Good Friday Thoughts

I was very blessed this morning to be able to watch, and also participate in communion, thanks to an online church we once attended in the city. One of the questions the pastor asked was, “What do you see when you look at the cross of Jesus?” I immediately saw a picture of myself on the cross with Jesus, and the following verse came to mind:

Gal 2:20  I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.

This is a verse that has great significance for me. When I see the cross, I see the end of the life I was born into — the life of sin. At one time I didn’t realize this, but I wasn’t really free when I was living for myself and doing whatever I felt like because I wanted to. I thought having no boundaries was freedom. But, here’s the thing: you cannot obtain freedom from your sin until you go to the cross.

In fact, when I was living for myself, I remember I had unsaved friends that freely handed me drugs, and implied the freedom there was in that. I could drink too, and that would bring a freedom. But, I was to discover later on when I became addicted to drugs, that just the opposite is true:

2Pe 2:19  While they promise them liberty, they themselves are the servants of corruption: for of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage.

While you may wonder who “they” is that promises you liberty, it is anyone who entices you to do something or accept something that you know is wrong. Never mind the lie that there are no moral absolutes, and that these same people want you to “choose” for yourself what you think is wrong. They’ll tell you there are no consequences, and why not just enjoy yourself? These same people have a seared conscious — they are so steeped in their sin that they are beyond conviction. Do not listen to a word that they say; they don’t care about you. They only want to bring you into their same misery, so they don’t have to sin and later suffer alone. And some times there is a monetary gain for them (such as drug dealers, owners of porn website, or gambling sites, to name a few).

Going to the cross means the end of living the self-life. It means it is no longer “I” and all my self-directed desires, but “Christ lives in me.” He is my Lord and Savior, the One who directs my path, my every move (Acts 17:28). This thinking is so opposite to the world’s — do what you want when you want, and make sure you know and live according to your own human “rights.” Don’t let anyone tell you what to do since it might interfere what is rightfully yours. This kind of poisonous thinking has been prevalent in almost all of our secular universities. God has been completely left out. No wonder the world is plagued with a virus that has shut down all these godless universities, public school systems, Hollywood movie making, and all the other major spheres of influence that have not honoured God.

This morning, as I pictured myself on the cross with Jesus, I had another picture. There’s a day I remember so clearly in Eston, Saskatchewan, when I was still in my late teens. I stood at the alter of the church on a Sunday night, and in front of the entire student body (of my Bible School), my chains of self and sin fell off and Jesus set me free. I was drenched in tears at the relief of such freedom, and I felt the heavy weight in my heart gone. I felt the very near presence of Jesus, my Redeemer, my Forever Friend and Saviour, lover of my soul.

Dear friends, there is a reason today is called “Good Friday.” It is the day that Jesus set you and I free when He took all our sins upon Himself at no cost to us. But when we accept His supreme sacrifice— giving His life in place of ours, we then give our lives to Him in forever gratitude. We are no longer slaves to sin and ourselves, but we become His adopted child, a willing servant, a follower, disciple, friend of Jesus, and much more. Our hearts begin to heal and we learn to love sacrificially (agape).

The other picture I had this morning, is that after Jesus died, and I died with Him, He gave me a set of wings, and I saw myself come off the cross, and become weightless, flying freely, free and forgiven. How great is my God!

I’d like to share some of my favorite Scriptures, some of the incredible gifts of God as a result of Jesus dying on the cross for us, and rising again on the third day:

Rom 8:35  Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?

Rom 8:36  As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.

Rom 8:37  Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.

Rom 8:38  For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,

Rom 8:39  Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.