Two thousand years ago, on that Friday morning of the passion week, Jesus suffered, shed His precious Blood and laid down His life for us on the cross. With humble contrite hearts, we come before God to remember the crucifixion of His Only Begotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. He died for the sins of His people. It is Good Friday because of the only good news that does not fade away. In medieval England, Good Friday was called "God's Friday." The Cross was not an accident. God's plan of salvation for mankind.

Why must Jesus die? It is for us that our Lord Jesus suffered and died. "He was wounded for our transgressions; He was bruised for our iniquities … the LORD hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all … an offering of sin" (Isaiah 53:5-10). Jesus suffered, shed His precious Blood, and died, to pay the full penalty of our sins. So that we through Him can have our sins forgiven and we can attain peace with God and eternal life. Romans 5:8 reminds us that "God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us". Out of His love, mercy and grace, God sent His Eternal Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, to make atonement for our sins on the cross. He is "our Passover" (1 Cor. 5:7). His holy justice is fully appeased through the Blood of our Savior.

Jesus died on the cross for our sins, and it justifies us from the penalty of sin. He was a propitiation for our sins - Rom. 3:25,26. The word propitiation means "that which appeases, satisfies a holy, righteous God". "And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world." 1 John 2:2.  Also, we find the same truth proclaimed in 1 John 4:10 "Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins." God's holy wrath at sin has been appeased on Good Friday through the shedding of Jesus blood and death on the cross.

Jesus died on the cross for our sins, and it sanctifies us from the power of sin.   “Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus,...through the Blood of the everlasting covenant, make you perfect in every good work to do His will...through Jesus Christ.” (Heb. 13:20-21) We learn from this scripture that the Blood had the power to actually raise Jesus from the dead, and it also has the power to make us perfect in every good work. Hebrews 9:14 again reminds us of this truth. How much more shall the Blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? Even as we know, Jesus sanctifies us; let us have an intimate walk with our living Saviour, wherein one is ever conscious of His presence.  1 John 1:7 “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the Blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.” We are to be sensitive to his voice and be ready to obey His will in all things.

We should be touched and moved by this truth that ‘Jesus died for us’. We were sinners separated from God. There is nothing good in us that deserve the mercies of God to save us. We sin willfully in our words, thoughts and action and face the consequences of sin. “For the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23a). Hebrews 9:27 – “And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment”. As fallen, depraved, wretched sinners, we deserve only the wrath of God and the eternal judgment of hellfire. We are condemned sinners separated from the Holy God and not worthy at all to be saved. None of us deserves to be saved from sin, the devil and hellfire judgment and be reconciled to God. Isaiah 53:66 “All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, everyone, to his own way; And the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all”. At such a time, Christ died for us. 2 Corinthians 5:21 – “For he (God) hath made him (Christ) to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him”. I Peter 3:18 – “For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit”.

Consider Christ, who has given Himself to save you. If you have not yet received Christ, may the love of God touch you in a special way to realise your need for the Saviour? May you turn to Him in humble prayer, acknowledge you are a sinner, confess and repent of your sins and accept the Lord Jesus to be your Saviour today. "Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near" (Isaiah 55:6). Someone rightly said, "If our greatest need was for information, God would have sent an educator." "If our greatest need was for technology, God would have sent a scientist." "If our greatest need was for pleasure, God would have sent an entertainer." "If our greatest need was for money, God would have sent an economist." But since our greatest need was forgiveness, God sends a Saviour.

How can we forget the price that our Lord paid with His own Blood to save us? How can we forget that it is because of our sins that Jesus had to take the full punishment of God’s Holy wrath upon Himself? Surely out of love and gratitude to God, we will continue to surrender our lives to Him and submit to Christ our Lord and live only for Him. Surely we will hate sin, turn from it and continue to love the Lord and obey His Word. 

As His people who have experienced His love, let us pledge on Good Friday again that we will not forget the price our Lord paid as our sin-bearer in order to save us from hell. We will not take lightly what our Lord was willing to go through for us because of our sins. Out of our love and gratitude to God, we will continue to surrender our lives to Him, put Him first and live only for Him. We will continue to proclaim the Gospel to people and pray that they might come to Christ and be saved. May the Lord help us to be faithful in serving Him now and until He comes again.

Rev Mathews Abraham

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