Good Friday - 2020

Intro

Tonight to REMEMBER and REFLECT on the Death of Jesus

an event that has

haunted, convicted, blessed, confused, saved, or condemned

What’s curious is that we declare the death of Jesus to be good news.

We celebrate the day as Good Friday

But how can the bloody and gruesome death of Jesus be good news?

Especially in a day when we are surrounded by death as in a time like no other in recent memory

We have faster and fuller information dissemination than in any time in history

We are fighting a global pandemic and death is all around us.

How can we celebrate the death of Jesus?

How can the Good Friday be Good?

To answer this we have to understand the nature of Sin.

And it’s connection to death.

Death comes from Sin

Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death

Or to say it another way:

Sin always leads to death.

Why?

Because sin cuts us off from all that is good, and right and true.

It cuts us off from the very source of life.

Sin is essentially turning away from God to trust in something or someone else for life.

In the beginning when God created all things

He created them good

And he gave it all to Adam and Eve

He asked just one thing of them:

Trust Him for everything.

Then God said in the day that you turn away from me, you shall die (Gen 2:17)

Not as a threat, but because there is no life outside of Him.

Because God’s words always come true

When Adam and Eve sinned by turning away from God

didn’t experience physical death in that day as they would one day

They did experience a spiritual death and were separated from God.

Because sin always leads to death.

And then Sin spread to all men and women.

Romans 5:12 “Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned”

Just like a VIRUS that spreads.

It’s not something you can see but it is passed on

Sin was passed on from one generation to the next with a 100% transmission rate.

And just like a virus there are symptoms:

Guilt, shame, emptiness, lack of fulfillment are all symptoms of SIN.

And just like a virus we spread it knowingly or unknowingly

we are still guilty of the transmission of sin.

Sin has a 100% death rate.

SIN always leads to Death

The death of joy

The death of friendships

The death of relationships

Ultimately to eternal death

And we have all sinned

We’ve all trusted in someone or something else other than God for what only God could give us.

We have all done what is wrong

We have failed to do what is right

We have not put others first

we have put ourselves first

We don’t love others the way God has loved us.

In this hopeless condition, where is our hope?

God’s Love

Do you know that God loves us, even when we are unlovable?

God desires to be your God and for you to be his people.

In the beginning God had a plan to rescue his people.

He had a plan to forgive his people but it would involve death:

Heb 9:22 “without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.

But the question would become not that

If sin leads to death

But rather, whose death would sin lead to?

Even after the very 1st sin when Adam and Even turned away from God

Gen 3:21 “And the Lord God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them.”

There was a sacrifice made to cover their sin and shame.

Years later the Nation of Israel would implement a yearly ritual known as the day of Atonement.

It required both the punishment FOR sin and the necessary removal OF sin.

Slaughtered — as Punishment for sin

A Death Substitute.

Confess all the sins of the people over this goat

And he would be led out into the wildeness

Taking away our sins

Atonement was both the

punishment for sin and the removal of sin.

Sin always leads to death

But it was always the DEATH of a SUBSTITUTE

Because God loves his people and desires to be with them.

Sacrifice of an Animal was Bloody

Would have been RAISED & REARED

like a family pet

Kids named, cared for it, played with it

Would be worth a lot of money

Like your new car, or new iPhone

Bring it into church and smash it

YOU would take this innocent animal to be sacrificed for YOUR SINS.

Take it to THE PRIEST

You would confess your sins over this animal

Perhaps after hours of confession,

watch that animal STRUGGLE & FIGHT

Priest SLIT the THROAT

BLEED out, it would twitch and whimper

you would CRY and WEEP

Because OUR SIN caused DEATH and pain and weeping

walk away feeling the WEIGHT of our SIN

It’s meant to be SHOCKING and GROTESQUE and HORRIFYING

This is meant to remind us that of the nature of sin

that it is shocking, grotesque and horrifying to God.

Never Enough

This would happen AGAIN and AGAIN — YEAR after YEAR

B/C It was NEVER ENOUGH

Hebrews 10:4 “For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.”

There was only one thing that could atone for sin against an eternal God

It would be sending an eternal being, the son of God, to pay the eternal price for sin against an eternal God

All of this was Pointing to Jesus.

Who would become our death substitute

What Romans 3:24 calls an atoning sacrifice

Romans 3:25 “God presented him [Jesus] as an atoning sacrifice, in his blood, received through faith” (CSV)

Jesus’s Fulfillment

Just like with Adam and Eve our sin and shame would be covered

By Jesus’ death on a cross we would be clothed with his righteousness

Just like the Israelites in Egypt a spotless lamb would die in our place and we would be covered by His Blood.

Jesus was the sinless lamb of God by whose blood we are saved.

On the Cross Jesus would achieve atonement

take the punishment for our sins (the 1st goat)

And remove our sins from us (the 2nd goat)

Thus securing and eternal atonement for those who believe.

Jesus Christ was the lamb who was slain

He bled for you.

So that in Him we might be made clean and new.

Rev 7:14 “ [Believers] have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

Good Friday

Good Friday is good news for those who believe.

Jesus died for you, to forgive you, to bring you back to God.

Jesus offered up himself in our so that you could be spared

1 Peter 2:24 “He himself bore our sins in his body on the cross, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.

By his wounds we are healed.

You see, Jesus is the Cure for the pandemic of SIN.

By taking all of it’s affects, consequences and shame upon himself

being nailed the Cross,

the Author of Life experienced death

so that the author’s of death (you and I) could experience life.

Why?

Because God loves you.

It was LOVE that held Jesus to that Cross

Romans 5:8 “but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

God loves you.

How will you respond?

Will you believe and receive forgiveness?

Two Thieves

Jesus was crucified between two thieves.

One to his left, and one on his Right.

One in unbelief

Continued to mock and spit on Jesus.

he died apart from jesus

and would spend forever apart from all that was good, and right and true.

The Other saw Jesus for who he was

God’s love for him in Jesus death

and cried out for mercy.

You see for him death wasn’t the end.

The only question for you tonight is this:

Which one are you?

Which side of the cross are you on?

the right side that leads to life

or the other side that leads to death.

Everyone will fall on one of two sides.

Which on are you?

All that’s required is you believe:

John 6:37 “whoever comes to me I will never cast out.”

John 6:40 "everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him [will] have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”

Sin always leads to death whose death will it be?

Your death for an eternity, or Jesus death on the Cross

Will you believe tonight and make Good Friday good news for you

Let’s Pray