why easter is important to me

God all through out scripture makes symbols and days for us to remember why they are important. Easter Gives us a time to remember what he has done and what he a has said he was going to do. When we look at the old testament we see God command the Israelites to set aside time to remember what he has done (passover, the jars of mana, all of the feast days ect). Why is easter so important? it give us time to look back and reflect on what Jesus has done for us. To look back at The cross and look at the price that he paid so that we could be free from sin, death, and hell. It reminds us that we can live in freedom and forgiveness, not of our own works of what we could do but what he has done. In Israel’s practice, remembrance wasn’t merely mental recall but a way of keeping God’s past deliverance from fading into irrelevance; the Passover feast allowed God’s people to move forward into the future while holding that liberation actively in view.1 The Greek word for remembrance (anámnēsis) echoes the Passover memorial, which was designed not simply to restore fading impressions of past events but to reestablish the former relationship to divine grace—the Passover “remembrance” was intended to reactualize what is remembered.2 The jar of manna functioned similarly: it preserved the memory of God’s provision, keeping that reality alive across generations.

The Old Testament rites of circumcision and Passover anticipate their superior New Testament counterparts in Baptism and the Lord’s Supper, with the Lord’s Supper nourishing and strengthening the covenant bond even more substantively than the Passover once did.3 Both Passover and the Lord’s Supper are memorial feasts, and Jesus declared “This do in remembrance of me,” while Paul reminds us that “as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.”3

The proclamation command transforms remembrance from passive recollection into active witness. True remembrance concerns the meaning and significance of Christ’s dying, which can be forgotten and neglected; biblical remembrance is historically determined while simultaneously oriented fully toward the future.1 To celebrate the Lord’s Supper in remembrance means to seek fresh communion with Christ and to know the power of his resurrection, while remembering the historical events of his death and resurrection plays an important part.2 Each celebration proclaims—announces to the gathered community and to God—that this death matters, its power remains active, and Christ’s return remains the horizon of hope. The command to remember becomes the command to proclaim because true remembrance refuses to let redemptive history become abstract or distant.

Why Easter Is Important to Me

Full Sermon Manuscript (~15 minutes)

Introduction

How many of us carry things we’ve already been forgiven for?

Guilt that keeps resurfacing… Shame that won’t stay buried… A past that still feels louder than God’s promises.

You know what I’ve realized?

The problem isn’t that God hasn’t forgiven us… It’s that we don’t always live like He has.

We believe it in theory. We sing about it. We say we’re forgiven…

…but then we walk back into Monday still carrying Friday’s weight.

And that’s why Easter is so important to me.

Because Easter isn’t just a day to remember what Jesus did— It’s an invitation to live inside what He already finished.

Part 1 — God Built Remembrance Into Our Lives

If you look all throughout Scripture, you’ll notice something about God:

He is always creating ways for His people to remember.

Because He knows something about us— We forget.

Not just facts… We forget what those facts are supposed to mean for how we live.

In the Old Testament, God gave Israel the Passover.

And Passover wasn’t just a history lesson.

Every year, families would gather, and they weren’t supposed to say, “God delivered our ancestors…”

They were supposed to say, “God delivered us.”

It was meant to be personal. Alive. Present.

And then there was the jar of manna.

God told them to keep it—to place it in the tabernacle— So that future generations could see and remember:

God provides. God is faithful. God came through.

Why?

Because God knew His people would drift.

Drift back into fear. Drift back into shame. Drift back into trying to earn what they had already been given.

So He built remembrance into their lives.

And here’s the connection:

Easter is our Passover. Easter is our jar of manna.

It’s not just a date on the calendar— It’s a moment God gives us to stop… and step back into reality.

To remember what He has already done— And to live like it’s still true today.

Part 2 — What the Cross Actually Purchased

Because at the cross, something real happened.

Not symbolic. Not partial. Not temporary.

Jesus didn’t just make forgiveness possible— He made it complete.

The Bible tells us that through the cross, we were given freedom from sin.

Not freedom we earn. Not freedom we maintain by trying harder.

Freedom that was bought and paid for.

And then it says something even more powerful:

“There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”

No condemnation.

Not less condemnation. Not delayed condemnation.

None.

That’s not a verse for your best days. That’s your permanent address in Christ.

And then there’s the resurrection.

Because Easter doesn’t stop at the cross.

The empty tomb is proof that the payment worked.

The debt is gone. Sin is defeated. Death lost.

But here’s what we tend to do…

We accept that forgiveness once— maybe at salvation, maybe at a moment in our life—

…and then we spend the rest of our lives quietly trying to re-earn it.

We mess up, and we think, “I’ve got to do better so God will accept me again.”

We fall short, and we think, “I’ve got to prove myself.”

And without even realizing it, we start living like the cross wasn’t enough.

That’s why Easter matters to me.

Because it pulls me back.

It reminds me:

I am not who my worst moment says I am. I am who Jesus says I am.

And if He says I’m forgiven— then I don’t get to argue with that.

Part 3 — Living in the Remembrance

Jesus said, “Do this in remembrance of me.”

And He wasn’t just talking about a ritual.

He was inviting us into a way of living.

A life that keeps coming back—again and again— to what He has already done.

So what does that actually look like?

What does it mean to live in remembrance of the cross?

First—it means we receive forgiveness daily.

Not just once. Not just at salvation.

Daily.

We bring the small failures. We bring the recurring struggles. We bring the things we’re ashamed of.

And instead of carrying them… we bring them back to the cross.

Because here’s the truth:

You were never meant to carry what Jesus already carried.

Second—it means we release others.

Because you cannot live in open-handed grace while holding someone else in a closed fist.

When you truly remember how much you’ve been forgiven… it changes how you forgive.

It softens you. It humbles you. It frees you.

And third—it means we walk in freedom.

Scripture says, “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then…”

In other words—don’t go back.

Don’t pick it back up. Don’t step back into the weight He already lifted.

And hear this:

Guilt and shame are not signs of humility.

They’re signs that somewhere along the way, we stopped believing what Easter actually declared.

Because the enemy’s greatest tool against a forgiven person…

is convincing them they’re still not free.

Conclusion

Easter gives us a fixed point in time.

It happened.

The price was paid. The work is finished.

And just like Passover for Israel, God brings us back to this moment again and again.

Not because the event changes…

…but because we do.

We forget. We drift. We pick things back up.

And Easter calls us back.

Final Challenge

So this Easter—

Don’t just remember the cross.

Walk out of here living differently because of it.

Lay down what you’ve been carrying.

Stop rehearsing what God has already erased.

Receive what He already gave you.

Step into the freedom that’s already yours.

Closing Line

The stone was rolled away so you wouldn’t have to keep going back to the tomb.

So stop living in there.