On Easter morning in my family we have a standard greeting.
When we were little my parents would come in to our rooms in the morning and sit on our beds. Once our drowsy eyes began to open they would say, "Christ is risen!" and I would reply, "Indeed He arose."
We have enjoyed this tradition for as long as I can remember. This morning I was already up, but the first thing my Mom said to me was, "Christ is risen!" Almost instinctively I responded with "Indeed He arose."
There was something different this time though. Perhaps it's because I'm older now or because my thoughts have been increasingly filled with Christ and His Love, but this morning, when I responded, there was a deeper sense of meaning in what I said.
The truth of our Easter greeting runs very deep. It's significance in my life and my families is beyond description. When Christ lives inside of you, things change. Everything changes. Easter suddenly becomes ten thousand times more than Easter bunnies and multi-colored eggs. It's even more than a time of new beginnings.
There is no greater way to express Love then to lay down ones life. Christ's Love is beyond compare. God came to earth, lived among men, was crusified in our place, and now, as we celebrate today, is risen again. In His risen Life we can know the fullness of Life and True Love that He intended for mankind from the beginning of time. It only takes acceptance of the gift.
The phrase we use to greet one another on Easter morning in my family has its origin in the early Church. It was a confirmation of belief in the most significant thing that has happened in all human history. Jesus Christ was the Lamb of God. He paid our penalty, and now He lives again. His Life is now our Life, and all that is our life belongs to Him.
"He died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto Him which died for them, and rose again." -- I Corinthians 5:15 (KJV)