Good Friday

I am going to pause from the topic of “Qualities of a Godly Governmental Leader ” to focus on this important day.

Today is a significant day in history; it marks the day that evil and good came to a head on crash! This is the day that all powers of hell broke loose, and the darkness took over the land. God removed His hand of grace and allowed sin to be seen for what it really is. Every form of decency and justice disappeared, and false accusation and betrayal became the prominent players in this cosmic conflict!

When Jesus and his disciples stepped into this Friday centuries ago, Good Friday was anything but good! Fear, trepidation, confusion, pain, rejection, distrust, denial, and betrayal all came together to create a very dark day. The Son of God took on the sin of humanity and exposed the depth of sin that lays doormat in each of us waiting for an opportune time.

And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel.” Genesis 3:15

This is the day that God reached into the depth of hell to take back the keys to the Kingdom of God, which the devil stole in the Garden of Eden. In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus made the decision that He was willing to go to the cross in order to crush the devil once and for all, but before he could do that, he had to be willing to be crushed by the weight and the agony of sin.

Good Friday is only good because of the fruit it produced in the form of Jesus’ resurrection and redemption of humanity. There is no Easter without a dark Friday. It is only in retrospect that we call that first Friday, “good”. It is also in retrospect that we can look back at our lives and call something that was painful, hurtful, and unjust as good. We call it good because God’s mighty hand delivered us and brought us to a new place in our relationship to Him. He chose to love us, freed us from the bondage of sin, and brought us to a safe refuge in Him. 

Let’s celebrate this day with complete appreciation for Jesus’ love and sacrifice for us, and let us be encouraged that God always has the last say in His children’s lives. When we surrender ourselves to Him, He can bring about something powerful out of a painful season of our lives! Amen!

Photo attribution:

http://lavistachurchofchrist.org/Pictures/Standard%20Bible%20Story%20Readers,%20Book%20Six/target49.html