Why Is This Friday "Good"?
Sermon • Submitted
0 ratings
· 11 viewsNotes
Transcript
Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.
Welcome and Prayer
Today is Good Friday. It’s the day we remember the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus Christ.
It is a solemn day as we reflect on the sufferings and death of Christ. Like so many Christians we spend the day fasting and praying.
Certain Christian denominations make this a day of self-deprivation.
We tend to spend this day remembering the words of the Lord from the cross - words like “I thirst” and “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”
So why do we call this day “good” Friday?
Well, some say that this is a difference between modern day English and Old English, when the word good indicated something holy. It’s really a holy Friday.
Others would say that it is a transliteration issue, and what should be known as “God’s Friday” somewhere along the line became “Good” Friday.
Still others refer to the Old English tradition of wishing someone well on a day of religious observance, so this is the Friday of religious observance or “Good” Friday.
Well, I want us to consider another reason to call this day “Good Friday.”
Because today is the day we remember why the Lord Jesus was crucified.
Today is the day that we remember that the sufferings and death of Christ were endured for our sake so we wouldn’t have to.
We remember that this is the day that God incarnate endured the pinnacle of self-deprivation. As the Apostle Paul says in Philippians 2:
Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
Philippians 2:5-7
Today is the day that we remember that among all the Lord said from the cross are included the words: “It is finished.”
So this day is a good Friday - it is holy, it belongs to God, and it is a day of deep religious observance.
And it is indeed a good Friday for us.
Because Christ did not go to the cross alone. He carried with His cross our sin. He became sin that knew no sin. And when He died, our sin died with Him. And when He was placed in the tomb, our sin was placed in with Him. And when that tomb was sealed, our sin was sealed in with Him. And when He arose...
…well, it’s a good Friday on this side of the cross and the first Easter, because we know the rest of the story.
But I find it interesting that regardless of church traditions or amended creeds throughout the years, the Bible doesn’t say a whole lot about what happened between Good Friday afternoon and Easter morning. When we read the Gospel accounts, they pretty much go right from the sealing of the tomb to resurrection morning.
So what happened between the burial and resurrection of Christ?
Our sin stayed dead.
By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.
For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. For one who has died has been set free from sin.
What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.
For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. For one who has died has been set free from sin.
And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.
But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.
gal 6.14
“Let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross...”
Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
heb 12.2a