This Easter has come and gone. The happy celebratory worship service is over. The special clothes the children may have worn are now in the laundry basket. But let’s make sure that we don’t give our children the impression that the meaning of Easter is over. Let’s give them a lasting Easter legacy—one that focuses on the eternal triumph of God found in Christ.
To say that Jesus is "Lord" means
- that he is the rightful King of the universe,
- that he is ruler over all the world,
- that he is the commander of all the armies of heaven and of all his Christian soldiers on the earth,
- that he is now reigning until he has put all his enemies under his feet,
- that he is triumphant over sin and death and pain and Satan and hell, and
- that he will one day establish his kingdom of righteousness and joy on the earth and reign forever and ever to the glory of his Father.
To confess that Jesus is Lord means that you believe that he will triumph over all things…Therefore I conclude that whatever else it means to bring our children up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord—the King and Commander and Ruler of all things—it means this:
- Bring the children up to hope in the triumph of God.
- Bring them up to find their place in the triumphant cause of the Lord Christ.
- Bring them up to see everything in relation to the triumph of God.
- Bring them up to know that the path of sin is a dead end street no matter how many cool and famous people are on it, because the cause of righteousness will triumph in the end. Christ has already struck the decisive blow on Good Friday and Easter morning.
(“Raising Children Who Hope in the Triumph of God,”John Piper, ©2015 Desiring God Foundation, www.desiringGod.org)
(Image courtesy of Naypong at FreeDigitalPhotos.net.)
