What’s So Good About Good Friday?
“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.”
John 3:16
“…but God shows his love for us in that while were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
Romans 5:8 ESV
“Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you.” – Jesus
John 15:13-14
Today is Good Friday – the day Jesus faced his accusers and death. He was whipped, mocked, and beaten before being nailed to the cross and dying a torturous death. If what Jesus endured on this day over 2000 years ago was so brutal, then why do we refer to it as Good Friday?
To answer that question, we need to take a brief look at human history. Back in Genesis, when Adam and Eve were created, the LORD called His creation “good.” He created them and they were perfect. After placing them in the Garden of Eden, He told Adam and Eve they could eat from any tree in the garden except for one tree – the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Genesis 2:16-17). God warned them that if they ate from the tree, then they would “surely die.” Later, Eve encountered the serpent who made her question and doubt everything God said. Knowing everything God told her about the forbidden tree, she decided to disobey Him and ate from the tree, which was a fateful decision for all mankind (note how our choices, good or bad, not only affect us, but others as well, sometimes for generations, or even longer). God removed Adam and Eve from the garden, but first He made them clothing from animal skin, which meant an animal had to die to cover Adam and Eve’s nakedness. Think about that for a second. Blood had to be shed to cover their shame.
From that point forward, the Bible is full of stories of people who honored God and people who didn’t and their struggles with sin and the consequences. Even the bravest heroes of faith battled their sinful nature. Through the Israelites, God established a ritual of sacrifice so that His children could be forgiven of their sins (whether it be a personal sin or collective sin). In order for mankind to be restored to God, a blood sacrifice of a spotless animal, like a lamb, had to be made. It sounds cruel, but death is the consequence of sin. Without forgiveness and redemption, we face eternal separation from God and eternity in hell.
But God showed us mercy. The first mention of His plan comes in Genesis 3, right after Adam and Eve ate from the tree. God curses the serpent and declares “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel,” (Genesis 3:15). The “he” who will crush the head of the serpent is Jesus. From the beginning, God had a plan of forgiveness and redemption. Fast forward a few thousand years. God sends His Son Jesus to be the final sacrifice for our sins. Jesus willingly took our place on the cross and bore the weight of our sins. He could have easily decided we weren’t worth it, but because He loved us, He died for us. His blood washed away our sins. Three days later, when God raised Him from the dead, death was defeated.
And that is why we call it Good Friday. Christ died a brutal death for our sins. Christ was the final atoning sacrifice. God’s plan, first mentioned in Genesis had come to fruition. Though Jesus suffered and died a terrible death, He willingly did so to give us life. His sacrifice offers us forgiveness and redemption. That’s what makes it good.
So, how do we receive this gift of forgiveness and redemption? All we need to do is confess with our mouths that Jesus is Lord and believe in our hearts that God raised Him from the dead, then we’ll be saved (Romans 10:9).
He is risen! He is risen indeed!
