On This Good Friday

"It is no small irony that though we often live life pursuing what we may falsely or rightly believe we deserve, the holiest holiday on the Christian calendar celebrates not getting what we deserved.

We deserved something all right. Wrath. We richly deserved the penalty for sin, self-centeredness, arrogance, pride, greed, gluttony, hard hearts, mean spiritedness and all the rest. But, the thing is, we didn’t get it.

Christ did.

He took what I deserved, every lash, every hit, every piercing. He took what I had coming. He paid the price I deserved to pay, was crucified, dead and buried, and on the third day rose again. (READ MORE HERE-- OUTSIDE LINK)

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Even I sometimes feel entitled to certain luxuries...however, I am sadly mistaken. I do not deserve any good that is in my life. I deserve the wrath of God! We all do! NONE of us is "good" (Psalms 14:1, Psalms 14:3, Psalms 51:3, Psalms 53:3, Mark 10:18, Luke 18: 19) and NONE of us sought after God (Romans 3:11) on our own. We always need to remember that it is only by God's work that we are offered salvation, and only by His calling and drawing that we are even able to accept His gift of Mercy and Grace. So the only thing we can take credit for in our salvation is getting lost...that's it!

“Man’s heart is evil (Mark 7:21-23) and sick (Jer. 17:9). Man is a slave of sin (Rom. 6:14-20). He does not seek for God (Rom. 3:1). He cannot understand spiritual things (1 Cor. 2:14). He is at enmity with God (Eph. 2:15). And, is by nature a child of wrath (Eph. 2:3).”

“..we are born again not by our own will but God’s will (John 1:12-13); God grants that we believe (Phil. 1:29); faith is the work of God (John 6:28-29); God appoints people to believe (Acts 13:48); and God predestines (Eph. 1:1-11; Rom. 8:29; Rom. 9:9-23).” (used from CARM)

I am glad that I cannot boast in my own "good works". The only thing I can boast in is Christ! (Romans 4:2, 1 Corinthians 1:29, 1 Corinthians 1:31...and many more) The amazing thing about God is that He would have never planted that tree in the Garden of Eden without already planning for Christ to die for our sins! We truly serve an amazing God. He knows all things and is never surprised by our disobedience. He plans accordingly as we cannot.

I am humbled on this Good Friday, knowing that my Jesus was brutally murdered on my behalf. Jesus stood in my place to receive the punishment I deserve. On this day He suffered great pain, torture and would die a shameful death. However, He will rise and conquer sin and death!

I think we all sometimes forget what Christ went through on our behalf. Everyday should be seen through the lenses of Christ's crucifixion.

Christ's death, burial and resurrection are what all of Christianity clings to. Without these events we would all be doomed to eternal separation from God. Without Jesus conquering death, meaning sin, we are all God's enemies.

The Bible is very clear that if we are friend's with the world we are an enemy of God. (James 4:4) Those are some harsh words. But in reality none of us are deserving of God's Mercy and Grace. May we never forget that "we" did nothing to deserve rescuing! May we all live a life of humility in light of the cross. May we never respect man above the Lord. May we never forget why we were enslaved to sin....because WE disobeyed.

God's gift to us is His Son. His Son's gift to us is His life. The truest act of love is what Christ accomplished on the cross. The Lord demonstrated His love for us by being crucified on our behalf while we were still sinning. (Romans 5:8) This act is like that of a Coast Guardsmen giving us their life preserver when we are drowning. We sink, He floats...literally! My husband puts it this way:

“Our sins were like anchors tied to Him dragging Him down to the black depths, but once those sins were dropped off in the abyss, His "Holy buoyancy" brought Him back to the top.”

“It's not that death "would" not hold Him, it "could" not hold Him no more than water can attempt to hold down a life preserver under it's weight... it always floats.”

The offer of salvation is a gift to those who will choose Him. No “work” is required to receive this gift so that we are unable to boast in ourselves. (Romans 6:23, Ephesians 2:8-9)

G---God's

R---Riches

A---At

C---Christ's

E---Expense

Mercy is: NOT getting what you DO deserve

Grace is: Getting what you DON'T deserve

May our lives always be a reflection of the faith we have placed in Christ. May we as Christians stand up and live a radical life for Christ. May we never compromise our faith and may we always run hard after Christ, by making our lives a living sacrifice for Him. Let us not be conformed to the world, but be NOTICEABLY set apart. May it be obvious in our speech and our walk WHO we belong to and who we serve!

Serving God and My Family,
Crystal <>< (SAHM)

"Taking the twelve disciples aside, Jesus once more began to describe everything that was about to happen to him in Jerusalem. "When we get to Jerusalem," he told them, "the Son of Man will be betrayed to the leading priests and the teachers of religious law. They will sentence him to die and hand him over to the Romans. They will mock him, spit on him, beat him with their whips, and kill him, but after three days he will rise again."
-Mark 10:32-34

P.S. I realize the two pictures I posted are a bit graphic, however, the actual events caused Jesus to be unrecognizable as a man. This isn't even close to what He would have really looked like. I don't think our minds or our hearts can fathom exactly what Christ went through. So as offensive as they may be, in reality they aren't even close to portraying an accurate picture of what Jesus looked like after his beatings.