The Reason

Good Friday?! He was beaten and tortured beyond recognition. He was flogged with leather whips made of broken glass designed to rip the flesh apart. He was then forced to carry the heavy cross beam to His own death where they would nail His hands and feet. A cruel, humiliating death designed to slowly suffocate the victim as he hung naked and bleeding. This was a Roman form of punishment designed for the worst of sinners... not the sinless. And we call this Good Friday?! The Savior who fashioned the heavens and spoke creation into existence was now dying on a cross being ridicule by the very people He loved. The hands that sculpted the universe were now pierced with nine inch nails that held His frail body to the tree. This?? GOOD Friday??

Romans 3:23 says that ALL of us have sinned. We all fall short of His glory. Because God is Holy, our sin has separated us from Him. He is just and cannot allow it to go unpunished. It says in Nahum 1:3 that the Lord “will by no means leave the guilty unpunished.” But why Good Friday? Paul simply writes, "while we were still sinners, Christ died for US" (Romans 5:8). It's Good Friday because the perfect, spotless Lamb died in our place. Even though we turned our backs on Him, the Lord laid on Christ the iniquity of us all (Isaiah 53:6). Through the cross, we find redemption and grace. It is Good Friday because the cross provided salvation for those who would put their trust in Him. No amount of "good works" will save us. Even our best efforts to earn His love and forgiveness are seen as filthy, blood-stained tampons in His eyes (Isaiah 64:6 gives the gross picture of the menstrual cloth, which implied ritual impurity). Paul also states, "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the GIFT of God, not of works... "(Ephesians 2:8,9). It is Good Friday because through Christ's sacrificial death, we have salvation! We deserved hell, but He offers heaven. He took our place. And not only this, but His death and resurrection free us from sin now. "As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our sin from us" (Psalm 103:12). He removed our sin (past tense)! If you have placed your faith in Him, He looks at you as a new creation. "Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation... all things have become new" (2 Corinthians 5:17). Are you a Christian but living a life ensnared by sin? This is why He died and rose again... that you may have life! He paid the price so that you could truly live and be free from the slavery of sin (Romans 6). Are you weighed down by guilt or the cares of tomorrow? He is alive... He conquered death so that you could be free. This is truly good news! Life and peace and the assurance of knowing that He took every sin we ever committed or ever will commit and nailed it to the Cross. By His stripes we are healed (Isaiah 53:5).

As Easter approaches, reflect on what you have been freely given. Thank Him for dying for you. If you have strayed from Him, repent and turn to Him. He is "faithful and just" and will forgive you (1 John 1:9). If you have never put your faith in Him, do it today. Believe in Him and you will be saved (Acts 16:31). Talk to a friend or pastor who can encourage and show you the truths from Scripture. Or maybe you find it hard to even believe the Easter story... of a man who claimed to be God. Who died and supposedly rose from the dead (yea, I admit... it does sound strange!!). If this is you, please email me... I'd love to chat about it some more (alex.florea@comcast.net). You may be surprised at the overwhelming evidence that the resurrection was an actual, historic event.

~AF

"He was despised and forsaken of men,
A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief;
And like one from whom men hide their face
He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.
Surely our griefs He Himself bore,
And our sorrows He carried;
Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken,
Smitten of God, and afflicted.
But He was pierced through for our transgressions,
He was crushed for our iniquities;
The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him,
And by His scourging we are healed.
All of us like sheep have gone astray,
Each of us has turned to his own way;
But the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all
To fall on Him."
~Isaiah 53:3-6