Christ was crucified and resurrected 1990 years ago at the age of 33. For believers this is the most significant event in human history because it is the only time mortal man murdered God and in return God, instead of responding with vengeance, demonstrated his love for us by turning this ultimate culmination of mans’ original sin into his greatest gift to us, forgiveness of sin and eternal life with him. This is the simple truth of Christ, and the power of that truth has transformed the world.

At the time Christ was crucified and resurrected there were an estimated 300 million people on Earth, with just a handful of Christians spreading the truth of Christ. Today there are an estimated 2.3 billion Christians around the world. How did the followers of Jesus Christ accomplish spreading the good news so far and wide? When it all started almost 2000 years ago, they didn’t have the power of government, the printing press, or the internet. They could only tell the story of Christ’s resurrection and its meaning to individuals and small groups. The story of Christ resonated with those who heard it because it was the truth and Christianity rapidly spread to become the largest faith on Earth.

If the truth of Christ is so simple and so compelling, why do so many of us struggle to believe? It must be that most of us continue to struggle with original sin, that desire to be god ourselves. This might manifest itself in the belief that we are in control and the masters of our own destiny. Or, we may believe our scientific knowledge will ultimately allow us to control nature and the natural hazards of the world. Or, we may convince ourselves that we can become sinless and good people by our own enlightened reasoning. It is easy to be drawn into these beliefs since we live in the most widely prosperous time in all human history and our knowledge of the universe is growing exponentially.

Mankind will always grapple with original sin. Our existence is a cyclical tension between the desire to be our own god or to submit to God through belief in Jesus Christ. Those who crucified Christ did so because of original sin, what better way to aspire to take the place of God than by murdering God himself. Given our slavery to original sin, what could God do to tip the balance and make us believe he loves us unconditionally? His answer was to give us his son Jesus Christ to be murdered and resurrected. Nothing short of that would make us believe.

Jesus spoke truth to thousands, healed the lepers, gave sight to the blind, gave life to the dead. His friends and disciples witness all these miracles, but still abandoned Jesus when he was arrested and crucified. Not until Christ’s resurrection did they truly believe and spread the good news that belief in Christ the living son of God leads to freedom from sin and eternal life.

Those of us who remember that instant we first believed can attest to how perplexed we were that we did not “get it” sooner. Can a truth be so simple that it is hard to understand? Or is it almost impossible to believe in a God so loving he will give us everything, including his own son, and want nothing in return? Or is it incomprehensible to some of us that God’s “free” gift comes with the cost of belief, since you cannot receive a gift you don’t believe in. Or do we simply struggle because belief in Christ forces us to give up our own beliefs that we are good, in control, and the master of our own destiny? The good news is that once you truly believe you no longer see giving up these beliefs as a cost, but simply another part of God’s free gift.

Happy Easter to all!

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