THE BISHOP’S EASTER MESSAGE 2025
My dear family in Christ,
As we on this Easter Day once again celebrate the anniversary of our Lord’s resurrection, we have that timeless reminder that our God is, and always will be, the source and giver of life – the Life-Giver. Today, we call to mind the testimony given to us in Scripture, within the gospel, that on the first day of the week, following the Friday of Jesus’ execution, death and burial, God raised His Son, our Lord, whom He sent into this messy world to offer us life anew through the gift of His love, forgiveness and reconciliation. By raising His Son back to life, we are given the assurance that this is God’s intention for all who trust and serve Him. He will never allow evil or death to have the final say in depriving us of life, for God’s will is always to be the source of life and to give us life in the present and the future; while on the other hand, death is the will of the enemy whose goal is to steal that life away from us or for us to give up on life. Jesus reminds us of this in John’s gospel, chapter 10 and verse 10, “The thief comes to steal and kill and destroy [but he] came that [we] may have life and have it abundantly.” Our Lord showed the contrast between the purpose of his God-given mission in this world and that of the evil one.
In resurrecting His Son, our God enabled Him to continue this life-giving purpose for it was because of his resurrection that God restored life and vitality to the disciples who were grieving the death of their Master and Teacher, who feared for their lives and lost all hope. It was because of our Lord’s resurrection they were able to find peace, joy and meaning in life again, to get on with their lives and face whatever challenges the future may bring. They also became lifegiving agents for others who observed their manner of life that testified of God’s love and mercy, forgiveness and a restored relationship with Him.
As Christians, God calls us to see Him as the Life-Giver and to encounter the joy of being forgiven and reconciled so we may live virtuous lives. He calls us to experience His abundant life of peace, joy, love, and purpose, to live for Him now and eternally, to face the future with confidence, and to share with others – our family, friends, neighbours, colleagues, strangers the good news of what God offers all of us through Jesus Christ, our resurrected Lord and Saviour.
As we celebrate the resurrection of our Lord today, and for the next fifty days of the Easter Season, we do so with the blessed assured that life, rather than death, is God’s will for all of us, and we claim it even now as we offer Him thanks and praise for life in the present despite the challenges, and for the promise of eternal life in the future with Him. Today is also to be a reminder of how valuable life is for us and how God values life. Resurrection, my friends, is about life… not only eternal life but our present life and the way in which we are called to live this life.
Let us therefore fully acknowledge and appreciate the value, sanctity and dignity of every human life, ours and others, and to inspire all persons to do the same. We are never to “steal and kill and destroy” the lives or livelihood of people by our thoughts, words or actions, but we are to encourage and build up one another in love and to wholesome living. May we be inspired, through the testimony of Jesus’ resurrection, to live our lives more faithfully for the Life-Giver, taking greater personal care for our physical and spiritual wellbeing, and lovingly care for those around us as Jesus cares for them, especially those who find life difficult at this time, for this is the will of God.
Make no mistake, my friends, as the hymn writers Gloria and William Gaither declares, “life is worth the living just because He lives;” for our God is eternally our Life-Giver, Hallelujah! To that the Church says, “Amen!”
On behalf of my family, I wish you and yours a blessed and joyous Eastertide.
I am your friend and bishop,
+Michael Barbados.