Good Friday and Happy Easter

What is Good Friday? One thing we need to clear up is that this isn't a holiday where we should be glad just to be out of school or off of work. We can rejoice in knowing that Good Friday is what allows us, and gives us the power to walk off the jobs at Sin, Inc.

Good Friday, the English name for the Friday before Easter, is known as the anniversary of the Crucifixion of Jesus Christ. We now call the day Jesus was crucified, “good”. Many believe this name simply evolved as language does. They point to the earlier designation, God's Friday, as its root. (This seems logical, given that goodbye evolved from God be with you.)

Whatever its origin, the current name of this holy day offers a fitting lesson to those of us who assume (which is easy to do) that good must mean happy. We find it hard to imagine a day marked by sadness as a good day. Of course, the church has always understood that the day commemorated on Good Friday was anything but happy. Sadness, mourning, fasting, and prayer have been its focus since the early centuries of the church.


Easter, how did this great story and reality begin? John 3:16, "For God so loved the world." It began with love, not just any kind of love, but God's love. God so loved the world. God didn't just love the world, but so love the world. This means to love to a great extent. We know that he had to love us to a great extent, because "he gave his only begotten Son." How many of you would give your only anything? Some of us have a problem with that, so giving a child would surely be out of the question. But God gave, he bestowed a gift. God loved the whole world, and the free love of God is the beginning of our salvation.

But how was this a gift if he gave his Son to die for the world? The gift is in this, "that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." Nobody can use this verse on judgment day talking about, "The bible says in John 3:16 that God so loved the world that He gave His only Son." No, no, you have to read and understand the whole thing. Yes, God gave us a gift, but this gift is only promised to those who believe in Jesus Christ. The door is open to anyone, because He so loved the world, but you have to accept Christ to be Lord in your life, believe in Him and that is what leads to everlasting life. I'm just so overwhelmed by God's great love for us. I John 4:10 tells how God loved us even when we didn't love Him, and knowing this God still sent His Son to be the ultimate sacrifice for our sins. God still loves the world, but He hates the sin that the world lives in.

Have a great Good Friday and Happy Easter