Romans 5:17 For
if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man,
how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of
the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ!
(NIV)
Today is Good Friday, one
of the most sacred days of the year on the Christian calendar. It’s the time
that we remember the last agonizing hours of Jesus on the Cross at Calvary. His
ministry was completed and all of God’s promises were fulfilled by His unjust
and untimely death. As Christ painfully suffered and felt His unique life ebb
away, He fully experienced the human conditions of loneliness and mortality.
Despair tried to cheat Him of His faith and death attempted to claim Him
forever, but even though He went through that dark tunnel of desolation, He
still clung to His Heavenly Father’s love so that in the end, Jesus committed
His spirit into God’s hands.
At that terrible moment
when He died, it must have appeared to those few followers around Him as if the
world was totally forsaken by God and that Christ’s life had been extinguished
by forces must stronger than Himself. His enemies gloated over His death and
felt that His teaching had been totally discredited. They believed that they
were fully exonerated and completely justified in their collusion to kill
Jesus. In their eyes, He deserved to suffer humiliation and painfully die
because Christ had dared to challenge both the political and religious leaders
of His time.
But in God’s eyes, a far
more mysterious and dynamic event was taking place. Christ was reconciling the
world back to God. All of Creation had been tainted by human sin; it was now
time to set everything right and to restore humanity to the grace of God. One
man had foolishly caused a sinful separation from God; one man now faithfully
repaired that baneful breach. In the midst of death, life was restored; in the
time of darkness, true light was revealed.
Whoever you are and
wherever you go, please know that on this Day of all days, You are totally forgiven
of the past, completed reconnected to Christ, and eternally reunited to God’s heart,
both now and forever.
Point to ponder
What does Good Friday mean to me? How may I share its
blessing with others?
Prayer: Lord Jesus, You did not deserve to die, but
You chose to sacrifice Yourself so that we could be offered eternal peace with
God. We do not deserve this gift, but Your mercy and grace allow us to be embraced
and accepted by our Heavenly Father. Thank You for our complete restoration. In
Your Holy Name, we gratefully pray. Amen.
John Stuart is the pastor
of Erin Presbyterian Church in Knoxville, Tennessee.
Come and join us for worship on Sundays at 11:00 AM. You will be made very
welcome. 😊
Today’s image is John’s
latest Good Friday drawing called ‘Sin Bearer.’ If you would like to view a
larger version, please click this link: Sin Bearer.
