It’s strange that we “celebrate” the death, resurrection, and ascension of Christ at Easter. He was beaten, tortured, and crucified on a cross. And He left us! … or did He?

What is the miracle of Easter? Others were crucified on crosses. Lazarus was resurrected from the dead by Jesus before His own resurrection. And Enoch and Elijah are recorded to have ascended bodily to Heaven too. So what is the real Easter miracle? At Christmas, we celebrate the miraculous virgin birth of the Christ child. I wonder with our focus on miracles have we missed the most precious thing to celebrate? God with us! The creator robed Himself in human flesh and walked visibly with our forefathers. He proved Himself to be real. He didn’t have to do any of the things that He did.

God always had the power to forgive sins, He didn’t need the cross for that. God always had the power to remove His own wrath. God always had the power to open the way to covenant restoration conversation without shed blood or a priest. He didn’t need the cross. He didn’t need to be born of man. He didn’t need to perform miracles. He didn’t need any of it. He chose it. Why?

All of this drama after 400 years of silence. Why? Certainly, it wasn’t so that we could have Christmas gift-giving or Easter-bunnies and egg hunts. Maybe He did it so that we would recognize Him. Maybe we needed to have a historical timeline of His human existence. Maybe we needed a tangible God so that we would know how to love Him. Without His voice, presence, and power made known to us, He could be just a far away mythical being. But now we have this place in history where we can come individually to Him in private prayer and know Him. I mean really know Him.

Some do all the talking in prayer and they miss the best part. They miss God making Himself known. They miss hearing His voice. They miss knowing His comfort. They miss learning from Him as His disciple. They miss the dearest parts of our Lord. He didn’t leave us. He didn’t forsake us. He makes Himself known. We get to hear His creation voice. We get to feel His manifest presence. We get to walk in His supernatural power. But some choose to ignore His voice. Some choose to forfeit His presence and power in exchange for material wealth or recognition from men.

How can we show our love to the Lord? We can listen for His voice. We can consult Him on everything. We can choose Him above all else. We can desire to see His face. We can tell others about Him. He can be our God. He is God with us! He is here! Why have we missed that?

But hey, go do the Easter-bunny thing with the churches who teach false doctrine and continue to ignore God. You’re good at that! Make sure you wear your best dress and smile pretty for the camera.