That, I say, is the essence of the entire Holy Week which culminates today, Easter Sunday. For Christians and believers, the passion and death of Jesus Christ is made more special by His Resurrection. Many others have suffered and died for their faith, but none have do so to save mankind and defeat Death by coming back to life.
Easter is a time when we are all reminded that in spite of our folly, there is always another chance given to us by God. There are consequences from our mistakes, but there is also an opportunity for us to return to the right path.
When Adam and Eve disobeyed God and ate the forbidden fruit, they were banished from the Garden of Eden with the loss certain privileges from the Father, but they were not immediately thrown into Hell to suffer for eternity. They still had the chance to live life in accordance to God’s will (Genesis 3:13-20).
When mankind continued to live in evil, God’s grief over man’s undoing led Him to cause a cleansing of the earth through a great flood. But as He had grace over Noah, he gave mankind another chance by telling him to build an ark so that he and his family might be saved and start anew.
This second chance, this New Beginning, was sealed with a heavenly promise that it will not happen again, capped off with a rainbow in the skies (Genesis 9:12-17).
And so it is that with the continuing and repeating fall of man, God gave chances for us to return to His will. The opportunity for a new beginning was always there. God’s grace for us guaranteed that we will not be immediately condemned but given all the chances to return to fold of the good. Just as a parent will not condemn and cast away a child, so too, will the Heavenly Father always provide a way for the prodigal child to return.
Jesus’ resurrection, the reason for Easter, is the glorious manifestation that God always gives second chances and opportunities for a new beginning. Just as He had promised to Noah, never again did He destroy the earth for man’s evil and cruelty. Instead, the Son’s sacrifice redeemed man from sin. All man needs to do now is accept the Lord as his Saviour. In the face of evil, there is hope.
In our worldly affairs, there is also a chance for a new beginning. While many now go through life simply by surviving, while the people have lost faith and trust in the government that is supposed to serve them, while there seems to be a dearth of public servants who are able to earn the confidence of the people, while there seems to be so much cynicism and doubt among the people, there is still a chance for our country to be redeemed.
There is no doubt that our country will rise again and claim its place in the international community. We just have to put our best foot forward and collectively build upon all the positive values that we have as a nation. While we have been seeing for the last several years the worst that we as a people are capable of doing, our potential for doing good is also bursting at the seams.
In a few months’ time, we will have the golden opportunity to resurrect this country. Our collective decisions in that time of reckoning will decide the fate of our nation in the next six years. Will we choose to live the same life or will we step backward and return to the failed ways of the past? Or will we take the leap into the future with a clean slate, a fresh hope and a new beginning?
As we meditate upon the blessings of God’s resurrection, let us also take into account our fate as a nation. We are upon a chance of starting anew. With the same grace that God has given our forebears, we too, should be strengthened with knowledge that in the future there is a chance for change.
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