Why this Friday is "Good"?

There has never been, nor ever will be, agony like Jesus’ agony. The full wrath of God upon the sin of the whole world was experienced by Jesus on the cross. Jesus received it full force with His human emotions and body and mind. God hates anything that could separate us from Himself…Jesus bears that in His whole being to rescue us from the oppression and possession of sin.

Only God could deal with sin in its utter sinfulness. We don’t see how high & wide & deep & long our sin is. We can’t see its full ramifications. We’re used to sin, not holiness. We’re numb. Jesus wasn’t numb. The Son, with His human mind, will, emotions and body experienced the infinite wrath of the Father that alone could consume and destroy the power of sin.

The work Jesus Christ has done for you was and is complete. Any sacrifice for sin that needed to be made has been made already. Nothing can be added to it to make it more effective. His shed blood was that valuable. When you put your trust in Him, Jesus makes His home in you, uniting you to Him inextricably. His forgiveness, ongoing life-transformation, healing, deliverance, renewal, by grace is given to you as His gift. It actually doesn't matter much how you feel moment to moment.

Jesus promised that the Holy Spirit would live all this out in anyone who believed in Him. It is His sacrifice that has perfected you and IS perfecting you. Jesus will bring to completion what He has started in you because He loves you. His work on the cross IS finished, but His work in us is not over! His promises are sure!

The lie of our spiritual adversary, even on this Good Friday, is that God will not be enough and that we have to grab what we can while we can still see it on the table. But God is enough, more than enough, infinitely so! He has promised to never leave us and to never forsake us. He has promised to be active, practically present and working in the hearts and lives of those who have let His passion become theirs.

The meaning of our lives is not feeling like they have meaning. God has called us out of death and in to His own Life. Therefore our life has the very meaning of the life of God. It transcends circumstances, which can be so dark and painful we can see little hope. That is why there is peace, even in the face of turmoil; peace that keeps us moving forward when we think our feet will never move again, child of hope. That is why this Friday is called Good.