An Analogy: Butterflies and Easter

very ugly caterpillar that hatched from a fertile butterfly egg. This caterpillar must immediately find a food source from its unique "host" plant to survive. Caterpillars hatch having ravenous appetites and eat almost constantly during this brief life stage. In fact, they literally eat themselves right out of their skins! Amazingly, this is exactly what a caterpillar is supposed to do before it enters its second stage -- the dark chrysalis or "death" stage. For you see, the caterpillar has then finished its work on earth and must leave the rest up to its chrysalis and Mother Nature.

How is the butterfly's first life stage (the caterpillar) parallel to that of "stage one" of a Christian's life?

When God created Adam and Eve, He created them in His pure and sinless image and placed them in the Garden of Eden. God gave them only one commandment in order to remain in this peaceful, lovely garden. They were NOT TO EAT the fruit of one specific tree in the garden or they would surely die. Most of us know the story of how Eve was deceived into eating some fruit from that forbidden tree, and then persuaded Adam to eat some too. As a result, God sent them out of the Garden of Eden forever, as they had sinned against Him by eating this fruit. It was then that Adam and Eve knew they would surely die -- not only physically but spiritually.

Stage Two: Death

Let's now return briefly to the lowly caterpillar's chrysalis. To observe a chrysalis that is attached to a leaf or hanging motionlessly on the branch of a tree, one would surely think it was dead, or perhaps just a part of the leaf or branch. From all outward appearances, a chrysalis really does look lifeless. However, inside that chrysalis, mysterious changes are slowly taking place. This stage is known as "metamorphosis" (i.e., transformation), and is at best difficult for most to comprehend. It's true, scientists, entomologists, lepidopterists and others have explained "how" metamorphosis occurs. But have they been able to completely explain the "why" of this amazing process?

I'm definitely not an expert when it comes to explaining metamorphosis -- I simply know that it happens and that it is both awesome and mysterious. What I DO know is that the caterpillar it once was, is no more. Therefore, Stage Two refers to the "death" stage in the three life stages

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