Good Friday
Notes
Transcript
Prayer
Song
21 But now, apart from the law, the righteousness of God has been revealed, attested by the Law and the Prophets. 22 The righteousness of God is through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe, since there is no distinction. 23 For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God; 24 they are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. 25 God presented him as the mercy seat by his blood, through faith, to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his restraint God passed over the sins previously committed. 26 God presented him to demonstrate his righteousness at the present time, so that he would be just and justify the one who has faith in Jesus.
Song
Introduction
Introduction
As I sat down to reflect on Easter and Good Friday. My mind kept drifting back to Christmas and to the Advent. Advent which speaks of the arrival of an expected person. Looking forward with anticipation of one to come. In the winter months we look at the baby born in the manger. The babe Jesus God in the flesh incarnated, fully man and fully God.
14 The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. We observed his glory, the glory as the one and only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. 15 (John testified concerning him and exclaimed, “This was the one of whom I said, ‘The one coming after me ranks ahead of me, because he existed before me.’ ”) 16 Indeed, we have all received grace upon grace from his fullness, 17 for the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has ever seen God. The one and only Son, who is himself God and is at the Father’s side—he has revealed him.
God revealed to mankind. God speaks through an exact expression, and imprint, of God’s own nature.
1 Long ago God spoke to our ancestors by the prophets at different times and in different ways. 2 In these last days, he has spoken to us by his Son. God has appointed him heir of all things and made the universe through him. 3 The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact expression of his nature, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.
The Advent. The arrival. A man is born, one that existed in the flesh and for 3 years he lived disrupting the culture around him. Some thought he was the a reborn prophet, others thought he was a lunatic, many followed him for the show, for the spectacle, some just joined the mob that followed him. He was a curiosity and an oddity. He wondered around making outrageous claims and teaching what he was not qualified to teach. Performing miracle after miracle. People watched and people followed. and a whisper started to be spoken. Who is this man?
People looking around, we don’t dare say it, but could it be? No, Maybe? As time went on the the whispers would get louder and louder until they turned to shouts of
Hosanna Hosanna, Hosanna in the Highest. Hosanna to the Son of David. Blessed is he comes in the name of the Lord!
He has come the King has arrived. You can feel the excitement. Jesus rides in on a borrowed colt of a donkey fulfilling prophecy. The buzz in the crowd was electric. The proclaim, Our savior Our savior from the Romans is here. Come let us praise his name. He has arrived.
Hope, Peace, Joy, and Love are here. Jesus is here. Yes these are here, manifested in the reality of this man that lived 2000 years ago.
But were delivered by his arrival? You see the world believes that Jesus existed. History testifies to his life. Only the ignorant would claim that this man did not exist.
There is one single difference between all of those who believe he exists and the few, the very few that will experience the reality of True Peace, Pure Joy, unconditional and unending Love, and have a hope so deep that it will change a person’s entire being.
It is not his birth that separates the many from the few. It isn’t even the fact that he died. The spectacle on display to the whole world of the King of the Jews dying a criminals death. As he was mocked, humiliated, falsely accused in an a series of illegal trials. He was beaten, spit upon and nailed to the cross. It is not knowing that he lived or believing that he died. It is the belief in what was accomplished on the cross that day.
30 When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished.” Then bowing his head, he gave up his spirit.
It is finished. What was finished?
The world’s greatest need was not a good king. It wasn’t a man to bring worldly peace. The world’s greatest need was for men and women to be reconciled to a Holy God. The great divide, that unfathomable chasm between man and God that has existed since Adam and Eve rebelled against God in the garden.
The world is united in only one thing. All men have have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. We don’t like to admit this but we all know it is true. People are not inherently selfless. Selfishness is the easiest thing in the world to us. To be honest if we are perfect in anything thing is could be our own selfishness.
This selfishness comes from the sin that lives within each and every person. And this sin comes out in our words, and our behavior, in our affections. What we say, what we do and what we love.
I know I am not alone when there are times when I come to the end of a day and I shake my head asking my self. Why did those words come out of my mouth? Why did I do that today? Why did I waste all that time chasing after things that I shouldn’t love?
Each and every time we sin against God we incur guilt and if we were to stand before a holy and just God there would just be one punishment eternal judgment and separation from God. Spiritual death.
5 For when we were in the flesh, the sinful passions aroused through the law were working in us to bear fruit for death.
This is the worlds greatest need. The entirety of humanity are the ungodly. The fallen. The cursed. What a dark perspective?
But the bible says that there is hope. Not any hope. A hope. A single hope that the man on the cross that died that day over 2000 thousand years ago died for me.
It is finished. He paid for my sins that day he died for my guilt. He stood in my place the justice of God. And for those that believe, every single sin is removed, blotted out, washed away, forgotten. All that we deserved went on him that day.
And after death came upon him and he was put onto the tomb, three days later he rose again. Conquering death. Conquering the death the spiritual death that we all deserved.
8 Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him, 9 because we know that Christ, having been raised from the dead, will not die again. Death no longer rules over him. 10 For the death he died, he died to sin once for all time; but the life he lives, he lives to God.
It is to believe in the Gospel, the good news of Jesus. That on the cross Jesus paid for my sins so that I can live. That I can be saved. This is the belief and the faith that separates the many from the few. Christmas, Good Friday and, Resurrection Sunday. Nothing is finished without God with a human nature. Living a perfect life, so that he could give it for imperfect men and women. Nothing is finished if there is no sacrifice not cross no death. And there is no life if does not conquer death.
This is what separates the lost from the saved. Those that receive True Peace, Pure Joy, unconditional and unending Love. Not just see it but receive it. By faith we believe.
Faith that justifies, faith that saves. Tonight I am going to read Romans 5:1-11 and if you are one of the few. One of those that has put your trust in the life death and resurrection Jesus reflect on the reality of these words of God.
If you are not sure or maybe you know you are one of the many and you have never put your trust and faith in Jesus as your savior I hope these words will draw you near to him tonight and you may come to believe these words are true and will call out to Jesus to be saved. But before I do let us pray.
Romans 5:1–11 (CSB)
1 Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 We have also obtained access through him by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we boast in the hope of the glory of God. 3 And not only that, but we also boast in our afflictions, because we know that affliction produces endurance, 4 endurance produces proven character, and proven character produces hope. 5 This hope will not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us. 6 For while we were still helpless, at the right time, Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For rarely will someone die for a just person—though for a good person perhaps someone might even dare to die. 8 But God proves his own love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9 How much more then, since we have now been justified by his blood, will we be saved through him from wrath. 10 For if, while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, then how much more, having been reconciled, will we be saved by his life. 11 And not only that, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received this reconciliation.
Let these words of God sink in for you this evening.
38 For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Prayer and Song.