This March we commemorate the day Jesus died, Good Friday, right on the last day of
the month. The significance of the death of Jesus is summed up in this verse:
“God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21).
There is an amazing simplicity here – 21 words of only one syllable, one word of two
syllables, and one word (righteousness) of three syllables. It could hardly be simpler than
this–yet whole books could be written on the meaning of each phrase.
How important is this verse? Miss this and you’ve missed the truth of God. If you get this
right, you can be wrong in a lot of other places and still go to heaven. In these days of
rampant theological confusion, it is vitally important that the church of Jesus Christ be
firmly settled on the gospel message. That is, after all, our only message.
God has not committed to us a message about political power or military might.
“The Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.” Isaiah 53:6
Let’s suppose that all your sins have been written in one massive book. That book is heavy because it records every rotten thing you’ve ever said, every unkind word you’ve ever spoken, every mean thought, every lustful fantasy, every evil imagination, and all your bad attitudes from the day of your birth till the day of your death. Picture yourself trying to hold that massive book in your hands. Now picture Jesus standing next to you. He is holy, perfect, pure, and good. He has no book in his hands because he has never sinned. You want to be rid of the book but you can’t seem to find a place to put it down. What will you do? Now picture Christ on the Cross, with the weight of millions of books upon his bleeding back. He bears that crushing weight as long as he can, then he dies. Look closely and you will see that each book is the personal record of someone who lived on the earth. If you look closely, you can see your book too. He took your sins – the record of all your evil and all your failings and all your shortcomings – he took it all upon himself when he died on the Cross. The Lord laid on him the iniquity of us all. And so now the weight is taken off you.
That’s something of the significance of Good Friday: it can change and even save your life.
“God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21).
There is an amazing simplicity here – 21 words of only one syllable, one word of two
syllables, and one word (righteousness) of three syllables. It could hardly be simpler than
this–yet whole books could be written on the meaning of each phrase.
How important is this verse? Miss this and you’ve missed the truth of God. If you get this
right, you can be wrong in a lot of other places and still go to heaven. In these days of
rampant theological confusion, it is vitally important that the church of Jesus Christ be
firmly settled on the gospel message. That is, after all, our only message.God has not committed to us a message about political power or military might.
“The Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.” Isaiah 53:6
Let’s suppose that all your sins have been written in one massive book. That book is heavy because it records every rotten thing you’ve ever said, every unkind word you’ve ever spoken, every mean thought, every lustful fantasy, every evil imagination, and all your bad attitudes from the day of your birth till the day of your death. Picture yourself trying to hold that massive book in your hands. Now picture Jesus standing next to you. He is holy, perfect, pure, and good. He has no book in his hands because he has never sinned. You want to be rid of the book but you can’t seem to find a place to put it down. What will you do? Now picture Christ on the Cross, with the weight of millions of books upon his bleeding back. He bears that crushing weight as long as he can, then he dies. Look closely and you will see that each book is the personal record of someone who lived on the earth. If you look closely, you can see your book too. He took your sins – the record of all your evil and all your failings and all your shortcomings – he took it all upon himself when he died on the Cross. The Lord laid on him the iniquity of us all. And so now the weight is taken off you.
That’s something of the significance of Good Friday: it can change and even save your life.