He made the One who did not know sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.” 2 Corinthians 5:21
One of my favorite holiday songs speaks of Christmas being “the most wonderful time of the year.” I suppose in the eyes of most folks Christmas has become the ultimate “feel good” holiday. It is jam packed with great music, great food, fun parties, and beautiful decorations. Throw the birth of a cute little newborn in the mix and it seems like a slam dunk. All of that leads to idealistic dreams of what Christmas should be but, frankly, too often those dreams don’t measure up to reality.
If we could step back a couple of thousand years, we would see that same baby grown to be a man and it seems that the whole known world isn’t celebrating His birth but shouting for His death. While the song speaks of Christmas being that “wonderful time,” for a significant part of the world, this week—and especially this Sunday—is truly more than wonderful. It is amazing. For this is the week that we celebrate the death, burial, and resurrection of our beloved Savior, Jesus Christ.
I’ve always thought it ironic that we call the day that Jesus died “Good Friday.” I mean it is obvious that it wasn’t good day for Him. A Roman crucifixion was so horrible that it was against the law to crucify a Roman citizen and it was called, “the death of deaths.” So why call it Good Friday? Well, for those of us who believe He is who He said He was, and He did what He said He could do, defeat death, well it’s a very big deal.
For starters, we believe His death that day was the sacrifice for our sins. The Bible tells us that “without the shedding of blood is no remission {of sins}”—Hebrews 9:22. We celebrate Good Friday because for each believer in Jesus it means the sin slate is wiped clean. Imagine having every wrong thing you ever did forgiven, blotted out, and you might begin to understand this important day.
Imagine this—it’s the greatest trade ever. Jesus says I will take the rap for your sin and in exchange you can have my perfection. 2 Corinthians 5:21, one of the letters that make up the New Testament, puts it this way: “He made the One who did not know sin [that’s Jesus] to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.” He took our wrongs so we could be made right. Amazing.
Wait…it gets better. For those who walked with Him on this earth, that Friday appeared anything but good—to them it appeared to be the end. Every hope of Him being their overcoming King ended with every blow of the hammer. He died, they buried Him, but then came Resurrection Sunday. If Friday was good than Sunday must be super. For on that day Christ physically resurrected from the dead. The most authenticated, sacred writing in the world, the Bible, along with historical evidence, all comes to the same conclusion: He came back to life. He lives.
The physical resurrection of Christ proves His deity. In other words, the proof of the pudding is in the tasting, and He proved He was and is the Son of God. And it only gets better! He defeated death and because He did, we have that same knowing hope. His victory over death becomes ours. It is an incredible story…one worth your own personal investigation.
Let me encourage you to check Him out. There is plenty of bunk on the internet but there is also plenty of truth. See why such a large chunk of the world population connects Jesus with God. See what all the excitement is about. And hey, maybe find a place you trust and experience the resurrection celebration somewhere in person this Easter Sunday. You will discover a God who loves you a ton and just waits to welcome you into His family. And when you’re in His family you can know two things. First, you are His and He will never change His mind. Second, well, no matter what you face, “He’s got this.” Bro. Dewayne
Grits with Grace 