A former General Evangelist of Christ Apostolic Church (Worldwide), Prophet Samuel K. Abiara, has advised Christians to look beyond the ephemeral celebration of Easter to the spiritual aspect.
He said, “There are a lot of lessons to learn from this period about how Jesus Christ died on the cross of Calvary because of the love he had for us. Through His death and resurrection, we now have power over Satan and death. Also, by His death, His children will enter into the kingdom of God. However, if we want to enter into the kingdom of heaven, we must first give our lives to Christ and follow His ways. It is very important to celebrate Easter because that is when Jesus Christ died for our sins."
"The celebration does not end with eating rice, chicken or any other meal that one may choose. Everyone should take the teachings to heart. For instance, even when the saviour was nailed to the cross with the crown of thorns on His head; He asked God (His father) to forgive humans for they didn’t know what they were doing. Telling God to forgive us doesn’t mean that Jesus didn’t have power to save Himself. He simply did not want to misuse His power. That act by Jesus is a lesson to everyone in the world not to misuse whatever power they have."
"Also, by telling His father to forgive us, it showed that we should forgive anyone that offends us. In this holy period, people are expected to have a rethink about how they are living their lives and repent of their sins. We should put the Bible into practice by loving and forgiving one another. I don’t judge churches that don’t celebrate Easter but the Bible is there to confirm the truth. Those people should endeavour to appreciate Christ who died for our sins and opened the door of the kingdom for us because from the beginning, we had lost the glory which was restored back to us."
"I cherish every Easter period because it makes me remember the extent of the love of God for me. However, this year’s Easter celebration will be very different because my marriage will be one year old.”