Because He Loved Us

I've been trying to understand the importance of what this day means, Good Friday. In reality, for Jesus, this day was everything but good. He was beaten, He was spit upon, He was mocked, He was betrayed, and He was killed. This day represented sadness, for His mother Mary who watched Him die, for Peter who had denied Him the night when He was arrested, for Judas who turned Jesus into His captors. It was a tragic day. A day the Son of God knew had to happen, yet dreaded. It's hard to imagine that such a perfect person, sinless in fact, had to have His life ended by sinners like you and me. We're angry people, we're jealous for glory, we're stuck up in our ways. The lyrics of Mavericks City's song, Isaiah song, says, "That should've been me on the cross, He took my place, It should've been me, While I was yet sinning, He took my place." We were the guilty. We are the guilty. Yet, the One, who was guiltless, paid the price.

It hurts me to think that Jesus had to go through all this pain for the things I've done. I am a big time doubter, I doubt in myself, I doubt in God sometimes, I doubt my situations will get better. It's crazy that even when my life does get better I still whisper to myself, " This won't last, this is too good to be true, why would God want to use me?" I whisper these things, knowing that God already took the blame and made me worthy. “For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.” Hebrews 8:12 Like, he forgave me, so why would I still doubt, why should you still doubt?

We doubt because we're human. But I am here today to say, that we have to let go of our shame. We're not meant to live in this constant fear that things will never get better. Can you imagine if Jesus went into His death thinking we were unworthy of His love? If He thought that, then He wouldn't have given His life for us. He wouldn't have been born into this world to save us. Yet, He knew how much we needed Him. He knew and still knows how much we deserve to be loved. He wanted us to know that our doubt does not compare to the promises He has in store for us.

"And so, dear brothers and sisters,we can boldly enter heaven’s Most Holy Place because of the blood of Jesus. By his death, Jesus opened a new and life-giving way through the curtain into the Most Holy Place. And since we have a great High Priest who rules over God’s house, let us go right into the presence of God with sincere hearts fully trusting him. For our guilty consciences have been sprinkled with Christ’s blood to make us clean, and our bodies have been washed with pure water." Hebrews 10:19-22

I was studying this verse lately, trying to understand the message of it. And wow, what a message it actually gives. "By his death, Jesus opened a new and life-giving way through the curtain into the Most Holy Place." This sentence means that Jesus' death tore the veil that blocked us from speaking to God directly. In the old times, people had to go to a priest in order to speak to God. These priests then had to go through a cleansing ceremony in order to be purified enough to go into the presence of God and speak with Him. But by Jesus' death, this process became no more. His blood covered our sins completely, and we were made righteous through Him. "For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ." (2 Corinthians 5:21) And through His sacrifice He gave us oneness with Himself. Through His death, we are now able to pray to God directly. We can worship Him directly. We can praise Him directly. And He will hear us. He will draw near. "The Lord is close to all who call on him, yes, to all who call on him in truth. He grants the desires of those who fear him; he hears their cries for help and rescues them. (Psalm 145:18,19)

Doesn't that make you so happy? It surely makes me joyful! And that is the reason behind Good Friday being called Good. It's Good because it was the day that Jesus was able to take on our sins, and give us a second chance at living forever. It's Good, because we were made good through Christ. And yes, we will still mess up, this doesn't mean we're now made perfect. But it does mean that we are forgiven and we are given grace everyday to be made whole. Through Jesus' death we were given the gift of salvation through repentance. And this means that when we sin, we can confess our sins, and be redirected towards the right path.

So yes, Good Friday is the day we remember all the pain He endured for us. But it's also the day, that His promise was kept in order for us to be saved. And for that we must be very grateful for, and continue to praise Him for every single day. So give Jesus some praise today. Cry over the pain He went through. But also rejoice, because in three days, He rose, and His promise of eternity for us became true.

"You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had.

Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form, he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross." Philippians 2:5-8