BusinessDay 01 Apr 2018

C002D5556
Sunday 01 April 2018
32BDSUNDAY
TheWorshippers
‘Easter is the assurance of life after death
through resurrection power of Christ’
Today, the Christian community all over the world over celebrates Easter. Easter marks the commemoration of the suffering, crucifixion, death and glorious resurrection
of Jesus Christ. The scripture in Romans 8:34 says, ‘Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of
God, who also maketh intercession for us.’
That scripture encapsulates the whole essence of the coming of Jesus Christ and his agony on the cross of Calvary to bring salvation to mankind, and break man
completely free from the strong grips of sin and its consequences.
Easter is the culmination of man’s salvation history. Prior to Easter, Christians observe 40 days of Lent which entail prayer, fasting, abstinence and repentance to purge
the inner man of sin and bring him closer to his creator.
On the third day after Jesus died and was buried, he rose from the dead. According to the Gospel of John, early in the morning of the third day, Mary Magdalene went
to the tomb where Jesus was buried and found it empty. There, she found an angel who told her that Jesus had risen.
Following his resurrection, Jesus met his disciples in an upper room. He showed them the wounds in his hands and his side and blessed them with the peace of God.
With his death and resurrection, the plan of salvation was completed.
As Nigerian Christians join the rest of the Christian world to celebrate this year’s Easter, ‘The Worshippers’ went to town to get the opinion of a cross section of Lagos
pastors on the significance of Easter and how they would want Christians to celebrate it. Excerpts:
SEYI JOHN SALAU
Reverend Femi Popoola, pastor, Divine
Mercy Baptist Church, Ikosi, Ketu,
Lagos
First of all, it must be stated that
Easter is not a biblical ordinance.
It was introduced into Christianity
in later years. There is
no biblical reference to the
festival. However, it has become part of
the Church for many centuries and it has
come to stay.
Having said this, Easter is connected
to the events of the death, burial and
resurrection of our Lord and Saviour
Jesus Christ some 2000 years ago. This
is the core of the Christian faith; that is,
Jesus Christ, God’s incarnate, died to
atone for the sins of mankind and was
raised by God’s Spirit from the dead on
the third day.
This was a historic event with biblical
proofs upon which the Christian faith
rests. In essence, Easter can be said to be
a spiritual occasion to commemorate the
reality of the death, burial and resurrection
of Jesus Christ, the Saviour.
How to celebrate
For true Christians, Easter should be
an occasion to reexamine one’s conviction
about one’s salvation in Christ. It
should be an occasion for serious spiritual
retreat to learn more about the truths
of the Bible. It should be an occasion to
witness to others who are yet to come to
salvation in Christ. And serious Christians
should avoid taking the occasion as time
for leisure and picnic.
Popoola
Ariire
Venerable Ariire Ayo Kolawole, vicar,
Our Saviour’s Anglican Church, Egbe,
Lagos
On lent
In any general festival like this, people
form their opinions. As it is at the moment,
it is not all Nigerian churches that
participate in Lent. Some will tell you
that it is not mandatory – Jehovah’s Witnesses
don’t follow; I know of Seventh Day
Adventist, and some of the new generation
churches referred to as Pentecostal churches
don’t do it. In that area, some have found
a way of doing it. Some denominations like
Mountain of Fire and Miracles declared 50
days of fasting; Redeemed declared 70
days of fasting, and others like that. But
apart from these, for the mainland churches
like Anglican, Baptist, Methodist, African
churches, Cherubim and Seraphim, Christ
Apostolic Church and others that actually
do Lent, it really entails a lot of sacrifice.
Significance of Easter
Easter is a commemoration of the death
and the resurrection of Christ. The death is
quite significant because it is the highest in
Christendom. Apostle Paul said, if Christ did
not resurrect, our faith would have been in
vain. The birth of Christ came to show us
the way and put us right; he died and rose,
and that is why Christianity is different
from any other religion and, of course, takes
priority over any other religion. In other
religions, their leaders don’t have these
grace and opportunities that we have and it
is through this resurrection that we all have
our redemption. The resurrection is giving
us that assurance that after death here on
earth we have hope of his second coming
and in the life to come. We all believe even in
other fields of studies, both in the religious
and secular world, that there is life after life;
that every human being has a short time to
spend here on earth and after that we will
all die and go.
So, it is only Christianity that gives us
that hope through Christ. In Islam, there
was no place where Prophet Mohammed
ever promised that hope. It was only Christ,
and he did not only promise it; he demonstrated
it by dying and resurrecting, and
he is also telling us that even after we must
have died here on earth, we still have a place
with him in heaven.
Reverend Charles Shedrack, pastor,
Church of God Mission International
(CGMI), Maza-Maza, Agboju Zone,
Lagos
This week is a very significant week
in Christendom; one week that
drives the very essence of Christianity.
The reason why we have
Christianity is because there was a week
like this that Jesus shed his blood, died and
rose again, and because we believe in him
we are saved, and that is what gives us
Charles
salvation. Our salvation is premised on the
fact that he shed his blood and died, and his
blood is for the remission of our sins; that
is the essence of this week. Without this
week there would have been no salvation,
without salvation there would have been
no Christianity.
How to celebrate Easter
The most important thing is that Christianity
doesn’t come with so many rules of
do’s and don’ts but rather it shows us the
way of life and that way of life is the way
of Christ. This is a week when Christians
should reflect on the lives they live – does
the life you live glorify Christ who died
for you, for which and in whose name you
are called Christian? In a week like this, as
Christians, in spite of all our celebration,
we should reflect on our lives and see how
we can trust him more, to be more like him.
John
Reverend Dr. John Olakunle Ojo, minister
of education, Good News Baptist
Church, Surulere, and overseer of the
children and youth ministry
Easter reminds us of the arrest, humiliation,
suffering, pain, crucifixion,
death and resurrection of Jesus
Christ. Why did he have to suffer
and die for us? Because we have all sinned.
The righteousness and justice of God demand
that sin must be punished. So, he came
and willingly offered himself to die on the
cross for our sin. He took our rightful place
on the cross. He paid the penalty for our
sin, thereby fulfilling the demand of God’s
righteousness and justice. We must not
forget that he offered himself not because
he must do it or was compelled to do it, but
willingly and voluntarily. He did this because
of his love for us. What a wonderful and
sacrificial love he demonstrated to us. No
wonder John 15:13 says, ‘No love is greater
than this that a man should lay down his life
for his friend’. Interestingly, he laid down his
life when we were not his friends.
What then should be our response to
all this? First, we need to appreciate and
give thanks to him every day of our lives for
loving us enough to lay down his life for us.
We need to resolve to love him in return, he
who first loved us. Our love will show in our
total obedience to him and his rules as well
and living to please him every day of our
life. We need to appreciate the salvation we
have through his blood shed on the cross
and share with others how they can also be
beneficiaries of this saving grace found in
Jesus alone. We must therefore share the
gospel with others because it is the power of
God unto salvation of humankind. We need
to share his love to others since we are also
beneficiaries of his love. We can do this by
forgiving all those who have offended us and
showing care for others. Our love for others
should be deep, sincere and redemptive like
that of Jesus. Happy Easter.