It is my humble hope and prayer that you will be blessed today, Good Friday, March 29, 2013, and all weekend through Easter as we celebrate the resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Easter is so much more than bunnies, candy, and colored eggs. I encourage you to reflect on the Truth of what Jesus did for us by taking the punishment for our sins on that Roman cross over 2,000 years ago. He was an innocent man, a perfect sinless human being, fully man and fully God, who was sacrificed for your sins and for mine. It was us who deserve to be on the cross, not Jesus. Because of the sinless, innocent sacrifice and His resurrection, Jesus has overcome sin and death. The Bible says that we “all have sinned and fall short of the Glory of God” (Romans 3:23), but that “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” (2 Corinthians 5:21)
If we believe in Jesus, we are reconciled to God, and we are a “new creation”, and we have eternal life. We have escaped the judgment due to us because of our sin. Jesus said it plainly as recorded in John 3:16-21: “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God."
Jesus also tells us to repent and turn from our sin. Although he does not condemn us who believe, he is clear that we are to turn from our sin and follow him. A great example of this is in John 8 where the woman who was caught in adultery is brought to Jesus. After dealing with the Pharisees (remember Jesus challenges them “He who is without sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.”), he told the woman “I do not condemn you, either. Go. From now on sin no more.”
What a wonderful time on Good Friday and Easter weekend to take a few moments and reflect on these Truths that the Bible teaches about Jesus, forgiveness, grace and salvation. It is the single most important thing in life to get right: a correct understanding and knowledge of God’s truth and our honest “heart response” to it. Are there un-confessed sins in your heart? Ask God honestly and humbly to reveal them to you in prayer. When you reflect on this in prayer, you will know when God is speaking to you about these things. Bring them in prayer to the throne of grace, the feet of Jesus, ask Him for forgiveness, repent and turn from your sin. You will be a new creation in Christ. What a wonderful weekend to celebrate your salvation in Christ even as you celebrate His glorious resurrection and His grace for us!
Trust Jesus, seek to know Him. Read the Bible and pray. Be blessed.
Love, Andy
p.s. if you wish to read the Biblical accounts of what happened on “good Friday” and Resurrection Sunday (Easter), please refer to these following texts. My favorite is Luke 22-24. Please take a few minutes to read one or more of them (each of these is a link to the text):
