For the last several days, and especially on this eve of Easter, I have been reflecting on the significance of tomorrow. As we end our fasting, eat good food, and gather eggs, we can celebrate without giving enough thought to why we are celebrating. Or perhaps we think about it, but the way that we live poorly reflects what Easter means for our lives. If you are a Christian, then you must realize that Easter has changed the trajectory of our lives’ for eternity. Easter is everything.

Matt Maher’s song, Because He Lives (Amen), convey’s this truth so powerfully:

“Amen, Amen. I’m alive, I’m alive, because he lives…let my song join the one that never ends.”

Are we singing along with the unending chorus? Are we living to the tune of eternity? Because Jesus lives everything is different — everything. Every pain is comforted; every hope is realized. We were dead; now we are alive. Are we living fully alive? We were filled with fear; now Peace himself is here to dwell in us. Are we at peace? Our cause for despair is, in the light of his resurrection, now reason to hope. Do we exude hope in this world?

Are we living as if everything is different? Because he lives, we can face any hardship that comes our way. Because he lives, we don’t have to be full of fear. Because he lives, we should be joyful people. Because he lives, we will one day be reunited with loved ones we have lost too soon. Because he lives, those stricken with painful diseases will have new bodies — perfect bodies. The lame will walk. The blind will see. The deaf will hear. The poor will be rich. Those who mourn will be comforted. The hungry will be filled. Because of our faith in the resurrection, we have great hope.

I feel personally challenged to grab onto that hope for all it is worth. It is not some theory or far off idea; nothing is more real. No matter what pain I encounter, no matter what pain I bear witness to in the lives of those that I love, because my Jesus lives I know that I will one day see the other side of that sorrow. For me, that Easter hope is very real indeed. One day wars, violence, and persecution will be no more. All of my friends who have lost babies will one day hold them again. Family members and friends who have endured long batttles with cancer and other ravaging diseases will one day inhabit new bodies. My dear mother will not have Alzheimer’s disease for eternity; she will know me one day as she did — she will know me better.

God’s love and mercy cover a multitude of sins and heal all of the sorrows that each of our daily lives hold. That is the hope of the resurrection. Because he lives, we live. Let us live like we believe that it is true. Our hope is alive.