Christ is Risen

He is risen; He is risen indeed.

The entire Christian faith, as agreed upon by all true Christians, is centered around Jesus and the story of the Gospel. The coming of Christ as a human child, growing up as a man, living a perfect life, and dying on the cross for our sins.

At least, that's where many people stop. Often we forget that after Jesus died, He was raised from the dead - and that without this fact, the entire Christian faith would just be another religion following some dead prophet who taught good morals.
Because Jesus is alive, this changes everything.

Did you get that?

Because Jesus is alive, this changes EVERYTHING.

He is who He claimed to be; God in human form. His teachings are not guidelines; they are laws. His commands are to be obeyed. His example is one to follow. And because He is God, our sins are well and truly nailed to the cross, and we bear them no more...praise the Lord, praise the Lord, oh my soul!

My heart throbs with a mixture of pain and joy as I look at the Cross. I can't imagine what it would be like to be so punished for something I didn't do, something I didn't deserve.
Oh, I was there at the Cross. I was there yelling insults and profanities, screaming in delight as the nails were driven into Jesus's flesh, laughing as He cried out "My God, my God, why have You forsaken Me?" I jeered and taunted, shaking my fist in His face and spitting on Him.
What a fool I was! The wrath that boiled in the heavens that day, crashing down as a thunderbolt on this God in man's form, was meant for me. But that man whom I mocked and rejected was the one who took it in my place, and now I am struck dumb, speechless. As the song says,

"Why would You adopt
And take as Your own
Those who had crushed Your one precious Son?
Why mercy and grace
Towards Your enemies
Your name they have cursed, and Your throne they have shunned!
Oh how could you choose to show kindness to these
The ones who would mock You and hate You
The ones just like me?"

And the atheists mock Christians for blind devotion to an imagination in the sky.
...sorry, I need to go recompute.

He is risen!