Good Friday is a Good Father. This is how much your Papa loves you beloved. It was His very will to crush His Son and cause Him to suffer so you could come home to His heart and be healed and blessed (Isaiah 53:10). Daddy God Who was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself to get His kids back, spared nothing to free you from curse and death to release the flood tide of Grace over your life.
And This Son; This Suffering Servant and Innocent Savior said “yes” before the Earth was made. He chose you before you were you. He’d rather die than to be without you. And now that He’s with you, He does not make light of your pain, hurt and hardships. He knows your suffering and empathizes with you in every detail of your dark and anxious moments and in all your brokenness. For it is Christ Himself Who took on your very condition. He did it for you.
If you’ve seen the movie “The Passion of the Christ,” there’s no doubt you’ve gotten emotional watching His flogging and seeing the degree to which He was tortured and in agony. His face was beaten, beard plucked out and He was spit on. He was taking your shame and insults (Isaiah 50:6). Stroke after stroke, His flesh was ripped open exposing all His bones. By His stripes you are healed. And the Bible says Jesus was marred to the point that he was hardly recognizable as a human being (Isaiah 52:14). He was unrecognizable so you would know He recognizes you intimately. You are honored and known. He did it for you.
Becoming a man of sorrows, He was acquainted with the deepest grief, pain and sickness. He was despised, rejected and crushed, carrying not just our weight of sin and death but every one of our afflictions that finds its root back to the fall in the first garden (See Isaiah 53:3-5). No one in all human history has suffered to the extent Jesus suffered for His children on this day 2,000+ years ago. He did it for you.
Even before His arrest in the garden of Gethsemane; Jesus began His suffering for you, redeeming you. He was in such agony of spirit that His sweat fell to the ground as drops of blood (Luke 22:44). He knows about stress beloved; He took yours to give you peace. He knows what’s on your mind. He wore the crown of thorns so you could have a sound mind, crowned in His glory and honor as His royal child. And He knows your troubled heart. Because that’s what He died of. On the cross, his heart burst open. He died of a broken heart to make yours whole. There’s nothing He wouldn’t do for you because He’s already done it all for you. “It Is Finished.”
Your old self (identity) was crucified with Him. And you have been given a new identity (Galatians 2:20). The identity of Jesus Himself. Made new by His blood, as He is righteous (right with God, spotless and clean), so are you. As He is loved, so are you. As He is favored, so are you. As He is blessed, so are you. As He is full of health and life, so are you. No, it may not seem like it now. You may not “feel it in your bones.” But this is your Truth, His Promise. He just wants you to take what He’s already purchased for you. Come to Him as you are and let Him cause you to experience it. (“Then Jesus said, ‘Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?’” John 11:40). Bring Him your fears, the fears He faced, to free you in His Perfect Love.
Your past has been redeemed. Your sin forgiven. Your future sealed in hope and blessing. On that cross, midday became midnight so you could live in His love-light no matter how dark your days may feel. Jesus conquered death and there’s no more death for the believer. You have been raised to everlasting life. His resurrection was your justification. And the cross is your expectation. Your Father is on your side. The Lover of your soul is mighty to save. He makes all things new, all things beautiful.
Happy Good Friday. It’s not just Resurrection weekend, it’s a resurrection Life beloved. Trust Him.
Resting In His Love,
Annalee Reyes
If you’ve never received Jesus as your Lord and Savior and are being called to accept this Grace gift of Salvation you can pray this simple prayer:
“Father God, I believe you sent your Son to die for me and by His blood He washed my sins away and took my curse at the cross. Lord Jesus, I ask you to come into my heart and be Lord and Savior of my life. I give my life to you and believe I am now a new creation, raised in newness of life in you. I am now your spotless, dearly loved child. In Jesus name. Amen.”