The Profound Goodness of Good Friday
Devotional
Sermon Summary
Bible Study Guide
Sermon Clips
Firstly, it's good because it shows that Jesus is true. You know the fact, don't you, that many times Jesus predicted his own death. He said that he would be crucified. He also said that he would raise the 3rd day, and he made good on that promise as well. But Jesus did promise that he would die, and the fact that he died this death on a cross shows that Jesus was true in his predictions, and that's a good thing. [00:07:25]
Secondly, it was good, and I know this is counterintuitive. The cross was good because it showed the evil of humanity. Look, it's not pleasant to see how evil humanity can be, but it's true. There was humanity gathered together in the plan to put Jesus on the cross, and they did it. They succeeded, and it was a terrible thing that they did. But listen, we're never gonna deal with the real problem of humanity until we realize it for what it is. [00:08:14]
Thirdly, it was good because it shows the great love of Jesus. The Bible tells us, now you can choose to believe it or reject it. I'm sure the man who wrote that tweet, he would be likely to reject this, but the Bible tells us that Jesus was more than a man, that Jesus was and is God, and that Jesus didn't have to go to the cross, that he wasn't there as a victim of circumstances. [00:08:44]
It was and this is sort of a poetic way that preachers speak, but it's true nevertheless that it wasn't nails that kept Jesus on the cross. It was his love, his love for lost and needy humanity. The cross is good because it shows us the great love of Jesus. That was his motive, and when we preach the cross, well, we preach it full of the love of Jesus Christ. [00:09:14]
Next, we understand that Good Friday is good because it institutes a new covenant. This new covenant that God has offered to humanity, not like the Old Covenant based on law and rule keeping, but a new covenant where God promises to cleanse his people and to fill them with his spirit. With God's great new covenant that he promises to us was instituted by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. [00:09:48]
It was good because Jesus was the sin-bearing sacrifice, that Jesus, he actually came and bore the sin of humanity. Now again, nobody could see this happening at the cross. They could see that Jesus died a death like none other. They could see, according to the record of the Roman centurion who observed Jesus's death on the cross, who said, surely this man was the son of God. [00:10:11]
They could see that there was something different, but they couldn't see what the Bible says happened spiritually at the cross, that Jesus bore our sin, our shame. He became lost so that we could be found. He became dirty so that we could become clean. He became dishonored so that we could be honored. He became guilty so that we could be innocent. [00:10:41]
He was in all these dimensions and many more the sin-bearing sacrifice, and that's a good thing. It was good as well because at the cross, Jesus did for us what we could never do for ourselves. Not in a thousand years could we make ourselves right with God the way that Jesus made us right with God by the work that he did on the cross for all those who will put their trust in who he is. [00:11:33]
Good Friday's good. We don't look at this as some sarcastic bizarre statement that we call it Good Friday because it pleased God the Father. I can't get away from that verse in Isaiah chapter 53. The pastor read it at the Good Friday service that I went to tonight. What a fine service that was, really drawn our hearts and minds for the remembrance of what Jesus did on the cross. [00:11:33]
It pleased the Lord to bruise him, and because the work of Jesus on the cross, his horrible death, his tortured, humiliating, painful death on the cross, we are bold enough, we are, if you want to say, we are foolish enough to call it good and to call this day Good Friday because it fulfilled the eternal plan of God the Father. [00:11:33]
All that plan, everything leading up to the cross, looks forward to what Jesus would be and what he would do at the cross, and everything back from the cross since the cross looks back to who Jesus is and what he did on the cross. It's the focal point of all human history. We've got a great message. We aren't fools, even though sometimes in the regard of many, the message we preach is foolishness. [00:11:33]
We get the irony. We get why somebody may raise their eyebrows. I get why this fella made this tweet, Good Friday. What's good about that? Your leader was tortured and humiliated on a cross, but listen, it is good. It's good and what it shows about Jesus. It's good about what it accomplished for all those who will put their faith in him. It's a very good thing. [00:11:33]
Chatbot
-
I'm an AI bot trained specifically on the sermon from Mar 31, 2018. Do you have any questions about it?