Two years ago while attending a conference in Krakow Poland I visited the famous Auschwitz concentration camp run by the Germans during the Second World War. It is believed that from the spring of 1942 until the fall of 1944, transport trains delivered Jews to the camp's gas chambers from all over Nazi-occupied Europe. It is estimated that 1-2 million people died there (Most were gassed and several hundred thousand died from disease, starvation, forced labor, individual executions and even medical experiments).
Ninety percent of those who were killed were Jews but Germans also executed Poles, Roma, Russians and tens of thousands of people of diverse nationalities, religions and ethnic groups. Today the site is a national heritage and museum attracting visitors from all over the world.
When you visit the site for the first time you cannot but notice the misleading words welded to an iron gate above the main entrance: Arbeit Macht Frei. This phrase – Work Makes You Free – was just a cruel lie to give false hope to those who entered this place of death.
I have found working as a pastor that many people today have false hope that they somehow can earn a place in heaven by working at being good or by doing good things. God’s standard of perfection, however, requires a totally sinless life. The Bible makes it clear that there is no way any of us can ever be “good enough” to earn a place in heaven.
It is only through the sacrifice of the sinless Savior that we are made righteous. The Bible tells us that God made Jesus “who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Cor. 5:21). In other words eternal life is given because of God’s gift of grace and not because of anything we can do in our own strength (Eph. 2:8-9).
Thus the message of Easter reminds us of three important truths:
• That it is only through Jesus’ work on the cross that we can have real freedom.
• That God's love is great beyond all understanding.
• And finally, that salvation is a free gift.
I do not deserve it. I cannot earn it by my own merit or effort. Jesus death on the cross has done everything that is necessary for us to be forgiven. He has borne our sin and curse. All we can do in response is fall on our knees in repentance and faith, and receive salvation as a free gift from God. This is the true message of Easter.