Happy Good Friday! As much as I love Easter and celebrating the resurrection, I love Good Friday even more. Of course without the Ressurection, we would have no hope, for Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15 "and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins." But without the sacrifice Jesus made on the cross, there would have been no Resurrection. So, I usually take a few hours out of my day on Good Friday to reflect on what Jesus did for me on the cross. Here's some things to consider:
- If you were the only one on earth and the only one through the ages that would be saved, Jesus would have still suffered on that He did just for you.
- At any moment, He could have commanded a legion of Angels to come down and rescue Him and it would have been within His right to do so.
- He endured so much torture and brutality that the scriptures say He no longer resembled a man.
- Even though he suffered more than any other man, it wasn't the physical pain that caused Jesus the most agony. When He cried out "My God, My God, why have you forsaken me", it was the ultimate rejection of His Father that broke Jesus's heart. At that moment Jesus took on all the sins of every person on earth, past, present and future, and God turned His face away from His son. Their eternal connection was severed because God could not have fellowship with sin. I believe that was the true reason for Jesus's agony and the ultimate reason for the broken heart that killed Him.
- He was rejected so we could be accepted
- He was separated from the Father so you could be adopted
- He became a curse so we could be blessed
- He was shamed so we could share His glory
- He became poor, so we could be rich (spiritually)
- He was beaten, so we could be healed
- He died so we could have life
- He bore our punishment so we could be forgiven
- He became our sin so we could be made righteous
If you have time, this Good Friday, I encourage you to click on the link below and watch this You-tube video. May it encourage you, humble you and give you a new appreciation for what our Lord has done for you!
I love your first point the most, and it's precisely what I mentioned to someone else today. It is so poignantly sweet that even if it had only been for me, Jesus still would have died on the cross. I just read His Name is Jesus, by Max Lucado, and he wrote, "Nails didn't hold God to a cross. Love did." Oh, what a wonderful saviour! Thanks so much for the lovely post.
ReplyDeleteThanks for this post. The video is amazing, more so the actual miracle of the Resurrection!
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