Good Friday

I'm taking a couple days off from my "Who Am I" blogs to reflect on the next 3 days and what they mean to me as a Believer.

Today is Good Friday, the day when we pause and think about the day when Christ was crucified for the sins of all mankind. I was talking to my daughter this morning about this and asked her if she knew what today was. She said it was Friday and she had the day off from school.

"Yes" I replied "but do you also know it's Good Friday? This is the day when we as Christians think back to the day when Jesus died on the cross for all of our sins. But you know what? Guess what happened in three days?"

"Jesus rose from the dead" she said confidently.

"Yes He did" I said. "We need to be thankful for what God has done for us by not only sending His Son to our world, but that Jesus took our sins with Him to the cross and died for us all."

I told her that later this morning, we were going to go to our sister church, the Church at Pinnacle Hills in Rogers AR, for a big event. They were going to erect the first of 3 giant crosses that everyone can see for miles. The cross today will stand 145' tall, the second will be 160' and the last cross, the central and biggest cross, will stand a daunting 175' tall, visible to over 80,000 cars who drive up and down I-540 everyday in Northwest Arkansas.

Kaitlyn and I met Jennifer there in time to get our cameras set up and hear Pastor Ronnie Floyd give a brief yet poignant sermon on the 3 crosses. He explained how in the book of John, Jesus gives an early description on how He would not only die but also be raised up for all to see.

"As for Me, if I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw all people to Myself." He said this to signify what kind of death He waas about to die. (John 12:32-33)

Pastor then spoke about the relevance of the 3 crosses (the ones there at the crucifixion of Christ) and how we can use them to relate them to others.

"To imagine the cross that the thief was on that rejected Jesus, that cross still said to him 'I love you'. The cross that the other thief was on that said he wanted to go to Heaven, it says, in our minds, 'I forgive you'. But the cross that is the highest of all, that's the cross that Jesus died on, it said 'I save you'."

Wow. I'd never ever considered this but think about this insight and while it's quite simplistic in how you look at it literally, it can impact an entire world...those who believe and those who've yet to hear the good news. Jesus says:

"I love you."
"I forgive you."
"I save you."

Thank God Almighty for His promises and His divine plan for our salvation. Thank Him for the blood of His Son that can wash us whiter than snow and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Thank Him for His sacrifice of going to Golgotha for each and every one of us.

And thank God...three days later, His Son, Jesus Christ tore apart the chains of sin, death, despair, pain, suffering and Hell itself, stood up and walked out of that tomb. He arose from the grave and completed the plan for our salvation, defeating the enemy once and for all. There will be no rematch! Satan is beaten and he knows it. Victory belongs to God Almighty!

To quote the chorus from an incredible song:

"It is finished, the battle is over...
It is finished, there'll be no more war...
It is finished, the end of the conflict...
It is finished and Jesus is Lord!"

Amen and amen! Have a great Easter weekend in celebrating the resurrection of Christ our Lord!