Today is Friday, the most yearned for day of the week. We even have a unique acronym for it, TGIF. But while Fridays are tremendous, there is one Friday in particular that the other 51 cannot compete with. That is Good Friday. I always thought good was not good enough to describe what happened on the cross. But if God viewed His six days of creation week as good, it's good enough for me!
So, what makes Good Friday so good? It’s not only what happened to Christ on the cross but, most importantly, the effect of this sacrifice for me and for every other individual that has ever existed or will exist. His willingness to die in my place is the ultimate act of unconditional love. So, may we rejoice and remember today and every day that we would not have experienced propitiation without Good Friday. Propitiation is the act of appeasing a superior being in such a manner as to incur divine favor or avoid divine retribution. Good Friday is so good because on this day God poured all the sins of the universe on His beloved son so that we could be with Him forever.
Many who have not studied the Scriptures miss out on why Good Friday had to happen. It wasn’t just the false allegations against the most amazing man to have ever walked the planet by the very beings He came to serve and save. It was God’s willingness to take on human form, live, teach, walk, and love among us, and subject Himself to the most brutal death imaginable. He loved the world so much that His blood would be shed as a sacrifice in place of ours. So, we not only become heirs of Christ when we are covered by His actions on Good Friday, but we also escape an eternity of literal hell. Good Friday is so good because it appeased the holy wrath of God.
Now I know many do not like to talk about the vengeance side of our Heavenly Father, but as much as He loves us, He hates sin. Because of this reality, there has to be a reckoning. People often ask how can there be a God when there is so much evil in the world, to which I reply, "Don't blame this on God; man is the one committing all the evil!” And as surely as God is holy and man is wicked, He made a way that the two can be reconciled…. through the cross. Good Friday is so good because it provides a way for us to be restored in holiness before God. When we are justified by the blood of the cross, God views us just as if we had never sinned.
Not only are we presented blameless in this life, but we are pardoned after we die. Death isn’t the end of anything other than our physical presence in these fallen bodies. When we die, we don’t just waft off into space soup, have our consciousness merged with the cloud, or come back in some other lifeform. Instead, we face judgment (Hebrews 9:27). Our physical bodies cease to exist, but our spirits are eternal. Now I know I have done some pretty untremendous things in my life and will continue to do so because of my sinful nature. But to know that when I face the judgment, I have already been declared holy as if I had never sinned is an indescribable joy. That's what makes Good Friday so good because I know I have been set free from the bondage of sin.
So, this Good Friday, may you be overcome with just how good the events that transpired on this day were. So Good that it gives Good a whole new eternal meaning!
Want to learn more about just how much God loves you? Check out The Love of God by our founder, Charlie "Tremendous" Jones and be blessed. Also available in Spanish.
