Good Friday
“But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.”
Isaiah 53:5
Today is Good Friday a seemingly contradiction in terms considering Christians remember the death of Jesus.
Good Friday is the day Christians believe Jesus paid the price for our sins.
The apostle Paul writes,
“And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.
You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.
Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die.
But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Romans 5:5-8.
The death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus are key beliefs of Christianity without them Christianity is nothing.
Christians believe:
1/ Jesus is the messiah. The suffering Messiah as described in Isaiah 53. Who died for the sins of all who would believe in Him.
C. S. Lewis said of Jesus
“He died not for men, but for each man. If each man had been the only man made, He would have done no less.”
C.S. Lewis.
2/ Jesus did not remain in the grave he rose from the dead.
3/ Jesus will judge the all mankind
The Apostle Paul when speaking to the Athenians saying,
“In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent.
For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to all men by raising him from the dead.”
Acts 17:30,31.
Without the resurrection Christian beliefs mean nothing. Jesus conquered death. As far as I know Christianity is the only religion in the world that claims its founder died and rose from the dead walked the earth briefly then rose into heaven from where he will judge mankind.
The writer of Hebrews states,
“In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe.
The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.
So he became as much superior to the angels as the name he has inherited is superior to theirs.
For to which of the angels did God ever say, “You are my Son; today I have become your Father?"
Or again, “I will be his Father, and he will be my Son” ?
And again, when God brings his firstborn into the world, he says, “Let all God’s angels worship him.” In speaking of the angels he says, “He makes his angels winds, his servants flames of fire.”
But about the Son he says, “Your throne, O God, will last for ever and ever, and righteousness will be the scepter of your kingdom.
You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; therefore God, your God, has set you above your companions by anointing you with the oil of joy.”
Hebrews 1:1-9.
As C. S. Lewis said,
“He (Jesus) died not for men, but for each man. If each man had been the only man made, He would have done no less.”
C.S. Lewis.
The Easter weekend is considered the holiest weekend of the year. It is a time when we as Christians celebrate the fact that God reached down in the form of His one and Only Son, Jesus.
God reached down to us His creation and offered salvation to anyone who would believe in Him and accept Jesus into their hearts and lives.
Jesus speaking of himself said,
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son”.
John 3:16-18.
When God created man, He gave man complete freedom to do as he wished. That includes to believe in Him and the saving grace Jesus offers. Thus the choice to you this day is the same as was given to Martha by Jesus. He said to her,
Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?”
“Yes Lord” she told Him, “I believe you are the Christ the Son of God, who was to come into the world,
John 11:25,26.
Do you?
Please think about it.
Isaiah 53:5
Today is Good Friday a seemingly contradiction in terms considering Christians remember the death of Jesus.
Good Friday is the day Christians believe Jesus paid the price for our sins.
The apostle Paul writes,
“And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.
You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.
Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die.
But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Romans 5:5-8.
The death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus are key beliefs of Christianity without them Christianity is nothing.
Christians believe:
1/ Jesus is the messiah. The suffering Messiah as described in Isaiah 53. Who died for the sins of all who would believe in Him.
C. S. Lewis said of Jesus
“He died not for men, but for each man. If each man had been the only man made, He would have done no less.”
C.S. Lewis.
2/ Jesus did not remain in the grave he rose from the dead.
3/ Jesus will judge the all mankind
The Apostle Paul when speaking to the Athenians saying,
“In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent.
For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to all men by raising him from the dead.”
Acts 17:30,31.
Without the resurrection Christian beliefs mean nothing. Jesus conquered death. As far as I know Christianity is the only religion in the world that claims its founder died and rose from the dead walked the earth briefly then rose into heaven from where he will judge mankind.
The writer of Hebrews states,
“In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe.
The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.
So he became as much superior to the angels as the name he has inherited is superior to theirs.
For to which of the angels did God ever say, “You are my Son; today I have become your Father?"
Or again, “I will be his Father, and he will be my Son” ?
And again, when God brings his firstborn into the world, he says, “Let all God’s angels worship him.” In speaking of the angels he says, “He makes his angels winds, his servants flames of fire.”
But about the Son he says, “Your throne, O God, will last for ever and ever, and righteousness will be the scepter of your kingdom.
You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; therefore God, your God, has set you above your companions by anointing you with the oil of joy.”
Hebrews 1:1-9.
As C. S. Lewis said,
“He (Jesus) died not for men, but for each man. If each man had been the only man made, He would have done no less.”
C.S. Lewis.
The Easter weekend is considered the holiest weekend of the year. It is a time when we as Christians celebrate the fact that God reached down in the form of His one and Only Son, Jesus.
God reached down to us His creation and offered salvation to anyone who would believe in Him and accept Jesus into their hearts and lives.
Jesus speaking of himself said,
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son”.
John 3:16-18.
When God created man, He gave man complete freedom to do as he wished. That includes to believe in Him and the saving grace Jesus offers. Thus the choice to you this day is the same as was given to Martha by Jesus. He said to her,
Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?”
“Yes Lord” she told Him, “I believe you are the Christ the Son of God, who was to come into the world,
John 11:25,26.
Do you?
Please think about it.
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