The Easter Story

 

The Easter Story A few weeks ago I decided to look up Bible verses about the "unconditional" love of God. But I couldn't find any. In fact, I couldn't find the word "unconditional" in any of the Bibles I have on my Kindle! So then I went over to Biblehub and did a word search on the dozens of Bibles that they have there. The word "unconditional" is simply not in the English Bible, in ANY context, except for the Good News Bible (a paraphrased version) which uses it once in the Old Testament, referring to one of the Old Testament covenants. I was absolutely stunned. As I sat there thinking about this, I realized that the Bible is a book of "conditions," beginning with Adam and Eve who were told not to eat from one tree. And then the covenant with Abraham, the Law of Moses and even the New Testament covenant established by Jesus Christ. But the difference with the New Covenant in Christ is this: HE fulfilled the covenant on our behalf! God knew we were unable to fulfill any covenant perfectly, as required. So Christ did it for us. Sooo... where does the concept of God's unconditional love come from? I think it started with the word AGAPE, which is a Greek word for love. Agape is the highest form of love. Agape is God's divine, holy, pure and transcendent love. And Agape is sometimes translated as "unconditional" in language dictionaries, which may be easier to grasp than words like divine and transcendent. But the main thing to know as we begin the Easter Story series this week is this: all the events of Easter are a display of God's Agape love! The transcendent, overwhelming love of God is woven through the entire Easter story. Christianity is represented by a Cross. God could have chosen flowers or hearts to show His love, but God's love is represented by the Cross. So, let's learn what the Cross is all about... To Be Continued.