Ardent atheist Richard Dawkins understands the message of Easter, according to Steve Addison. During an Australian Broadcasting Corporation television show last month, he said, “You believe, if you believe in the New Testament, that God, the all powerful creator of the universe couldn’t think of a better way to forgive humanity’s sins than to have himself put on earth, tortured and executed in atonement for the sins of humanity… That’s why Christ came to earth, in order to atone for humanity’s sins. If it’s extreme, it’s not me that’s being extreme, it’s the New Testament that’s being extreme.”
In chapter 8 of his letter to the Romans, Paul says, “He did not spare his own Son, but handed him over for us all. Will he not, in addition to his son, freely give us everything? Who could bring a charge against God’s chosen ones? It is God who judges. Who is it that condemns? It is Christ who died, or rather, was raised from the dead.” Christians believe that the death of Jesus on the cross has brought us freedom from condemnation.
So, happy Easter! Paul goes on to say that, as a consequence of Christ’s sacrifice on the cross: “I am convinced that nothing will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord: not death, not life, not angels, not rulers, not present considerations, not future events, not powers, not height, not depth, and not any other created thing.”