Is Good Friday Good?

By Matt Tyler

Earlier this week I got a call from a couple of my family members. These family members are on the side of my family who are not Christians. They had somehow gotten into a discussion about Easter, which ultimately led to Jesus' resurrection. Surprisingly one of them did not know the True meaning of Easter. This caused them to call me so that I could explain it to them. One of the questions that stuck out to me during this conversation had to do with Good Friday. The question was this: If Good Friday was the day that Jesus died, why do people call it "Good" Friday?

That was an excellent question and was a perfect opportunity for me to be able to share the Gospel. Our Lord and Savior, Jesus, experienced the most horrific death in the history of the World. He faced excruciating beatings and torture. A crown of long, thick, sharp thorns was thrust onto His skull. His legs and arms were nailed to a cross in which he faced painful hours of slow suffocation. We've all read the stories that attempt to give us a picture of the kind of death Jesus faced. And for those of us who have been Christians for any length of time we have heard Pastors, teachers, and fellow believers explain that the most difficult part wasn't necessarily the physical nature of Jesus' painful death. Rather, Jesus, the perfect lamb, bore our sins in His body and thus experienced broken fellowship from His Father. God the Father poured out the full fury of His wrath upon Jesus Christ as punishment for our sins.

So what is 'good' about that? Many in the world would not see this as good at all. In fact, many take the stance that this is a form of "cosmic child abuse," to quote Steve Chalke's famous line. Indeed, even among professed Christians, some would argue that this message of the Cross is "harsh" and, therefore, they choose to take the focus off of the cross altogether.

On one hand the message of the cross is very harsh. The Cross shows us how serious our sin is. Our sin results in death and hell. In order to be redeemed and have our sins forgiven, we need God to step in and take our place and punishment. We needed Jesus to be our ransom! Apparently, it was so harsh that it caused Jesus to be in such agony that He sweat drops of blood (Luke 22:44). Moreover, Jesus tells the disciples that this will be a time of great suffering for Him (Luke 22:15).

On the other hand the message of the cross is very good. In fact, it is the harshness of the cross, that makes Good Friday so good. It was Jesus Christ alone and the work that He alone did that bought us forgiveness of sins and Eternal life. No one else could have done this! Wayne Grudem explains the necessity of Jesus' suffering on the cross, "If Jesus was going to accomplish the work that the Father sent him to do, and if people were going to be redeemed for God, it was necessary for him to die on the cross." Luke says something similar in his Gospel: "was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory (Luke 24:26)?"

We take this for granted, so please understand this: There was no other way for God to save us than for Christ to die in our place. It is only the blood of Christ that would be able to really take away our sins (Hebrews 9:25-26). The harsh truth of the matter is that sin must be punished. One of the penalties for our sins is suffering. Christ took that suffering upon Himself. Think of the pain he must have felt from the pure agony of the cross. Now multiply that with the realization that Jesus was perfect and therefore hated sin with his entire being- and yet he bore our sins. Add to this the fact that He was abandoned by friends( Mathew 26:56) and even God (Matthew 27:46). Once again multiply this by the fact that He bore the wrath of God upon Himself. Grudem, again, helps explain this, "Jesus became the object of the intense hatred of sin and vengeance against sin that God had patiently stored up since the beginning of the World."

I could go on. The point is this: Good Friday is good because it is in the death of Christ that we find the only way to be reconciled to God, forgiven of our sins, and Eternal Life. We deserve eternal torment in Hell as penalty for our sins. But God has made the only way for us to be forgiven, when we repent and trust in Christ, and it is all because of that Friday 2,000 years ago. You've heard this before, but don't miss it. That is not good news. That is spectacular, wonderful, amazing (I don't have the words) news. Let's rename Good Friday. It is now called Spectacular, Wonderful, Amazing Friday.

I have posted this song on here before, but I am going to do it again. It is powerful.

The Power of the Cross
By Keith and Kristyn Getty

Oh, to see the dawn
Of the darkest day:
Christ on the road to Calvary.
Tried by sinful men,
Torn and beaten, then
Nailed to a cross of wood.

CHORUS:
This, the pow'r of the cross:
Christ became sin for us;
Took the blame, bore the wrath—
We stand forgiven at the cross.

Oh, to see the pain
Written on Your face,
Bearing the awesome weight of sin.
Ev'ry bitter thought,
Ev'ry evil deed
Crowning Your bloodstained brow.

Now the daylight flees;
Now the ground beneath
Quakes as its Maker bows His head.
Curtain torn in two,
Dead are raised to life;
"Finished!" the vict'ry cry.

Oh, to see my name
Written in the wounds,
For through Your suffering I am free.
Death is crushed to death;
Life is mine to live,
Won through Your selfless love.

FINAL CHORUS:
This, the pow'r of the cross:
Son of God—slain for us.
What a love! What a cost!
We stand forgiven at the cross.

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On a slightly different note: Preach the WORD this weekend. Tell people what Good Friday and Easter are truly about!

Truth, Forgiveness, and My First Blog Post

By: Mitchell Lynn

Forgive me, I am new to this blogging thing, so if my thoughts are random, or boring, I apologize. I will work on presenting logical, entertaining blogs to you loyal followers. I was given the opportunity to intern this summer at Foothills Bible Church in Littleton, Colorado. Part of my duties for this job included preaching, hanging with students, and teaching Sunday school. A couple Sundays ago I taught on an often forgotten book in the Bible, Philemon. Wait… is that in the Old Testament or New? This tiny letter (only 25 verses) is found between the New Testament books of Titus and Hebrews. While studying this intimate letter, a few things stuck out to me.

One of the First things I noticed was the search for truth that Onesimus hungers for. See Onesimus was a slave, and while slavery then was a lot different than the slavery we understand in the United States, (in fact, freedom was a relative term in the Ancient Near East) he still had very limited rights. Onesimus leaves his owner, Philemon, and makes his way from Colosse to Rome (about 1,300 miles) in search of Paul. A lot of different ideas were going around Colosse about Jesus. In fact, this is why Colossians was written. But Onesimus wants to know the truth so he leaves all that he knows, and heads to the only reliable source that he knows, Paul.

Where is this kind of devotion to truth today? We question truth, ignore truth, and completely deny that any kind of truth exists. This epidemic is haunting our culture and is a threat to our youth. As Christians we need to search and dig for the truth of scripture, and proclaim that truth to a confused generation. 2nd Corinthians 4:2 says: “Rather, we have renounced secret and shameful ways; we do not use deception, nor do we distort the word of God. On the contrary, by setting forth the truth plainly we commend ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God”.

Another thing that stuck out to me was the power of forgiveness. Paul’s thesis for writing the letter was to urge Philemon to forgive Onesimus. Pleading with Philemon to take him back. It doesn’t matter what he did, Paul sends the letter to Philemon saying that this man is now your brother in Christ, so do the right thing and forgive him. How hard is it for us to forgive those who hurt us? Gandhi once said: “The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.” Paul does not order Philemon to forgive him, he wants him to do the right thing on his own. He wants him to forgive Onesimus, just as Christ has forgiven him.

My fiancée Anna illustrates forgiveness almost every day. I have made huge mistakes in my life that have lasting consequences, yet without hesitation, she forgives me for those mistakes I have made. Anna sees the forgiveness that Jesus has given her on the cross, and she lives out that forgiveness every day. Colossians 3:13 tells us: “Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you”.

Have you received the forgiveness that Jesus offered on the Cross? Christians, are you offering forgiveness to those who have wronged you?

“We must develop and maintain the capacity to forgive. He who is devoid of the power to forgive is devoid of the power to love. There is some good in the worst of us and some evil in the best of us. When we discover this, we are less prone to hate our enemies.”

—Martin Luther King Jr.

Jesus Died for a Child of Satan

When I think about all that God did for me-- that He would save a wretched, disgusting, sinner like myself; that He would die for the creation that turned their backs on Him-- I am at awe. But it is even more incredible to realize that, not only did Jesus died for wretched sinners, those wretched sinners happened to be children of Satan.

This is tied with the doctrine of Adoption. This is the doctrine I have been thinking about today. Before repenting of our sins and trusting in Christ we were enemies of God. We were the children of Satan. It is one thing for someone to die and save their friend, child, or ally. But God sent his Son to die for people who were His enemies, children of Satan, and people who had totally rejected him. When we trust in Christ, He adopts us into his family and we become Children of God. This has several implications. But, for the sake of time, I want to offer a closing thought that focuses on these two implications:

1. If you are a Christian: You have been saved from so much: hell, death, sin, sons and daughters of Satan. Rejoice in your adoption into God's family and tell others (verbally and with actions- that is the Biblical way) about Him. Rest assured in Him, have your peace, and know that you are now a child of God.

2. If you are not a Christian: Jesus died for sinners, for children of Satan. You are a child of Satan and you have lied, stolen, and blasphemed the name of the God who gave you life. Think about how bad you are and realize how much God must love you to die for you. Repent (turn from) your sins and trust in Jesus.



I hope you find encouragement in that today!

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This post was originally posted on Facebook on May 25, 2009