without Easter, Christianity is a dead religion with a dead founder. Because of the resurrection, Easter will have its final say in the return of Christ and the resurrection of believers.
Because of Easter, hope is alive for every believer. We have forgiveness of sins, we have God’s love, and we have the promise of eternal life. We are eternally restored to relationship with God and with every member of His family. Whether we are alive on this Earth or buried in the ground, we will one day be with the Lord Jesus Christ—bodily.
As night is followed by day, the majesty of the Redeemer King Jesus is followed by the mystery of the rapture. He is the first fruits; we are the harvest.
Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed—in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality (1 Corinthians 15:51-53).
A biblical mystery is a truth revealed by divine revelation.
This sacred secret is that one day, millions of people are going to be transported from this Earth into Heaven. The living saints will be changed, and the dead saints will be raised from the grave in their resurrection bodies.
When Adam sinned against God, he died immediately in his spirit, progressively in his soul, and ultimately in his body. When our Lord redeems us, He reverses it: we are justified immediately in the spirit, sanctified progressively in the soul, and glorified ultimately in the body.
The whole of Creation is supernatural. God made everything out of nothing. Do you think that He can’t raise you out of something? Paul said to King Agrippa, “Why should it be thought incredible by you that God raises the dead?” (Acts 26:8).
But someone will say, “How are the dead raised up? And with what body do they come?” Foolish one, what you sow is not made alive unless it dies. And what you sow, you do not sow that body that shall be, but mere grain—perhaps wheat or some other grain. But God gives it a body as He pleases, and to each seed its own body (1 Corinthians 15:35-38).
A seed goes into the ground and rots, but out of it comes life more glorious than the seed that went into the ground. —Adrian Rogers
Read the article, The Power of Forgiveness and Being Redeemed by God’s Grace.
Other resources you may find helpful as you celebrate Easter include The Unshakeable Conquest message series, The Road to Calvary email challenge, the Scripture Reading Plan, Jesus: Foretold, Realized, Resurrected, and Returning, and the book, His Story, God’s Purpose and Plan from Genesis to Revelation. You can also listen to our audio theatre series, “Voices of Easter.” Simply go to your App store and search for Love Worth Finding to get the MyLWF App.
