Right now, I'm on vacation with my family in Florida. One of the hardest things for me being on this trip is having to miss out on my church's Good Friday service. Every year my church puts together a remarkable service. Last year our media department put together a film for the service. They showed segments of the film throughout the service, having worship in between. At the end it was revealed to us that we were the ones that put Jesus on the cross. Because of our sin, he had to die. It was a very powerful video, and the last two years the service has had me in tears at some point.
Often times we can forget what was done for us. We think we're entitled to things. We're prideful. We think we're the best. Sometimes I do stuff and in my head I'm thinking "check me out." Ben Willey, a great former youth pastor of mine once compared the things we do to a picture. Often times we do stuff and it looks great on the surface. But then we zoom in more and more, and it's eventually pixelized. We're selfish. We think our way's the best. Again, we're prideful. They say the root of all sin is pride. We point fingers. We blame other things for our flaws. We're cowardly. We're humans. We're imperfect.
When I was little, I never understood the fall of man. What happened with Adam and Eve in the garden? I would blame them for my sin. What I didn't realize until I was older is that Adam and Eve were representatives of us all. We all would have disobeyed God at some time. I thought Jesus died for everyone that had screwed up before him. But he died for all of us, and even though he's already died and paid the ultimate price, we continue to sin. Every time we sin, we say "you aren't enough, God, I need this too." It's like we're thirsty and God has water for us, but we're standing there saying, "but Lord, this is such good sand!"
Another thing we often ask is how can a God of love send people to hell? But really we send ourselves to hell. Everyone has sinned and has sin in their life. Greg Laurie explains this perfectly, which you can see here. Heaven isn't for good people, it's for forgiven people.
Anyway, going back to our main topic of discussion. Let's take a look at some scripture. Romans 8:23 reads "For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God." Romans 6:23 says "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." Right there, it says we can't do it on our own. We simply cannot get to Heaven by being a "good person" because we all have sinned and we are imperfect. Jesus came to change things. He came to open the kingdom of Heaven to everyone; everyone that chooses they want it. That's why he died on the cross for us.
God sent his son to the earth to die. Think about that, Jesus was born to die. And he didn't just die in his sleep. God didn't just swoop him up to Heaven or anything like that. He died the most painful death imaginable, crucifiction. In fact the term "excruciating", which we like to use to talk about our own pain originated from the word crufiction. It literally means it feels like you're dying on a cross. Yeah, makes you think twice about saying that again, doesn't it? Jesus was betrayed and he was denied. He endured the ultimate amount of suffering a person can go through. Which is why it irks me when some pastors say that once you're a Christian, you no longer will suffer and everything will go good for you and nothing bad will happen to you. Jesus, the most godly man ever, knows a thing or two about suffering. And so does Paul. And Joseph. And I could go on, but I don't want to get too far off track. The Bible says that Jesus was actually sweating drops of blood the night before he was crucified. Jesus knows everything about pain from a mental/emotional standpoint. We may suffer as Christians, but joy can be found in suffering.
As if it weren't enough for him to be betrayed by Judas, and denied by Peter, both of his disciples, he was mocked by many. He had to wear a crown of thorns. He had his hands nailed to the cross. He was dangling from the cross covered in blood and he was thinking of you. This is an image that just hits me hard. I've never watched the full movie of The Passion of the Christ, because I just can't stand seeing Christ suffer. But he did that for me. I was the cause of that. And so every time I feel tempted to sin, I should think about what he did for me on the cross, how much that cost him. Is it really worth it? Jesus died for me to do this? I have often taken this approach and suddenly the urge to sin is less appealing.
With that said, I'm not a perfect person. I'm a sinner and I deserve death. I don't deserve anything. But because Jesus died on the cross and offered the free gift of salvation, I can be freed from my sin. I will continue to sin, but I've been forgiven and I don't want to sin. I want to grow closer to Jesus every day of my life, because he has given my life joy and meaning and excitement. There's so much I could say and go on about this. But I gotta wrap this up for your own sake and I guess my main point is to take some time tomorrow on Good Friday to remember what has been done for you. In order for us to get to the happiest day in history, we have to go through the darkest day in history. Jesus was beaten, bruised, spit on, mocked, and eventually crucified so that we may have life. He took what we all deserved, I guess that's why they call it grace. Think about that.
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