Afterwords -- Good Friday
"But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed." (Isaiah 53:5)
"I must remind myself of the infinite value of Christ’s blood to cleanse me of all sin." (Francis Schaeffer)
April 7, 2023, Good Friday
Dear friends,
On one weekend long ago, history was changed forever for the human race.
Moses, and the prophets, and the poets of the Old Testament period all looked forward to the day of the Messiah. The Apostles and writers of the New Testament looked back on the cross and proclaimed all the riches secured there. Thousands of years in preparation, and thousands upon thousands of years to revel in a perfect and complete work of salvation. History was changed forever in a matter of hours.
Now Jesus' life was an indivisible tapestry of goodness. He, the eternal One, came into this world and embraced our humanity. He perfectly revealed God his Father. He went about doing good, and healed all who came to him. He called sinners to himself -- that's all of us -- and he proclaimed the time of God's favor. In himself, he perfectly fulfilled all of the Law's expectations. His life and death and resurrection are aspects of one Person. He is our champion, redeemer, substitute, Lord, and Savior.
But at the right time, God's time, he set his face to go to Jerusalem to die, on the day we now call Good Friday. "One day they led Him up Calvary’s mountain, One day they nailed Him to die on the tree..." (Wilbur Chapman)
So, on this weekend, two thousand years ago, everything changed for humanity. Theologians use big words to convey the riches of all that Christ accomplished for us by his death, validated by his resurrection -- words like propitiation, regeneration, justification, redemption, reconciliation, adoption, sanctification, and glorification. In other words, he forgave us, declared us righteous, made us new, set us free, restored us to God, brought us into his family, made us holy, and is transforming us with his glory, and for his glory, forever. Jesus secured for us every true blessing we could ever hope for. He purchased for us, rebels as we were (sometimes are), a glorious destiny that stretches into the far reaches of eternity. All in a matter of a few hours.
His last words were, "It is finished." Paid in full. Done. In one day. And... Sunday was coming!
Writing about the resurrection morning, G. K. Chesterton described the scene at Jesus' empty tomb:
“On the third day the friends of Christ coming at daybreak to the place found the grave empty and the stone rolled away. In varying ways they realised the new wonder; but even they hardly realised that the world had died in the night. What they were looking at was the first day of a new creation, with a new heaven and a new earth; and in a semblance of the gardener God walked again in the garden, in the cool not of the evening but the dawn.” (G. K. Chesterton, The Everlasting Man)
POINTS TO PONDER.
-- "The cross was, in fact, the full expression of the world’s feeling toward Him." (C. H. Spurgeon) Read "A Mournful List of Honors" by C. H. Spurgeon, edited by Alistair Begg.
-- "The Man on the Middle Cross Said I Can Come," a wonderful excerpt from a sermon by Alistair Begg.
-- "If we have accepted Christ as our Savior, we will never have to face the prospect of eternal condemnation." (Francis Schaeffer) Read excerpts here from The Finished Work of Christ.
-- "The resurrection was God’s confirmation that Jesus was who he claimed to be, and it is God’s assurance to Christians that they have been forgiven." (Neil Shenvi) Read "4 Points of Evidence for the Resurrection" here.
-- "What if the entire trajectory of the Christian life is bent not toward assured triumph but faithfulness in spite of hopelessness?" Read "Is It Worth It?" A question for every Christian.
FINAL QUOTE. "Yes, if you have believed on Jesus as your Savior, go ahead and pull back the curtain. Dare to look ahead. Look ahead to the day when your body will be resurrected, when with your resurrected eyes you will see the glories of the redeemed, restored creation. Look ahead to the day when, free in your glorified state from the very presence of sin, you will live with your Lord forever." (Francis Schaeffer, The Finished Work of Christ)
That's it for this (holy) week!
Sandy
Image credit: photo by Vaishakh Pillai on Unsplash. Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from The ESV Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version), copyright 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.