04/11/2020–Good Friday?
There’s a ton of information in the Bible about when Jesus was born, how, and why. There’s also a plethora of knowledge about when He was crucified, how, and why. Additionally, you can find loads of interesting food for thought about when He was resurrected, how, and why.
To keep this fairly short, I’ll skip to the day commonly called “Good Friday” by Christians–those who believe in Jesus as Lord and Savior. It’s the day that commemorates Jesus being nailed to a crucifix and left to die like a common criminal. Why, then, do we call it a “good” day? Shouldn’t we wail, mourn, and grieve? Nope!
The devil planned that Jesus would die that way, so that those who saw it happen, would believe that He had lied about who He was. He also planned it in a way that mocked the killing of sacrificial lambs that the Jews understood to be their connection to God and His forgiveness, protection, and salvation.
“See?” he was saying, “Neither all the blood sacrifices of lambs, nor the man who called Himself the Lamb of God, will cover your sins or get you any closer to God. This is it, people. I’ve killed Jesus, and now YOU will also die in my power, and there’s no way out!”
Satan only steals, kills, and destroys. (John 10:10) He had convinced himself that if he killed Jesus, the man, he would kill Jesus, the Lord. He knew that, under the Law, sacrifices had to be made continually. So, by his flawed logic, he figured that if Jesus was dead, he could no longer BE the sacrificial lamb.
What he didn’t understand, though (or perhaps he did, but he had to try, anyway), is that the Father had planned all along that the Lamb of God would be sacrificed ONCE…for ALL. Period.
We use that term a lot, in this day and time, to mean, “I’m never going to say/do that again. This is it.” Well…so did God, but it means more than that. Yes…it means that the killing of the sacrificial lamb, in the case of Jesus was done once. Period…as in, that will never happen again.
It also means just what it says, though. It was done (just once) for ALL. This means that we ALL can walk into (and forever IN) the cleansing blood of Jesus, simply by choosing to follow Jesus as our Lord and Savior. (“…If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” Romans 10:9–NKJV) He has already done the work.
On Sunday, just a short time from now, we will commemorate the day that final sacrifice was shown to the world, when Jesus, the man who truly was all man and all God, rose from the dead so that from there He could make the trip back to His rightful throne at the side of OUR Father, after committing the third part of our triune God to always be available to us here on Earth.
As for today, we take the time to remember the sacrifice of our Lamb…accepted by the Father, for us…that we might be made the Father’s adopted, COVENANT children.
Hallelujah! Through that sacrifice, our place in God’s family has been cemented. No further blood sacrifice is necessary. There’s a LOT more to be learned about that, but for now…for today…we celebrate the fact that the Father outwitted the devil on our behalf…and THAT’S also forever…once…for all. Praise God!
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Scriptures marked (NKJV) are taken from the New King James Version®
Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.
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