Friday, April 22, 2011

Good Friday , Some Clarity Please

The betrayal, the desertion of  friends,the whippings,the beatings,the mockery,the sentence of death,the staggering weight of the cross,the crown of thorns,the pain of being pulled to fit the cross , the nails cutting through tendon and bone and raised up for all to see , stripped of any dignity to die a very public shameful death. That was Jesus day , the day we call Good Friday.  Then to drink the bitter cup of the Father's wrath for our sin , our evil,our rebellion .

Jesus hung paying a debt , to fulfill justice , to satisfy God's righteous holy judgement against sin so that we , all who repent and trust in Jesus , can be made right with God.

This is the place to start if we are going to awaken the person who sits there on a good Friday service , who has come to quiet a spouse , a friend , a mom , a dad or whoever has invited them to a Easter service. To speak of God's love first and quote John 3:16 does so a disservice to the unrepentant , who is still dead in their sins . Their foul ,sin stenched carcass still breathing because of God's common grace , are still under the delusion they are alright. They don't need this Jesus , nor His cross. But at the cross all the foolish illusions of our own goodness melt into a lying heap of dung. We are the ones who cried , kill , crucify this Jesus . Abuse Him,mock Him  and despise Him. But what dies Christ say , come and see . Repent and trust in what I did for you. Hear my voice calling to my sheep .The sheep will hear and come running .

So my prayer for Pastors ,that they will start with God's wrath and hatred against sinner. Linger there and make the case of why Jesus had  to go to the cross in order for men and women to be saved. Then and only then ,I believe will we see God's grace,His love and mercy shine even brighter than before.



Verse Of  The Day  :    [9] Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God.
(Romans 5:9 ESV)

1 comment:

Kathy said...

I've been looking forward to Good Friday Service, all week. I've even been talking about it, at work. Praise the Lord the seizures were semi-quiet (enough to appear upright in public) and the service was excellent. We're very fortunate because I believe that Pastor Bob preached the cross and Him crucified, last night. No complaints there. Love you, Mrs Reg