The Doctrine of Easter

Doctrine is a word that can make people roll their eyes, let out a deep sigh, or look for another person with whom to start up a conversation. But doctrine sit he foundation of our faith and a weak foundation leads to a weak faith. The fact that Christianity is becoming less acceptable in our society should cause us to redouble our efforts to be strong foundationally. Sadly, many Christians do not have any appetite for solid doctrine. Of course, tongue in cheek, no one could eve accuse an FEBC member or church of having weak doctrine. After all, one of our tenets is the authority of Scripture, right? 

As we rejoice in another Easter season it is easy for us to dwell on the ‘what’ without ever considering the ‘why.’ Jesus died for our sins and was resurrected on the third day! We can quote scripture to the same effect — “that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day according to the scriptures” (1 Corinthians 15:3-4). But what are we to do with that little phrase, “according to the scriptures?” Cross references in my Bible take me to the gospel accounts, to predictions from Isaiah, and Psalms. But do those references explain this phrase? Does Paul write “according to the scriptures” as a reference to the historical account given by the gospel writers? It is doubtful, considering he wrote 1 Corinthians around 54-55 AD, possibly before any of the gospels had been written. So then, is it in response to the Old Testament prophecies? In part yes ... but a prophecy itself declares what will happen, not necessarily why it will happen.
The New Testament writers were masters in their knowledge of the Old Testament due not only to the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, but also due to their study as Jews (with Luke being the only known exception). So, let’s use the whole counsel of God to consider the why for Jesus’ death and resurrection.
We start at the beginning (apparently a very good place to start) with creation, and we see from Genesis chapter one that God created the universe and everything in it which means he has authority over it to impose any freedom or restriction he chooses. We see that he made Adam and gave him authority over creation with one restriction: Adam could not eat the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Gen. 2:17). When the serpent tempted Adam and Eve in Genesis 3, he enticed them with the lie that they could be like God. Isaiah 14:14 teaches that this formed the basis for Satan’s own rebellion, “I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.” Every form of sin is rebellion against God at the core.
Because God is holy, just, and eternal, sin must be punished. And sin cannot just be punished for a certain period of time; it must be for eternity because God himself is eternal. The notion that God will sentence sinners to the lake of fire but eventually let them out because of his mercy is an affront against his holiness and his eternality. There is no such thing as time off for good behavior because God’s standard is not good but perfect. There aren’t degrees of goodness or badness but only perfect and imperfect. Imperfection cannot be made better by any amount of goodness; it can never eventually attain perfection because every failure remains. Thus, our need for a redeemer remains.
In Genesis 3:15 God promised the serpent, “He shall bruise you on the head.” But what kind of man could do this? Isaiah 7:14 gives the answer: “Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call his name Immanuel.” The angel Gabriel explained to Mary, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; and for that reason the holy Child shall be called the Son of God.” (Luke 1:35) The Redeemer must be a man because the penalty for sin is death (Gen. 2:17, Rom. 6:23). The redeemer must die. But an ordinary man can only die for his own sin, so the redeemer must also be God in order to be perfect and able to pay for the sin of others. This is why Mary must be a virgin, to verify that Jesus is fully God and fully man.
The gospel writers paint a brutally honest picture of all that Jesus went through leading to his death; his agony in the Garden of Gethsemane, Judas’s betrayal, the trail before the Sanhedrin, the mockery before Herod, the sentence by Pilate, the scourging and the final humiliation of the crucifixion complete with becoming sin on our behalf (2 Cor. 5:21). In addition to all of this Isaiah 53:10 says, “But the Lord was pleased to crush him, putting him to grief.” Every element of Jesus’ agony was necessary for the payment of sin. We see that God did not go easy on Jesus, but unleashed the full measure of his wrath. The justice, holiness and righteousness of God demanded it.
But thanks be to God that Jesus rose from the dead! It is not just a pleasant end to the story but is, in fact, crucial to our salvation. Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 15:17, “And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins.” Peter declared in Acts 2:24, “But God raised him up again, putting an end to the agony of death, since it was impossible for him to be held in its power.” Why was it impossible for Jesus to be held by death’s power? Contrary to the theory of evolution, death is not the natural product of life, it is the direct result of sin (Rom. 5:12); and because Jesus was sinless and perfect, death had no hold on him. The resurrection verified that he was the perfect sacrifice. He died and God declared him righteous by raising him back to life again! Hallelujah, what a savior!

The doctrine of Easter is not dry and dull, it is the very reason for the hope that we have. May we be encouraged and built up in our faith as we worship the risen savior!

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Trevor Kirsch has been serving at Compass Immanuel church since 1998 and as senior pastor since 2019. He loves to teach. He and his wife, Twyilla, have three adult children and four grandchildren.