Good Friday – There was one event in history that was momentous. That event took place on a Friday. Jesus was crucified on the cross at 9 a.m. and darkness covered the land from noon until His death at 3 p.m. This Jesus endured the excruciating physical pain of crucifixion, the utter abandonment by all His friends, and the horror of spiritual separation from God the Father. He bore the wrath of God for you and for me, and for all. From that day onwards, people who recognise the world-wide impact commemorate Good Friday. On a Friday of 33 AD, one man died for the sins of everyone. God offers His forgiveness to everyone who admits he is a sinner. Good Friday is not a Christian event for Christians. It is an event for everyone who is alive today and willing to respond to God’s offer. When a person is dead, he cannot respond to God’s offer of forgiveness of sins. All who hear the Good News of Good Friday and believe will be blessed with the forgiveness of sins and God’s royal pardon. God will adopt him as His child and give him eternal life.
Jesus – There was only one good man in all of history who was born to die as a young adult. His name is Jesus. No young man in the whole world was good enough to be offered as a perfect sacrifice to appease a Holy God. All human beings have sinned and deserve the righteous punishment of God. Only He can fasten the sins of all humanity upon Himself permanently. Only He can wash the sins of all who believe in Him. Only He can pay in full all of sinners’ debt to God. Only He has the power to conquer death and have a resurrected body that will never die again. He rose to life on the 3rd day and after appearing to all His disciples for 40 days, He ascended to His throne in the highest heavens. He said, “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life. No one can come to God except through Me.”
The Perfect Sacrifice – There was one sacrifice that ended all blood sacrifices. Blood of millions of innocent young and unblemished animals have been shed in many religious rites to cover the sins of human beings, but only the Blood of a perfectly good man can appease the Holy God. God has set aside a day, the Day of the Great White Throne to judge and punish all sinners. As long as a sinner who is alive today confesses that God exists, repents of his sins, and believes that the blood of Jesus Christ can cleanse him from his sin, he will receive God’s pardon and God’s gift of life in eternity.
Your Response – Will you wait a year later for the next Good Friday to come? How do you know if you will live for another year?
Jesus can save you. He has been waiting all these years for you to believe in Him. What is stopping you from receiving the forgiveness of God? What sacrifice can you offer that can match His Perfect Sacrifice? What can you offer that will appease a holy and righteousness God who sees everything?
Come to Jesus today! He says three times in the last book, the Revelation of Jesus Christ, “I am coming soon!” And He says again, “Surely I am coming!”
My prayer for all readers is that all of us are prepared any moment from today onwards to say,
“Amen, come, Lord Jesus!”
Elder Yoong Yuen Soo