Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 

I flicked through the opening verses of a few of Paul’s letters and toward the beginning of each was this same greeting/blessing/declaration.

In Paul’s letter to the Galatians he adds … “who gave himself for our sins to rescue us from the present age, according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen

Paul reminds us of Jesus’ Easter purpose in one powerful sentence. Jesus was the Father’s plan from the beginning – to give himself as a sacrifice, to exchange his life for ours – to rescue us from ‘the present age’ the age of human self-reign and self-rule under the influence of ‘the enemy of man’ and incorporate us into His reign and rule in His dominion. 

I am writing this letter with much on my mind. Easter is upon us, this time when we gather together in awe and wonder and the goodness of God expressed through His Son Jesus. Yet we only gather online, or in small family pockets, hiding away from an enemy, encouraging one another, and praying in hope of a better future for ourselves and our loved ones. On good days we may even be able to look past ourselves and extend our concern and prayer to our neighbourhood, region, state and country. (more…)