Good Friday & Resurrection Sunday: All is forgiven

Good Friday & Resurrection Sunday: All is Forgiven

 "He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay." 

Matthew 28:6

The weekend is the weekend we remember God's amazing and unconditional love for us.  It is a weekend of grace and redemption.

On Friday, we remembered how God sent His one and only Son to die for us on the cross, so that our sins could be forgiven and today (Sunday) we remember Jesus' resurrection.  I have chosen to use the term Resurrection Sunday, not because I am on any mission to change the more common name of Easter Sunday, but in order to emphasize what Christians celebrate today and not the celebration of spring.  

To fully understand this importance of this weekend we must go back to the Book of Genesis and remember that we are a fallen people.  When Adam & Eve chose to disobey God, sin entered the world.  

God is all good and can not tolerate sin but the bottom line is we all sin. Sin is so offensive to God that there is nothing that we as humans can do to make up for our sin.  All the good in the world does not erase sin.  Heaven is the perfect place and sin can not be allowed to enter Heaven.   Therefore, we humans are not able to enter Heaven on our own and on our own we would be destined for eternal separation from God.

This created  a problem because God truly wants all of His children to be with Him in Heaven. There was one and only one way for human sin to be forgiven. 

The only path to forgiveness is for someone sinless to take on the sins of the world and make a blood sacrifice.  That someone was Jesus Christ, the second person in the Trinity.  He took on human form.  During His time on earth Jesus was both Divine and human.  His Divinity allowed Him to be remain sinless but is humanity allowed Him to feel pain and loss.  

We see the human side of Jesus several times in the Bible.  Two examples are when He learned of the death of His friend, Lazarus and He cried and another is when He asked God to let Him be spared Crucifixion.   

We see His Divinity by the miracles He performed, His understanding of scripture, His relationship with the Father and His teachings.

There are approximately 61 Old Testament prophecies concerning Jesus' birth, life, death and resurrection. Twenty nine of which were fulfilled in one day.  The day of His Crucifixion.  For a list of these prophecies and where they were fulfilled in the New Testament please click on this link.  

Resurrection Sunday is the day that Jesus was resurrected fulfilling a significant prophecy that confirmed He was truly the Messiah.  Jesus appeared not only to His Apostles.  He appeared on multiple occasion and these appearances were witnessed by approximately 500 people. For a listing of Jesus' post resurrection appearances please click this link.

This is the weekend we focus and remember God's grace and redemptive nature.  While we should take time each and every day to thank God for this great gift, this weekend is when we need to take time from our busy schedule and focus on it.  Let's praise and glorify God and remember this most gracious and wonderful gift.  

Watch for my next blog which will appear later this week "Just a Christian".  God bless each and everyone of you.  He is Risen. He is Risen, Indeed.