The Road to Easter: God's Eternal Planಮಾದರಿ

The Passion

Imagine watching a forest fire.

The flames rise, trees fall, and everything in their path is consumed. At first glance, it seems like an unmitigated tragedy. But if you stay long enough to witness the aftermath, something incredible happens. What appeared to be complete devastation gives way to new life. The fire has cleared the way for new growth, and the ashes provide rich, fertile soil where new trees and plants will thrive. The land, once scorched, will soon be teeming with life again.

The cross, at first, appeared just as tragic. Jesus, the Son of God, dying on the cross in agony, seemed like an ending—like destruction. The disciples must have thought that everything they had hoped for was lost, that this was the end of the story. But if we stay with the story, if we look past the pain and the heartache of that day, we see something beautiful unfolding. What looked like a tragedy was, in fact, the ultimate triumph. The cross was not the end—it was the beginning of something new and glorious.

God’s plan from the beginning had always been leading to this moment. As the prophet Isaiah foretold,

“Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering... he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities” (Isaiah 53:4-5).

The cross, though it appeared to be the end of Jesus’ life, was part of God’s eternal plan to bring life to the world. It was not an afterthought. It wasn’t a response to something gone wrong. It was determined before the foundation of the world. As 1 Peter 1:20 reminds us,

“He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake.”

Jesus’ death on the cross wasn’t a defeat.

It was the greatest victory ever won, secured through God’s perfect plan. In fact, the apostle Peter boldly declares in Acts 2:23,

“This man [Jesus] was handed over to you by God’s deliberate plan and foreknowledge.”

It wasn’t just a random act of violence—it was God’s plan, carried out in perfect timing, to accomplish His will for the salvation of the world.

It was so eternally monumental that even the earth trembled at the moment of Jesus' death. The curtain of the temple was torn in two, and darkness covered the land. To the disciples and onlookers, it must have felt like the world was unraveling. But God was still in control. Jesus' words on the cross, “It is finished” (John 19:30), were not words of defeat but of triumph. He had done what He came to do. The mission was complete. The perfect Lamb of God had been sacrificed, and sin had been paid for. “

And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all” (Hebrews 10:10).

But not only was sin defeated—next came the resurrection! Jesus was raised from the dead as the fulfillment of God’s eternal plan for redemption. Through Christ, death was defeated! His victory over death was not only a demonstration of His divine power but a confirmation that His sacrifice was accepted. There can be no doubt that all Jesus accomplished for us is sufficient in God’s eyes to reconcile us to Him, wipe our debt of sin clear, and secure our eternal lives.

The cross, which had seemed like the darkest moment in history, was actually the turning point—the pivotal moment that led to eternal life. As Paul writes in Romans 4:25,

“He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.”

The road to Easter leads through the passion of Christ—but it does not end there. For all who will depend personally on what Jesus accomplished on the cross, the road continues. We walk it every day in an unbroken relationship with God. We walk it with purpose and new life. And we walk toward a future in the new Heaven and new Earth, because the road to Easter leads to eternal life with the God who planned it all before the foundation of the world were ever laid.

Reflect

1. How does it change your perspective to know that Jesus' death was part of God’s eternal plan and not just a tragic event?
2. When you think about the suffering and death of Jesus, how does it deepen your understanding of God’s love for you?
3. What does the resurrection mean to you personally, and how does it transform your view of life and death