Today is Good Friday. It’s a day that has always carried somewhat confusing or conflicting emotions for me, at least as long as I can remember. It is a day to remember something that is brutal and yet beautiful, horrific and yet heavenly, tragic… and yet triumphant. It is a day that I want to mourn over the way that humans just like me treated the only one who can save us from our depravity and sin, but it is also a day on which I am reminded of how blessed I am to live on this side of the cross. I know that in suffering for my sake, Jesus who was perfect and was in very nature God, humbled himself and became obedient to death on a cross, paying the price that bought me out of slavery to sin and death and therefore separation from God into a new life that will last for forever.
Musical genius (I don’t use that word lightly) David Crowder wrote the following in the booklet of one of his albums
“When our depravity meets His Divinity it is a BEAUTIFUL COLLISION!”
– David Crowder, A Collision (or 3+4 = 7).
This sums up Easter pretty well to me. The God of the Universe; divine, perfect, omnipotent and unchanging, collided with the sin of mankind when he took it to the cross with him and left it nailed there before rising from the grave three days later to show that death itself was dead for those who follow Him. To all who repent and have faith in Jesus, His righteousness is imputed as a gift (Ephesians 2:1 – 9). None of us could earn it, but I’m sure glad He gave it! That’s the meaning of grace. It’s the ultimate act of mercy and love. Yet the means God used to bring about this glorious event was a torturous roman cross. As is often the case, God worked in counter-cultural ways, defying expectations. He sent Jesus, the suffering servant, to achieve the ultimate victory – one that is far more valuable and enduring than the political victory the Jewish people had hoped for.
So, if you’re not a believer, I hope you find some time this Easter to reflect and consider why this Jesus has been such a central figure in history for so many over the last 2000 years. Check out the facts; the eye witness accounts found in the Bible, the secular historians who spoke of Jesus, the massive manuscript evidence for the New Testament (making it more reliable than any other book in antiquity). Most importantly, open your heart and mind to seek the truth and ask God to reveal himself to you. Jesus was more than a good teacher. Much more!
If you are a Christian – a follower of Christ, you were bought with a price and redeemed from sin and death. What a beautiful collision! I hope this Easter is a time you can reflect on this reality and really thank God for working all things, even the horrific act of Jesus’ crucifixion, for the good of those who love God and are called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28).
God Bless you this Easter.
Reformed Bapticostal 