But these words, mighty as they are, serve as bookends to the extraordinary events on the cross, which took place over that Passover weekend almost 2000 years ago. As Christ hung in agony and near death, He uttered the words, "It is finished," and passed into Paradise. He had been the one perfect sacrifice as a remission of sins for all those who would believe-a free gift of salvation for the world. Could there be any three words as important as these? To the Christian, the answer is yes.

And when they looked, they saw that the stone was rolled away, for it was very large. And entering into the sepulcher, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, clothed in a long white garment; and they were frightened.

And he said unto them, "Be not afraid. Ye seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He is risen. He is not here. Behold the place where they laid Him. (Mark 16:4-8)

If there are three more important words given to man than "He is risen," they have yet to be discovered. For as the apostle Paul said in 1 Corinthians 15:

Let me now remind you, dear brothers and sisters, of the Good News I preached to you before. . . . I passed on to you what was most important and what had also been passed on to me. Christ died for our sins, just as the Scriptures said. He was buried, and he was raised from the dead on the third day, just as the Scriptures said. . . .

But tell me this-since we preach that Christ rose from the dead, why are some of you saying there will be no resurrection of the dead? For if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised either. And if Christ has not been raised, then all our preaching is useless, and your faith is useless. And we apostles would all be lying about God-for we have said that God raised Christ from the grave. But that can't be true if there is no resurrection of the dead. And if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, then your faith is useless and you are still guilty of your sins. In that case, all who have died believing in Christ are lost. And if our hope in Christ is only for this life, we are more to be pitied than anyone in the world.

But in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead. He is the first of a great harvest of all who have died.

Paul pointed what was most important, not only to Christians, but to the world: that Christ rose from the dead. If He had not, we would all be dead in our sins, and believers are "more to be pitied than anyone in the world." Therefore, our faith, our salvation, and our hope rests in three words: He is risen.

IS SOMETHING MISSING?

If "He is risen" are the most important words ever spoken to mankind, then something seems to be missing. Shouldn't these words be proclaimed from the hilltops in every part of the land as the overriding message of Easter? Actually, what is being proclaimed is indifference, doubt, and skepticism.

Now schools close their doors for "spring break," not daring to acknowledge the Easter message. Academia ignores Him. Public officials seem embarrassed to mention His name. And the popular media is more intent on raising doubts and skepticism about the life of Jesus than faithfully chronicling what Christians and much of the world regard as the "greatest story ever told."

Whatever happened to those inspiring stories of the Gospel such as King of Kings, The Greatest Story Ever Told, and the much-acclaimed six-hour miniseries, Jesus of Nazareth? It originally aired April 4, 1977, on NBC but, like the other New Testament epics, has not been seen on network television for perhaps 20 years, and only rarely on the major cable channels.

By contrast, revisionist documentaries, commentaries, and films (such as The Da Vinci Code) have become so numerous that one might think there is a public relations war going on against the Christian faith. The reality is that the Christian worldview is incompatible with worldly values and America, which once cherished Christian values, is in the process of embracing materialistic hedonism, and it is the Gospel that stands in the way.

The nature of the conflict is not over "separation of church and state," as detractors often claim, but rather over abortion, homosexual "marriage," and unrestricted sexual expression. The battleground is the media, the courts, academia, and legislative bodies at all levels.

THE END OF CHRISTIAN AMERICA?

This battle, which in large part is being fought in the courts, seems to be not going well. In fact, Newsweek recently ran-almost gleefully-a feature story titled, "The End of Christian America." The article cited data by the American Religious Identification Survey that indicated the percentage of self-identified Christians has fallen from 86 to 76 percent since 1990. Newsweek interpreted this data as an indication that the Christian worldview is losing its foothold in America. Newsweek editor and author of the piece Jon Meacham noted:

While we remain a nation decisively shaped by religious faith, our politics and our culture are, in the main, less influenced by movements and arguments of an explicitly Christian character than they were even five years ago. I think this is a good thing-good for our political culture, which, as the American Founders saw, is complex and charged enough without attempting to compel or coerce religious belief or observance. It is good for Christianity, too, in that many Christians are rediscovering the virtues of a separation of church and state. (emphasis added)

The problem with Mr. Meacham's view is that if one cannot reason his or her political and/or social views from a biblical perspective, then there are no absolute truths, and right and are solely what the state says they are through legislative and judicial processes. Accordingly, we have seen how this view has empowered the courts and the legislatures to arrogantly overturn the will of the people in such issues as homosexual marriage.

Certainly the founders of the republic never envisioned a theocracy, but neither did they envision a state without a moral conscience-nor could they foresee a state that could embrace and codify into law perverse practices that defy not only biblical morality, but common sense. The Bible has a description of times such as these. It was during the Old Testament period when the land was ruled by judges, "and they all did what was right in their own eyes" (Judges 21:25).

But according to Meacham, the declining influence of Christianity would be a positive thing:

As crucial as religion has been and is to the life of the nation, America's unifying force has never been a specific faith, but a commitment to freedom-not least freedom of conscience. At our best, we single religion out for neither particular help nor particular harm; we have historically treated faith-based arguments as one element among many in the republican sphere of debate and decision.

Really? America's unifying force is "freedom," not faith? Meacham may need to take another look at the importance of faith as it pertains to our concept of freedom-not only from the well-documented perspective of American history, but more explicitly in the Declaration of Independence:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

Therefore, in the words of America's founding fathers, our understanding of freedom (i.e., liberty) is an unalienable right endowed by our Creator, and it is the function of the state to protect this right with powers derived from the consent of the people.

Most importantly, "freedom" would be a meaningless concept if not for the object of the timeless Easter message, He is risen. He who is the author of freedom, said, "If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth and the truth will set you free."

So, is this the "end of Christian America"? The statement presupposes that America once was a Christian nation, but not any longer. The President seemed to disagree with this point of view when, during an April 6 press conference in Turkey, he said that "we do not consider ourselves a Christian nation or a Jewish nation or a Muslim nation; we consider ourselves a nation of citizens who are bound by ideals and a set of values."

The question then for America is, what should be the source of our ideals and values? Should they come from "the truth that sets us free," or, as Mr. Meacham says, a "freedom of conscience" to determine what is right or wrong, with faith being "one element among many in the republican sphere of debate and decision"?

---Allan Dobras is an author and freelance writer on religious, science, and cultural issues and an electronics engineer. He lives in Springfield, Virginia.