Do you ever wonder why Good Friday is called Good Friday? It would seem more appropriate to call it Bad Friday. After all, Jesus suffered a horrible and tragic death that day. So why call it Good Friday?One day 2000 years ago or so Jesus of Nazareth was condemned to death. The Son of God, the creator of man, the Just and righteous one, the most loving person who ever lived, perfect in goodness, was condemned to death! On a human level, the condemnation of Jesus was the ultimate travesty of justice. No one was more innocent of wrongdoing than Jesus. But consider Jesus' condemnation from God's point of view.
Was Jesus' death justified? Listen to these words of Scripture: He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree (1 Peter 2:24). “It was the will of the LORD to crush him.” (Isaiah 53:10). “He has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself. Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people.” (Hebrews 9: 26-28) These Scriptures tell us that from God's point of view, Jesus' death was justified. Indeed, Jesus' death was necessary -- for without His death, God would have to punish you and me for our sins.
The Bible teaches us that God -- our perfectly holy and righteous God -- cannot tolerate sin. From his very nature, he cannot tolerate sin. Furthermore, God is just, meaning that he will right every wrong; he will apply just punishment to every wrongdoer. We like to hear this when we have been wronged, when we have been the victim – but the problem is that each of us has wronged others, we are victimizers as well, so each of us deserves punishment. So Jesus had to die because of my sin. Sin! We don't like this word. We don't mind talking about our foibles, or our weaknesses, or our failures -- but sin! No, we don't like to admit that we are sinners.
What is sin? One definition: Sin is both disobedience to the law of God and sin is missing the mark of God’s law. This definition shows that God is the one who defines sin. God, our Creator, has the absolute authority to dictate to us the terms and conditions of our being able to enter His presence. Sin is nothing more or less than cosmic treason and human ineptitude: the refusal to recognize and submit to God’s authority in any and every area of our lives and the complete inability to conform to God’s standards on our own.
In these days there is much confusion concerning this word, "sin." Many people try to dumb down this idea of sin, to take away its meaning by redefining it, rationalizing it, minimizing it, or justifying it. In short, sin today really is not so bad. But the fact is from God’s view; sin is deadly serious. So serious in fact that: “the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men…The wages of sin is death” (Romans 1:18; 6:23).
Remember how Jesus summarized the Law of God? “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. . . . Love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22:37, 39). Do we live up to those? No. I don't, you don't. That is why the bible tells us that the consequence of sin is that we are debtors to God; enemies of God; and guilty criminals, lawbreakers, before a righteous and Holy God. Paul in Romans 3 makes it absolutely clear that without Christ's death, all of us are under the just condemnation of God. Listen to these words: “We have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin, as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one… for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:9-12,23). Paul tells us that every single person, every person here this evening, is a sinner; every person deserves an eternity of separation from our holy and perfect God.
So are we without hope? Keep reading! Paul goes on to explain the basis of our hope in verses 20-26: "Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin. But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed, to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus" (Romans 3:20-26).
Do you understand? We are sinners! We have violated God’s righteousness and the He demands satisfaction. We deserve God's condemnation! Our debt to God must be paid, we need to be reconciled from our estrangement to Him, and a payment or penalty must be paid for our crimes of violating God’s law. And we can do nothing on our own to satisfy God or change our condemnation. But God sent His son Jesus to suffer and die on the cross for us, so that He might right every wrong and still invite us to become the perfect bride who will rejoice with Him for all eternity. Jesus is the Payment of our debt (Hebrews 7: 22); Jesus is our Mediator who reconciles us to God (2 Corinthians 5:19); and Jesus is our Substitute who stands in the place of true criminals, you and me. Jesus Christ is the one who has made satisfaction by His work of the cross. Jesus also is our Redeemer who frees us from sin’s captivity, setting us free by offering Himself as a ransom (Mark 10:44-45). He takes our sins upon Himself and God’s transfers His righteous to us, to our account. As a result, we are clean from all sin and adorned with the glorious righteousness of Christ. God brings us pardon and perfection through Jesus. But most of all He brings us the ultimate end to which we were made: To be able to see God and be with God and to know God and to enjoy God forever and ever! “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit” (1 Peter 3:18).
That is why Good Friday is called Good Friday! Not Bad Friday. Not Sad Friday. Not a day to mourn over the dying Jesus, though his death should sober us. Not a day to feel sorry for Jesus being spat upon, though we need to acknowledge the fact that all this happened because of what we have done. But a day, as John Newton said, for "pleasing grief and mournful joy." Joy because this one sacrifice saves us completely, because in this great act of love Christ Jesus laid down his life for you, for me; joy because this act that we celebrate -- yes, celebrate -- allows each and every person to join God's beloved family for all eternity -- if you will only believe. The shed blood of Jesus Christ is our only hope. But oh what a hope! I plea with you to open your heart to this amazing love! Receive Jesus as your Lord and Savior -- and eternal life begins for you today.
Pastor Bill
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