What's So Good About Good Friday?

[00:00:02] When I was a child, I asked my mother, why do they call Good Friday good? [00:00:09] Because on a day that we remember the crucifixion of Jesus, how can you call that good? [00:00:17] I think my mom did okay. She said something along the line, well, good things came from the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. [00:00:26] But, you know, it's come for us this time of year to have a question, especially today, what's so good about Good Friday? [00:00:35] In fact, it's common for people even to question this whole idea of blood sacrifices. [00:00:41] And some go beyond questioning to condemning. [00:00:45] There are a few people who say that this cross is an act of divine cruelty. [00:00:51] One person even called it a cosmic child abuse. [00:00:56] And so to be honest, though, to our Western ears today, this idea of sacrifice, blood sacrifice, seems peculiar to us. [00:01:07] So tonight, we want to seek to answer this question, what's so good about Good Friday? [00:01:14] In our time together, I'm going to highlight three truths about Good Friday that we need to understand and know. So here's the first one. [00:01:23] Jesus, life was not taken from him, but given for us. [00:01:29] Jesus life was not taken from him, but given for us. In John, chapter 10, verse 11, Jesus is teaching. And he said, I am the good shepherd. [00:01:39] The shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. [00:01:46] He goes on to say, then in verse 17, John 10:17, the reason my Father loves me is I laid down my life only to take it up again. [00:01:57] Crucifixion, resurrection. [00:02:00] I lay down my life only to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down on my own accord. I have the authority to lay it down and the authority to take it up again. He laid down his life for us. [00:02:17] You see, the cross is not the Father versus the Son. It is God for us. [00:02:24] Jesus is not a helpless victim. [00:02:26] He willingly lays down his life for us. [00:02:30] And the Trinity acts in unity, not violence. [00:02:36] And this is an example of the selfless Son of God giving himself for sinful humanity. [00:02:43] So what's so good about Good Friday? [00:02:45] Well, first, Jesus life wasn't taken, it was given. [00:02:50] Which leads us to the second question or second statement. [00:02:54] And the cross finished the sacramental sacrificial system. [00:02:59] If you've read the Old Testament, it is filled with sacrifice after sacrifice after sacrifice. [00:03:08] In fact, in the opening story, after Adam and Eve sinned, an animal had to be sacrificed to cover their nakedness and their sin. [00:03:21] And throughout the Old Testament, we see this sacrificial system. [00:03:26] And what the cross does is it finishes the sacrificial system that they had been under. [00:03:34] One of my favorite books in the Bible is the Book of Hebrews. The Book of Hebrews is written to Jewish Christians and they began to become Christ followers. And all sudden life got kind of hard and they began to consider turning back from Jesus. [00:03:51] And so this was written to Jewish people who understand very well the sacrificial system. [00:03:59] And. And in Hebrews 10:10 it says, and by that will we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus once for all. [00:04:12] And so what Christ's sacrifice did, it was the ultimate final sacrifice for all of us. [00:04:21] In John chapter 1930, the last words of Jesus are recorded. [00:04:26] And before he died, he said, it is finished. [00:04:29] And after he said that, with that he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. [00:04:35] In the Old Testament era, sacrifice was always temporary, pointed forward to Jesus. [00:04:41] But in the New Testament, Jesus is not one more sacrifice. He is the final sacrifice. So when Jesus said, it is finished, the Old Testament sacrificial system was finished. [00:04:56] And here's the truth about Christianity. [00:04:59] Christianity did not invent blood sacrifice. It ended it. [00:05:05] The reason why we find it kind of weird to our Western ears today is when the gospel began to spread in the Mediterranean world and people began to trust in Jesus Christ. [00:05:18] They left the pagan sacrifices for Jesus. [00:05:22] And as Christianity spread, animal sacrifice disappeared because there was no need for it. [00:05:32] So Jesus sacrifice is the very reason that we find it peculiar. [00:05:39] Jesus ended sacrifice. [00:05:42] So what does the end of the sacrificial system mean for us? [00:05:47] There's a book I read years ago by a man named Miles Stanford, Principles of Spiritual Growth. [00:05:57] It had a previous name, the Green Letters. [00:06:00] And there is a section in it that I read. And this is what he wrote that just really changed my mind so much. [00:06:09] He says there are two questions that every believer must settle as soon as possible. [00:06:14] The first question is, does God fully accept me? [00:06:21] And the second one is, if so, what is the basis of that acceptance? [00:06:30] I read that when I was much younger, and that rocked my world. [00:06:38] Those questions made me think, well, does God accept me? And if so, why? [00:06:45] And the truth is, when I grew up in church, we would have. I grew up in the South, Upper South. [00:06:54] We had altar calls every week about coming forward. [00:07:00] And I would always have these questions. If my good enough was good enough. [00:07:06] And so if a child, I would answer that question, does God fully accept me? [00:07:11] I would go, I think so. [00:07:16] Well, it depends on how I've been doing. [00:07:22] And so I really developed this theology that was kind of part my performance and his grace and that if I'm good enough, God will accept me. [00:07:37] And that was a miserable existence for a boy, especially with my brother, because he frustrated me sometimes. [00:07:50] And I said things that I probably shouldn't have said and thought things that I shouldn't have thought. [00:07:56] And so as a child, I would just agonize about this question, is my good enough good enough to be accepted by God? And I always felt I was on the bubble, like he was a cosmic cop, kind of looking at us and kind of shaking my head, going, there he goes again. [00:08:19] I can't believe he did that. [00:08:22] So as a result of that, I'd often go forward in the the altar calls just to make sure. [00:08:33] This is an exaggeration, but I think one year I was saved 52 times. [00:08:41] We always knew that Jesus was coming back soon. [00:08:45] And I always thought, oh, I hope he comes back on Sunday night, because I've been behaving all day. [00:08:53] And then each week I'd mess up and the altar call was there and I was going, I screwed up again. [00:09:02] And I would confess my sin and be forgiven for another week. [00:09:08] That's not good news. [00:09:10] That's not what the gospel is. And I can tell you when those two questions, does God accept me fully? [00:09:20] And if so, what is the basis of that acceptance was answered. [00:09:25] In my 20s, I said yes to being a pastor. I was going to Bible college and I had a professor. His name was Paul Iman, and he was dry, he was boring. [00:09:44] And I loved him because he loved Jesus and he loved me. [00:09:49] And so we were in Romans class and we came to Romans, chapter three, verses 23 and 24. And we came to this verse. It says, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. And I knew that was true. [00:10:03] I kept falling short of the glory of God. [00:10:07] But then we go on to verse 24. And all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. [00:10:19] And this is what Paul Eamon said. [00:10:24] The word justified is a legal term that means to be declared righteous. [00:10:43] And when he said that, and this is one of the few times this has happened in my life, it wasn't a vision. You know, people say they have visions, but what I had was a step from that in my brain. There was this clear mental picture. [00:11:03] And in this scene that I was thinking of, that came to my mind so plainly. This was it. [00:11:09] I was standing there in front of a judge's bench that was huge. [00:11:15] And I'm standing in front of the judge behind the bench, and the judge is God. [00:11:25] And he picks up the gavel and he slams it down. [00:11:32] And he looked at me and said, I declare you righteous on the basis of the sacrifice of my son, Jesus and your faith in him. [00:11:45] And I knew that I was fully accepted. And the basis of my acceptance was the substitutionary sacrifice of Jesus Christ for my sin. [00:11:58] I don't have to die eternally because he died for me. [00:12:08] Has the gavel come down in your soul? [00:12:12] Has it echoed through the chambers of your life that you, through faith in Jesus Christ, have been declared righteous and you are fully accepted because of what Jesus has done, not what you do? [00:12:31] That's life changing. [00:12:34] That's transformational. [00:12:37] And one of the things that I pray about before I preach is I usually pray something specific. [00:12:48] Got it targeted. And my prayer for this sermon was this, Lord, may the gavel come down in people's souls and may they hear it echo in their hearts that they are fully accepted because of what Jesus has done. [00:13:05] Listen, there is a doctrine that you have to grasp as a Christ follower. It's the doctrine of justification. [00:13:13] And to use a big word to show that I've been to school, this text is what theologians call, I think the locus classicus is Latin for this is the classic location for the doctrine of justification. [00:13:34] And this is one of the best place to see it when we look at the text and we hang onto it, that all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. [00:13:49] You see, that's why we can stand faultless before the throne. [00:13:55] Hebrews 10:14 says this. For by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy. [00:14:08] I don't know if you caught that, but I think this verse is kind of funny. [00:14:13] Did you hear what it said? [00:14:15] This is what Hebrews 10:14. [00:14:17] For by one sacrifice he has made us perfect forever. [00:14:24] For those who are being made holy, this is justification, this is sanctification. [00:14:34] They both are going in your lives that you are perfect, and in these, making you holy as well. [00:14:42] And I can stand. I don't say a lot. [00:14:45] I say this in pretty much confidence here, that I'm probably a little bit more holy than I was in elementary school. [00:14:55] Because God's been doing that work. [00:14:57] He's been doing that work in me. [00:15:00] So we see in this that we have been made holy. [00:15:05] And so the Message translates. [00:15:08] Hebrews 10:14. [00:15:10] It was a perfect sacrifice by a perfect person to perfect some very imperfect people. [00:15:21] Oh, that's good. [00:15:24] I wish I'd written that. [00:15:29] The third thing is this. [00:15:31] The cross reveals God's love. [00:15:35] Romans 5:8 says this. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this. While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. [00:15:44] And what the cross does. The cross shows us both how serious our sin is and how deep God's love goes. [00:15:53] And as John 3:16 affirms, For God so loved the world that he gave his only son, the cross reveals God's love. It demonstrates his love for us. [00:16:10] There's an old story set in Great Britain in the coal mines. [00:16:17] There was a terrible explosion and accident, and several miners in the coal mine were trapped. [00:16:25] Many were killed. [00:16:27] And after this horrific accident, all the people from the village came around the entrance into the coal mine to see what was happening and see if their loved ones were alive or not. [00:16:39] It was a horrific accident. [00:16:43] And while they were waiting for some time, a minister came to try to give comfort. [00:16:51] And the minister was talking about how God understands and talking about how God brings comfort and. And he was going on and on and it just fell on deaf ears. [00:17:02] I think he was trying to comfort too soon. [00:17:07] And he kept trying and trying. [00:17:09] And finally some angry man in the back said, what does God know about losing a son? [00:17:20] God knows everything about losing a son. [00:17:25] For God demonstrated his love for us while we were yet sinners, Christ died for the ungodly. [00:17:32] I don't know what you're going through, but you're going through a lot, probably. [00:17:39] And God understands what it's like that God demonstrates his love for us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for the ungodly. [00:17:53] So the other thing about the good news is the cross reveals God's love. [00:18:00] So how do we respond to this? [00:18:03] Well, last Sunday here at Journey was Baptism Sunday, which is one of my favorite Sundays of the year. [00:18:14] And afterwards, you know, all the baptisms were going on and it was just so great. We were so excited. Kim and I was hanging around, talking, and then we went out and I had walked out and I was getting ready to go, and then Kim kind of caught up to me, says, jim, Jim, Jim. [00:18:31] A boy from the church that I used to pastor here in town. He just got baptized and his parents are here, so they went to the church where I was. He grew up in the. Spent some time in the church there as well. And so I came in, I saw the parents, you know, I really rejoiced. We caught up from old times, you know, and he was talking to some friends, and finally he came over and we began to chat for a while. And I think he may have remembered me from when I was his pastor. [00:19:08] And so we began to chat for a while. [00:19:11] And then as the conversation went on, I was wrapping things up, and then I said, how old are you? [00:19:20] He said, I'm 19 years old. [00:19:26] And I looked at him and I said, when I was 19 years old, I surrendered my life to God and said, I will do whatever you want. [00:19:42] And I said, ever since then? Well, not since then, but a verse that really encapsulates what I'm all about is John 17:14, a part of a prayer that Jesus prayed where he says, I have brought glory to you on earth by finishing the work you gave me to do. [00:20:08] She won't let me, but I want to get a tattoo with John 17:14, because it should, if not tattooed on her body, should be tattooed on our souls. [00:20:26] That our purpose is to bring glory to God on earth by finishing the work you gave me to do. [00:20:34] And after I told him that verse, I looked at him, I said, that is the best decision I made in my life when I was 19 years old. [00:20:47] And because of that decision, I look back now, older than 19, and I'm so thankful for the path I've taken. [00:21:04] And you can bring glory to God on earth by finishing the work that God has given you to do. [00:21:12] That is how we respond to Jesus giving his life to us, is that we give our lives to him, and you begin to do what you were created to do to bring glory to God. [00:21:27] So the question is, what's so good about Good Friday? [00:21:34] But there's a second question we've asked as well. [00:21:37] Will you accept what Jesus has done for you? [00:21:44] And one way we show that we've accepted Christ is by taking part of the Lord's Supper. [00:21:51] Tonight, we don't just remember the cross, we respond to it. [00:21:58] Because on the night before he went to the cross, Jesus shared a meal with his disciples. [00:22:05] Tonight, we're going to follow that example by recreating that moment. [00:22:12] The bread symbolizes the body of Christ given for us. [00:22:19] And the cup, it represents the blood of Christ shed for us. [00:22:25] And when Jesus had the Lord's Supper with his disciples, he said, do this in remembrance of me, and. And we are going to experience taking the Lord's Supper, tasting and seeing the goodness of God in our lives. [00:22:44] So because on the night before he went to the cross, Jesus shared this meal with them. [00:22:50] So before we approach the table, let me say, if you've never trusted Christ before tonight, you can. [00:22:59] And if your hope is in Christ and you trust in his finished work, this table is for you. [00:23:06] And this evening, as you walk forward, come with gratitude, because this is what makes Good Friday good. [00:23:16] So come not because you're worthy, but because Christ is. [00:23:22] That is our reminder. [00:23:24] So the way that we receive the Lord's table here at Journey Church is you make your way down the left hand side of the aisle and you come forward and there's a cup here and also the bread. [00:23:40] And you'll take it and dip it in the cup and you could take it, eat it immediately or carry it back to your seat and take it then as well. [00:23:51] This is also a good time to meditate on what God's done for you. [00:23:55] It's also a time to examine your life in areas that God's calling you to be more holy in and be more like him. [00:24:04] This is a time for us to focus on the cross and what he's done for us. [00:24:10] So let's pray before we come and receive the Lord's Supper. [00:24:14] Father God, thank you for the reality behind the symbols. [00:24:21] These symbols are reminders of your son Jesus and his sacrifice for us. [00:24:29] And I pray, Father, that each of us has come and received your grace, that we received your imputed righteousness when we placed faith in you, and that we move forward in our faith and rest in the finished work of your son, Jesus Christ. [00:24:50] May all of us be aware that we are fully accepted by you through the finished work of Jesus. [00:24:59] In him we rest, in him we serve, in him we rejoice. [00:25:06] We pray this in Jesus name. Amen.