Sometimes when I was little, I wondered why it was called "Good Friday" when the thing we observed was Jesus' death...a horrible, awful, cruel, lonely death. As a child I believed that Jesus was God's Son and that He did, indeed, die for my sins. Up to that point and through most of my younger years, the fact that He died for my sins didn't really sink in...I think the worst things I did when I was little were sneak treats out of the pantry, hit my siblings, tell little white lies, etc. The enormity of what Jesus did on the cross never really hit me until I was grown and realized I had done things I swore I would absolutely never, ever do. I recognized my shortcomings, received forgiveness, and from that time, upon thinking of the cross, cannot help but be appreciative, thankful, relieved, awed, overwhelmed, etc. Jesus' grace and mercy became so real to me and I will never be able to hear the phrase "Good Friday" without absolutely thinking that "Good Friday" is a gross understatement. Today should be known as Great Friday. No...Amazing Friday.
[Sidenote:I am not saying that to appreciate this day, you have to have lived a life of ugly and disappointing mistakes. Regardless of your background, Jesus died for YOU. We were all born into sin and live separately from God until we acknowledge that we have sinned and that Jesus is the Son of God and that He is our Rescuer.]
Here is what Good Friday did for everyone:
Romans 6:6-11
"Our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power in our lives. We are no longer slaves to sin. For when we died with Christ we were set free from the power of sin. And since we died with Christ, we know we will also share his new life. We are sure of this because Christ rose from the dead, and had will never die again. Death no longer has any power over him. He died once to defeat sin and now he lives for the glory of God. So you should consider yourselves dead to sin and able to live for the glory of God through Christ Jesus."
Because I have believed, I share in new life and CAN live a powerful life over my sinful nature. That is good, great, amazing!
Beyond Jesus' death being payment for our sins, it was also a covenant promise made by God to us in which Jesus was his sacrifice. And His promise is that through his son we may be with him one day in glory, no matter how human we may be. And because of that I am in awe of his love for us. I totally agree - it should be called Amazing or Awesome Friday!
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