Easter is the celebration of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. It is not an event in a flower shop or a greeting card factory. Easter is an ultimate fact about the universe. The Resurrection of Jesus Christ proves four great facts which can make all the difference in a person’s view of life here and in the hereafter. Think about these four great facts.

Truth is stronger than falsehood — truth is greater than error. If the enemies of Jesus had finally succeeded in obliterating Him, falsehood would have been stronger than truth. The Resurrection is the final guarantee of the indestructibility of truth.

Good is stronger than evil. The forces which crucified Jesus were the forces of evil, and if there had been no Resurrection then these forces of evil would have been triumphant. One lesson history may be said to repeat with distinctness is that the world is built somehow on moral foundations. The Resurrection made it possible “to overcome evil with good.”

Love is stronger than hatred. Jesus was the love of God incarnate. On the other hand, hatred filled the hearts of those who were responsible for the crucifixion of Jesus. This hatred even attributed the goodness and compassion of Jesus to the power of the devil. The Resurrection is the triumph of love over all that hatred could do.

Life is stronger than death. Physical death is a certainty. The degenerative process starts the day of birth. Yet, science tells us that nothing is destroyed, it just changes form. As Wernher von Braun put it, “Nature does not know extinction. All it knows is transformation. Everything that science has taught me — and continues to teach me — strengthens my belief in the continuity of our spiritual existence after death.” At the Resurrection the bonds of death were broken.

During the war years a city church in London was prepared for a harvest thanksgiving service. In the worship center there was a stalk of corn. The service was never held because there was a savage air raid and the church was destroyed. The months passed and shoots of green were noticed. The summer sun and rain caused those green shoots to become a flourishing patch of corn amidst the rubble. Not even the bombs and the destruction could kill the life of the corn and its seeds. Life was stronger than death!

As we celebrate this Easter season of 2006, we too, can reaffirm these great facts about life and be strengthened in our faith.



Dr. Curtis Coleman is emeritus dean and professor of religion and philosophy at Athens State University.