For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die.
BUT God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were sinners, Christ died for us."-Romans 5:6-8
Glory! and Amen! This verse of scripture has always gladdened my heart, and this is even more so today, as we celebrate what is today known as Good Friday!
Today as I sat and read this scripture again today, I am so overjoyed once again by it, and by the thought that God loves us so much! My prayer for today, is that people all over the world, would not see this day as just another day, or a day to be off from work, or a day to get a lot of things done. I pray that people would pause and actually reflect on what Good Friday is all about. I hope that believers are grateful for all that Jesus did for us, and that those who have not accepted Jesus as saviour, or who don't even know Him and what Good Friday is all about, I pray that questions will arise for you and you will ask what Good Friday is all about.
God loves us so much. All the way back to before the creation of the world, God desired a family. Someone that He could love and cherish, pour His love upon, someone that He could show His goodness and kindness to, who He could fellowship with, have a relationship with, who He could preserve and protect, a family of sons and daughters who would be just like Him, and who would love one another, as He loves, and with the same love. So He created us. Created us in His likeness and image, so that we were just like Him. So that we could fellowship with Him, walk and talk with Him, live and love just like Him, rule and reign with Him. But we decided that we didn't want to do what He said to do. We didn't want Him. We wanted to do what we wanted to do. Have our own way, do our own thing! We turned from Him.We broke the heart of God, we had a new master now...satan... a murderer, a deceiver, a liar, and outlaw, a thief! But still God loved us! He didn't walk away from us. We still sinned and lived as we desired, over and over again, following the dictates of satan, yet God still loved us! He was not going to lose the family that He created, loved and cherished, no, no way! Sin continued, and the family continued to enjoy it, after all, sin is fun, but all along...God still loved us, and He had a plan!
When the time was right, when we were still sinners-loving it and enjoying it, God sent Jesus! Jesus, the sinless one, who never knew sin, never stained by sin, the righteous one, sinless, and pure...He came, and He came for sinners, to make us to be joined back to God again! sin and satan cut us off from having a relationship and fellowship with God. Sin stood in the way. God's desire for us never changed. He still wanted His family. He still loved His family. He had wonderful plans for His family...so much love to give, so many blessings to bestow...He had to get His family back! But God's is an honorable God. He said that the soul that sins shall die, and we sure fell into that category! Sin always brings the penalty of death. God is a just God, and justice had to be carried out! God even Himself could not violate His own law. We must die, you, me, all of us...sinners we were! This was a debt that we owed, and certainly could not pay! We must die!
But Jesus came! The Son of God, the sinless, righteous, obedient Son of God, He came for us. He came to pay that awful debt for us...the one that not a one of us could pay. He just decide that he would just die foe all of us."Wow, are you serious? Jesus, are you saying that You would be willing to be nailed on a cross for me. You would be willing to be separated from Your Father for me? Sin brings all kinds of sickness and all kinds of grotesque diseases and suffering with it, and You would be willing to take all of this for me? Be beaten, pierced and die, crucified for me, and for people who have not even been born yet? Are you really willing to go through all of this!" "YES"... and He did!
Jesus did all of this for sinners...you and me ...people who were dirty, condemned, guilty, polluted, stained by sin. This is how much that God loves us! God gave His Son to die for us, in our place. We were certainly worthy of death. God pierced Him. God put Jesus to grief. It pleased God to cause Jesus to suffer, to give Jesus as an offering for sin, so that we could be saved from death, be bought back into relationship and fellowship with our father again! (Please read Isaiah 53)
As I celebrate Good Friday, I cannot but think about how blessed we are. Even if you have never received Jesus as your personal saviour, or believed that all that Jesus did on the cross was for you, it really was for you, it is not too late to ask Him to be your Saviour and Lord. He loves you. You are forgiven. You can have peace with God, right now, this very day.If YOU had been the only person on Earth at the time, Jesus still would have died for YOU! When He was suffering on that cross, when He was feeling the nails in His hands and feet, He was thinking about YOU! He died for you and for me! Just ask Him to come into your heart. Tell Him that you believe that He died for you. Tell Him that you believe that He didn't stay dead, but that God raised Him up, and in a few days we will celebrate His Resurrection from the dead. Tell Him that you want Him to come into your heart an that you want to live for Him from now on. Ask Him to fill you with His Holy Spirit so that you can walk and talk with Him every day. He'll do it you know...all you have to do is ask! It really will be, a Good Friday!
~Gayle
