TLP 252: Easter, Part 5: Make the Resurrection Important in Your Home

How can you use the Crucifixion and Resurrection to parent your children? Join AMBrewster as he helps Christian parents apply the celebration of Easter to their homes.

Check out 5 Ways to Support TLP.

Listen to the following episodes on Apple Podcasts by clicking the titles.
“How to Be Jesus to Your Kids” (episode 46) 
“How to Have a Valuable Family” (episode 145)

Click here for our free Parenting Course!

Like us on Facebook.
Follow us on Twitter.
Follow AMBrewster on Twitter.
Follow us on Pinterest.
Subscribe on YouTube.

Need some help? Write to us at [email protected].

Click "Read More" for today’s Episode Notes and Transcript.

---

Episode Notes

To download this document, please right-click and select "Save Image As."

---

Transcript

Introduction

Today we’re concluding our thoughts about Easter by discussing how to make the Resurrection more important in our homes.

And even if you make a big deal out of Easter, since we’re all sinners and none of us are perfect, even when we do things well, we can always do them better. So I pray that today’s episode will help all of us parent our children better through this season.

And I know this discussion is ending nine days before Easter this year. I did that for two reasons:

The first is that Creation Day follows right after Easter this year, and I wanted to get our Sanctified Sustainability episode in before that.

But also, we have other Easter episodes you are more than welcome to enjoy between today and Easter.

Episode 46 is called, “How to Be Jesus to Your Kids,” And episode 145 is, “How to Have a Valuable Family.”

So, if you’re looking for Easter-related episodes to continue your study this season, we have them for you.

But before we go any further, let me ask you to take a moment to leave a star-review in iTunes as that helps us connect with other Christian parents across the globe.

And I’d like to thank Scott and Mindee for making today’s show possible. They give faithfully every month to support TLP. That means that all of us are indebted to the Scott and Mindee. But I know they give, not ultimately for us, but for the Lord. He’s worth it all.

So, if you think the Lord would be glorified by you worshipping him by helping to support Truth.Love.Parent, you can click on the “5 Ways to Support TLP" link in the description of this episode to learn more about your options.

And even if giving financially seems too hard at this point in the year, you can always pray for us and introduce your friends to us.

Okay, let’s apply everything we’ve learned about Easter to our families. 

I hope the free episode notes at TruthLoveParent.com will be valuable to you in this process.

Topic

The first Truth with which we have to grapple goes back to the Gospel.

1. The individuals in your family cannot truly celebrate Easter if they are not children of God.

Are your kids born again? Are they in Christ? Like Paul outlined in I Corinthians 15 — have they received the Truths of the Gospel, do they stand in it, and are they continuing in it?

If not, then Easter is another fantastic time to guide your children into the knowledge of God. 

Listen, if you really want to do the Easter egg hunts and baskets of candy . . . fine . . . but are you willing to sacrifice your children’s eternity because you focused more on the bunny than you did the Savior?

This is a glorious season for everything we do to be brought back to the significance of the Resurrection.

And that goes for families where the children are all born again as well.

2. Eastertide should be a time of rejoicing and celebration for children who are born again.

We can celebrate God’s love for us in sending Christ.

We can celebrate God’s power in raising Him from the grave.

We can celebrate the fact that we too will one day reign with Him in sinless bodies. 

We can celebrate that the same resurrection power has been given to us to start the process of change here and now.

And each of these ideas can easily be woven into our daily lives.

First, you can use the direct approach. You can remind your children of these blessings as you’re sitting around the table. If you like the direct approach, that’s a great idea.

You can also take some family devotional times to study any of these elements and praise God for them. That’s another really good direct approach.

But, second, for those of you looking for more organic ways to work spiritual Truth into daily life, consider these examples:

You can celebrate God’s love for us any time a member of your family does something loving for another.

“I’m so proud of you for preferring your sister over yourself. That reminds me of how Jesus preferred us over Himself when He died on the cross for us.”

You can celebrate God’s power every time your child completes a task. 

“Great job changing the oil. It’s takes a lot of skill to do it that well without making a huge mess. That makes me think how skilled and powerful God must be to raise Christ from the dead. That also make me think that just like I can trust you to change the oil, I can trust God when it comes to matters of life and death.”

You can celebrate our eternal state after a child has sinned. 

Assuming your child is born again, you could say, “Thank you so much for apologizing. Won’t it be amazing when we’re with God in the new earth and we will no longer have to apologize because we’ll never ever sin again?”

And you can very easy work in the sanctifying power of God whether your child has been good or bad.

If it’s a sin issue, remind your child that Jesus died and rose again to give us new life in the future and now. 

If your child is growing in their conformity to Christ, take a moment with them to thank the Lord for exercising His resurrection power in their lives.

And, I can hear it now, “Aaron, that sounds great, and all, but that’s not me. That’s not how I talk. I know those things are true, and I know they can be worked into daily conversations, but — honestly — it would be weird. It wouldn’t sound like me.”

Well, how would you respond if your unkind child said, “Dad, I know I should be nice to my brother, but it won’t sound genuine, so I’ll just keep doing what I do best”?

I know it may be uncomfortable at first, I know it may not sound natural, and I know that even your older kids may look at you sideways, but I also know that Christ’s resurrection power can change you too. The more you allow God to change how you parent, the more natural it will be. And the better model you’ll be to your kids of allowing God to change who you are.

Okay, so . . .
1. The individuals in your family cannot truly celebrate Easter if they are not children of God.
2. Easter should be a time of rejoicing and celebration for children who are born again.

3. The Passion Week is worth observing.

One of the reasons I took the time to discuss when I believe Christ was crucified was the festival considerations. I believe God purposefully matched the Passion Week point-for-point with the Jewish celebration He had established hundreds and hundreds of years before.

In the same way that the earthly tabernacle and temple were a picture of the heavenly reality, so too the selection of the Pascal lamp, the Passover, the Feasts of Unleavened Bread and First Fruits were a past image of the coming substitutionary atonement of Christ.

Therefore, I believe it’s valuable to our families to not only observe the Triumphal Entry, the Crucifixion, and the Resurrection, but to also explain the significance of the events so as to better understand our Lord and celebrate His eternal love and grace.

Do your children know the story of the original Passover? Do they understand what God was doing and the part Jesus played?

We don’t have the time to discuss it here, but I think there’s much to learn from the fact that in the Old Testament, Jesus, Himself, was the Angel of Death that slew the firstborn of Egypt, but in the New Testament, He has gloriously switched roles from the harbinger of destruction to the sacrificial Lamb itself — slain to protect everyone who receives Him.

The more we know, the more we can believe, and the more it can impact our lives.

And, I’m sure you know, we haven’t even begun to scratch the surface of the imagery and the significance and the grandeur of Easter.

But, hopefully, I have whet your appetites.

Okay . . .

1. The individuals in your family cannot truly celebrate Easter if they are not children of God, therefore we should use this season to point our kids to Christ.
2. Easter should be a time of rejoicing and celebration for children who are born again, and it can be woven into the very fabric of our lives.
3. The Passion Week is worth observing as it can deepen our appreciation of God and what He did for us.

4. The Passion Week is worth using as a tool in our parenting. 

What do I mean?

Consider the Feast of First Fruits. Jesus was the First Fruits of the Resurrection. He was offered up as a Wave Offering to God. This is obviously something to understand and appreciate, but how can this be be used in our parenting?

Hebrews tells us that Jesus not only presented Himself as the Wave Offering, but that He still intercedes before God as an Advocate for those who put their trust in Him.

Is your daughter having trouble in her new school? Does your son struggle submitting when he doesn’t agree with the command? Are your children concerned about how they’re going to afford college? Is your middle schooler uncertain about their standing with God? Does your toddler hate to share?

We can parent through all of these situations — in part — by touching on the advocacy of Christ.

He intercedes for our born again children and desires to do so for our unsaved kids. We should remind them of this fact when they feel like they’re alone in the world or shouldering a responsibility by themselves.

Jesus appeased the wrath of God for us. This Truth can refresh and calm our spirits when we have to admit to our guilt.

When God looks at a born again believer, He sees His only begotten Son. He loves us with the same love He lavishes on Jesus. That reality should embolden and encourage our hearts that God is only going to do for us what is best.

But, the onus lies on us as the parents, to make these connections for our children. God gives us to our kids in order to help them understand how God and His Word needs to be applied to every moment of our lives.

But another facet of this concept is that we have to have a foundation; we need touchstones.

I’ve invited you to have your children sit in on this study, or you could obviously take the time to digest the Truth and reformat it for your family, but either way, we need to teach it to our children. 

And then, at a later date, when our kids are struggling with an entrenched sin, or doubting, or needing encouragement in their submission to Christ, we can reach back and remind them of what they’ve been taught.

Sometimes we view parenting as courses in school. “This year you’re attending the general cleanliness course. We’ll talk about what it means to keep a clean room, and by the end of the year we will have discussed every facet, and I shouldn’t have to reteach this . . . ever. Next year we can move on to personal hygiene.”

And then we do that. We never revisit the lessons of the past, and we get annoyed if we have to repeat ourselves. But in reality, parenting is about one topic and how that one topic can be applied to every behavior, question, stage, and phase our kids will ever experience.

Parenting is also a cumulative task filled with topics we’ll revisit until the day we die and forgettable conversations no one will remember.

So, enjoy the process. Lay that foundation and return to it often.

Conclusion

In conclusion, 1. The individuals in your family cannot truly celebrate Easter if they are not children of God.
2. Easter should be a time of rejoicing and celebration for family members who are born again.
3. The Passion Week is worth observing.
4. The Passion Week is worth using as a tool in our parenting.

I hope your appreciation for the Passion Week, Crucifixion, and Resurrection has deepened your faith and been a blessing to your family. 

And if you’d be interested in some personalized guidance for how these Truths can be applied to your unique family situation, please feel free to reach out to us at [email protected].

On our next episode we’re going to broaden our understanding of the Creation Mandate by discussing how your family can reduce waste in your home.

Please know that TeamTLP loves you, we share a bond in Christ, and we’re here to help your family glorify God.

So, to that end, Happy Easter, and I’ll see you next time.