TO SUBSCRIBE TO "FAITH BOOSTER BLOG"WHAT IS SO GOOD ABOUT GOOD FRIDAY?
WHAT’S SO GOOD ABOUT GOOD FRIDAY?
There has always been a certain mystery surrounding Good Friday. As a non-Catholic growing up in Ireland, I never quite understood how the crucifixion of the Son of God could be synonymous with anything Good. After all, what's good about a slow death on a cross?
Back in Ireland growing up, the presence of the crucifixes in homes I would visit and outside churches was a constant reminder of the terrible agony Jesus must have suffered. Even now, years later, I still remember the sense of awe that Catholic folks and their personal introspection that affirmed that, indeed, something terrible and cataclysmic had happened over 2000 years previously on Good Friday.
It was only years later that the whole mystery of Good Friday was revealed to me. At last, I could understand the powerful spiritual ramifications why the term Good was relevant.
Based on 2 Corinthians 5:19, I want to break it up for you, it will change your life as it did mine:
"...that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation."
- "God was in Christ...." This simply means that Jesus Christ is both God and man. On the cross, He represented you and me, but since he was totally sinless, His judgment and punishment were unjustified. In Christ, God took the initiative to come into our world and personally pay sin's penalty. That really is amazing grace!
- "Reconciling the world unto Himself...." To reconcile means to make things right. On the cross, Jesus made things right between God and mankind. After the tsunamis a couple of years back, and the Black Friday fires here in Victoria, some people asked me if I thought God was sending judgment on the world. My response was that God already sent His judgment on Christ at Calvary. Because of Christ's punishment on the cross, every human being now has the opportunity to be totally reconciled with God.
- "Not imputing their trespasses unto them...." Again, because justice was satisfied on the cross, you need not be condemned for your sins. When Jesus uttered the words, "It is finished," in John 19.30; He was saying that God was satisfied and sin's penalty was paid in full.
- "And has committed to us the word of reconciliation." God is not mad at you and the world! Faith to receive forgiveness comes by hearing this simple yet profound message. By accepting Christ and the merits of His work on the cross, you can begin a new and exciting relationship with God. Your sins are forgiven on legal grounds and you can live with the assurance that you now have eternal life! The law has a procedural defense known as double jeopardy, which simply means that a person cannot be judged twice for the same crime.
Since Christ was judged and condemned for your sins, and you are in Him and He is in you, you stand acquitted when, by faith, you accept Jesus' sacrifice on your behalf.
2 Corinthians 5:17 "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new."
Ultimately, what makes Good Friday so good is Easter Sunday
That's good news. That's Good Friday! So enjoy your Easter blessings.
Norman