Why do we call it Good Friday when someone died?
The reason of course why it is a Good Friday is that there is a message of Good News. What happened on Good Friday is part of the Gospel, God’s Good News!
What is this message? God spoke through the prophet Isaiah and gave that message in Isaiah 53: Every person in the world has gone astray and turned against God and every person deserves infirmities, sorrows, affliction, punishment, and death!
But that is not good news is it? You see, how can you have good news when there is no bad news? It is bad news that every person has gone against God and deserves death. The good news, as stated by Isaiah, is that God provides a way to be healed from the results of sin, which leads to death.
God provided someone to take up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, and He was stricken by God, smitten, and afflicted. God provided someone to be pierced for our transgressions and crushed for our iniquities.
Because He was punished instead of us, we have peace and by His wounds we are healed. God has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. Who was this person who suffered and died for our sins??
Jesus Christ, who is God Himself, became a man, and He was crucified to death for us.
How do we know that God’s message through Isaiah was Jesus Christ? Angels of course are messengers of God.
We read in Luke 2:10-12, “the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger."
And before Jesus Christ became a public figure, there was another messenger sent by God, his name was John the Baptist. We read in the Gospel according to John the disciple, not the Baptist: The next day John the Baptist saw Jesus coming toward him and said, "Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! This is the one I meant when I said, 'A man who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.' I myself did not know him, but the reason I came baptizing with water was that he might be revealed to Israel."
Then of course, the greatest messenger of God is Jesus Christ Himself who testified "The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into the hands of men. They will kill him, and on the third day he will be raised to life." And Jesus said, “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost.” Jesus testified, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to God the Father except through Me!”
Jesus died that first Good Friday 2000 years ago for all of our sins. Then God Himself gave a great message to all by bringing Jesus Christ back to life after being buried for three days.
Jesus rose from the dead and He told His disciples to preach to the whole world this message of Good News of being forgiven of sins.
The Apostle Paul continued the work of the disciples by bringing the Good News to Europe and Asia!
We have been studying the Letter to the Ephesians and we read in Ephesians 6: 21-22, Tychicus, the dear brother and faithful servant in the Lord, will tell you everything, so that you also may know how I am and what I am doing. I am sending him to you for this very purpose, that you may know how we are, and that he may encourage you.
Tychicus carried God’s Word written by the Apostle Paul to the Ephesians. And we had noted in our studies, the Letter to the Ephesians is meant for all Christians including us!
And so, after the Apostle Paul, a servant named Tychicus became a messenger for God to the entire world, including us today.
Who is this man Tychicus? The Bible doesn’t tell us much about him. Tychicus is only noted 5 times in the Bible!
Ephesians 6 summarizes who Tychicus was. Tychicus was a Christian brother, a faithful servant, and an encourager of the Lord! Tychicus was just a regular church attender, just like us, who decided to become a messenger for Jesus Christ! How pleased do you think God is with Tychicus? Wouldn’t you agree with me? In spite of what He suffered 2000 years ago, Jesus Christ is overjoyed with what Tychicus did! How about you and me?
God’s message to the world is clear! God loves every person and He has provided a way for all our sins to be forgiven.
For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.
We read in 1 John 1:5-10, “This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives.” What are we doing with God’s message?
Two things for us to remember:
1. Confess our sins to Jesus Christ often. Because Jesus already died for our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us and purify us from all unrighteousness.
Do you remember the second piece of the armor of God?
We put on the Breastplate of Righteousness by confessing our sins to God.
2. Follow Jesus Christ and share His message to the world.
