(Another post written a few days ago and I just re read through it, man I need to stay on track better. But I was distracted while I wrote this. Oh well, hopefully you'll still get something out of it).
Today being Easter I suppose it would be a better idea to write something a bit more
positive in here right? Not to mention the idea behind the events of Easter are something I want to reflect on a little in my own life at the moment anyway.
To most people Easter means taking that once a year trip into your church with a lot of family, getting dressed up and having some big dinner, not unlike Christmas Eve. To others it means chocolate, egg hunts, or any other sort of nonsense that has been tacked onto this day. To few it still holds meaning of importance that really should be made note to everyone, not just those who believe in such things. So yeah this is going to get into some faith based stuff so just warning you.
We all know the story of Easter: Jesus returned to Jerusalem, met with the apostles one last time, performed the atonement, was crucified and subsequently resurrected three days later on Sunday morning. Very cut and dry story really. It’s a wonderful story actually if you really think of the baseboard of what’s behind it all. For me to really appreciate it all you have to think beyond just the events of or the very light answer some people give as to why “because Jesus loves you”. Well yes, yes he does, but what does it all mean? Why do that? To save you? From what? Why? Does everyone really understand or think about it? Probably not. I know I don’t think about it all too much sometimes, even though I should. What was the point of a savior and why would we ever need one in the first place? And what effect does it have on us now?
Really we have to keep in mind the difference of times both before and after the events of Easter. To us now, it’s already happened and to some it’s just a nice story. It happened, its over, it continues to inspire us today, and we try to live our lives being better and doing good things among other stuff that I’m not going to talk about here because it would just fill out pages and pages. Not to mention it’s the biggest debate of why there are so many churches today, but none the less we have a much different scenario than the people who came before that time. To us the savior has already come and gone and await him to come back someday. To the people before that, they awaited his arrival to free them from what price they couldn’t already pay. The promised Savior that was talked about before even the world was.
As a kid it didn’t make too much sense to me when I learned about when the plan was presented in the pre-existence. To me it sounded like the choice was about which way we were going to do this and how it was all going to go down, instead of the reality which was here is the plan do you accept it? The wording of “if” may or may not have been there but it seems like it was always part of the plan as well. If man should fall and be lost then a savior will be provided to reclaim them. I don’t believe that whole Adam and Eve ruined it all for it all for us by getting kicked out of the garden like some churches do. That just doesn’t make sense. There would be no progression, which is why we’re all here in the first place. Why we chose to come here at all. As a kid it just seemed like the idea of a savior was plan B. It was always the plan, the choice just needed to be made to set the events in motion.
The one eternal concept that I do not understand even if it makes sense by my brain is the concept of sin. Other than it being the very definition of doing something contrary to what we were asked to or asked not to do. I get that. I wonder where these rules and commandments came from in the very first place or at least what defines things as good and evil. I mean when the definitions have been established so we can make those judgments and understandings ourselves so I get it, but just an idea that I think about sometimes. Has the definition of good and evil existed since the very beginning if there even is one at all? Oh well, now I’m getting off topic here.
Anyway, what I was trying to get at is for some reason it is impossible for anything unclean or evil to be in the presence of God. We know that. So therefore the gift of agency of choice becomes a double edged sword. It can lead us to grow and strengthen ourselves or it can be our downfall depending on what choices we make. So mankind began to exist and had no problems because there were no real choices to make or at least nothing to go against. Then commandments were introduced and suddenly agency comes into play. We all make choices and we all make good and bad ones, but the very real truth is that the price that comes with making bad decisions is far too much for us to be able to pay for. I’m not entirely sure why, but it is. It’s another eternal concept that has always existed but I don’t quite get, oh well. So then why take your greatest creation, what you love, what you want to give all to, send them away and then essentially doom them to grow and strengthen but never be able to return? Well you don’t. That’s what the concept of a savior is for. I always liked the story of the man who goes into debt and can’t afford to pay his debt and is about to be sent to prison, but a friend steps in and pays the debt for him as a mediator. Then the friend can work under his friend’s conditions to repay the debt, but is no longer under the burden of the original price of the debt. That’s what happened essentially.
We as a people were trapped under a debt that we all bring onto ourselves because nobody is perfect. We all make mistakes and that’s ok. It’s part of life. But thankfully that was the point of him coming down and doing all that for us. Paying our price all at once in a way we can’t really grasp completely, just that it happened and that it was extremely painful and agonizing but did it out of love. Out of necessity sure, but he didn’t have to but did it anyway. The House of Israel of the Old Testament understood all this before this time came. They had a system that was a similitude of the sacrifice of the savior and worked as a form of repentance, but just didn’t quite pay that price completely. They all waited in earnest for that time to come. They got it, they understood it. It was the freedom they all had awaited for. The freedom that we all awaited for as we waited to come to earth ourselves and get our turn at taking a crack at life. I’ve gotten off track a bit here, but it’s just some things I’ve been thinking about anyway. And appropriate to think about today I think. I'm grateful for it even if I take it for granted or forget about it from time to time.
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