Why do they call ‘Good Friday’ good?

Steve Brown:
Hey, why do they call ‘Good Friday’ good? Let’s talk about it on this edition of Key Life.

Matthew Porter:
This is Key Life. We’re here to let you know that because of what Jesus has done, God will never be angry at you again. Steve invited our friend Pete Alwinson to do the teaching this week. Pete is a former pastor, founder of ForgeTruth.com, and the author of Like Father Like Son.

Steve Brown:
Hi, Pete. This has been a fun week. We’ve enjoyed sitting around, and we’ve been talking about the resurrection of Christ all week and some of the implications of it. And yesterday we mentioned that you, in order to get to the resurrection, you’ve got to go through the crucifixion. But today is Good Friday, and it is Good Friday for some very specific reasons. So, why don’t you read some Scripture to us and then we’ll talk about the crucifixion.

Pete Alwinson:
All right. You know, in the book of Romans, chapter 4, he ends it by saying about Jesus.

He who was delivered over because of our transgressions and was raised because of our justification. Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through whom we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand and we exalt in the hope of the glory of God.

Steve Brown:
Oh man.

Pete Alwinson:
Great verses. Great verses. And how it leads us ahead to that other great beginning of a chapter in Romans, chapter eight.

Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, god did. Sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and as an offering for sin, he condemns sin in the flesh, so that the requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.

Steve Brown:
Is that good?

Pete Alwinson:
Oh, powerful.

Steve Brown:
It really is.

Pete Alwinson:
Powerful.

Steve Brown:
And that’s why Good Friday is good.

Pete Alwinson:
That’s right. That’s right. It just leads us to that great hope, but the darkness had to happen first. Let me wrap it up and then

Steve Brown:
Ok. Keep going.

Pete Alwinson:
we can just do this, the one that both of you and I love so much.

What shall we say then to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but delivered him up for us all. How will he not also with him freely give us all things. Who will bring a charge against God’s elect? God is the one who justifies. Who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather He was raised. Who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us, who will separate us from the love of Christ. Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword. Just as it is written, for your sake, we were being put to death all day long. We were considered as sheep to be slaughtered. But in all these things, we are overwhelmingly conquerors through him who loved us. For I’m convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus, our Lord.

Steve Brown:
Oh Pete, you know, it makes me want to just be quiet and think about it. That is so powerful. Now, we can’t do that, obviously on this, we’re going to have to say something, but sometimes we forget how incredible that Friday was when he hung on the cross, spread eagle on cross beams between two thieves. And he did it because of love. Because he loved us.

Pete Alwinson:
That’s right. That’s right. There’s no other explanation. Why would the triune God want to include us, to redeem us? We who were so rebellious historically.

Steve Brown:
Yeah, there’s no reason. I mean, not even, I mean, just the opposite. We deserve His wrath and His judgment and His condemnation, and rightly so. And if we got all that, we couldn’t say a word.

Pete Alwinson:
That’s right.

Steve Brown:
Because we would say, that’s just. I don’t like it, but it’s just. And yet, God, at the right time, died for the ungodly.

Pete Alwinson:
That’s right. That’s right.

Steve Brown:
That’s a major, big deal.

Pete Alwinson:
And back to your thought about being more contemplative on Good Friday. Many Christians don’t go to Good Friday services as much as they used to. And, I remember, years ago, I mean, really our culture kind of stopped by noon on Good Friday. And you could go to a service or, you were off, stores started closing down even. But it’s really good for us to go and to teach our kids to go and to contemplate and to think about the awe, awesomeness of the Son of God taking on human flesh and being crucified in our place.

Steve Brown:
You know, and I think probably it was your idea when you were my pastor, but on our Good Friday services, they had a big cross and hammer and nails and pads of paper. And people came for, it was quite moving, it was really a big deal. They had this big cross laid across the chancel and then they had hammers on both sides and nails and you could write your sins on the pad and nail it to the cross. I’ll tell you Pete, I walked away from that service like, you know, I think I’m going to fly. I mean, I am so relieved and free and forgiven and going to live forever. And the cross, there was a sense in which the cross even got deeper to me during that service.

Pete Alwinson:
And me too. And even as a pastor, because we talk about these things so much, we traffic in the cross, we deal with justification and all these things so much that it can become too familiar to us. But when I wrote down my sin, that I wanted to confess.

Steve Brown:
You want to tell us which one you wrote down?

Pete Alwinson:
No, I mean, I can’t remember what it was. There’s so many.

Steve Brown:
You know, I was thinking, I don’t want anybody to come up and read this after I write it down. So, I wrote, I didn’t floss this morning.

Pete Alwinson:
You wrote one of Anna’s sins down.

Steve Brown:
Yeah, I wrote Anna’s sins down.

Pete Alwinson:
But to nail that to the cross and then to kind of go to that Colossians idea that on the, the real cross, the certificate of decrees consisting of these, curses against us, were nailed to the cross because of Christ. And they really were taken away, all the ammunition of the evil one has been stripped away from him. He who is the accuser of the brethren, accuses us night and day before the throne of God. That’s all gone. He really doesn’t have any ammo against us.

Steve Brown:
So, we need a day when that’s exactly what we think about the cross. Have we softened the cross, do you think, with our little gold crosses and our cross rings and earrings. And we’ve made it into something that we, that it never was. It was a curse.

Pete Alwinson:
It really was. The early church would never have thought of it being the symbol, they had the fish representative of Jesus Christ.

Steve Brown:
The Ichthys.

Pete Alwinson:
The Ichthys. Right. But the cross, perhaps we have, and when I see some celebrities with a cross on, I wonder, but I do know that there are many people that when they wear that cross, it’s because of a profound change. In fact, I’ve got to tell you this, my neighbor told me before Christmas, and he’s been coming to our Forge men’s thing for six months now. He said, he asked, the only thing he asked for for Christmas and he’s retired. So, he’s got money, is a cross.

Steve Brown:
Really.

Pete Alwinson:
And he wears it outwardly. And it was cause he wanted to make a statement to people that he knows, he wants it to be a conversation piece, that he has a new, fresh commitment to Jesus.

Steve Brown:
Oh man, that is so good.

Pete Alwinson:
So, it can be that.

Steve Brown:
Yeah, sure it can. I was just talking about how we can be very flippant about it if we’re not careful.

Pete Alwinson:
If we’re not careful.

Steve Brown:
But it can be very, very important. I had a ring that I used to wear that had a cross on it. And I went to Israel to do some research on a book on anti-Semitism. And I had found out that the cross was a place of great fear, for many Jews because of Holocaust and Shoah. And so, I had my ring changed, my wife had it changed, and I wore a cross with the Ichthys on it. But, you know, people need to recognize that this isn’t a play game thing. This has to do with being forgiven, with living forever, being redeemed, being justified. What does justified mean?

Pete Alwinson:
Yeah. We are declared not guilty through faith in Jesus Christ, based on his work and based on his death, burial and resurrection. And so, it’s not that when I, I’m justified to do whatever I want, you know, Paul deals with that argument, by the way, in Romans six, doesn’t he?

Steve Brown:
He does.

Pete Alwinson:
He says. Now that Christ has died and rose again and I’m forgiven, I can do whatever I want. No. And in a sense, the cross does serve for us as a reminder that we need to die to our sin and ourselves on a regular basis.

Steve Brown:
That’s true. Pete, this has been a great week. I’ve enjoyed it as we talked about the resurrection, the fact of the resurrection, the reality of the cross and the difference that it makes in the world. And the difference is this. Jesus came back from the dead, and that means you came too. You think about that. Amen.

Matthew Porter:
Thank you Steve and Pete. And with that, we wrap up our special Holy Week series here on Key Life. Thank you for joining us. Remember, if you’d like to re-listen to this series or maybe share it with a friend. Just stop by keylife.org where you can stream all of our content for free, 24 7. Well, if you’re of a certain age, you know the name Paul Harvey and the phrase, The rest of the story. But what about the story of rest? Seriously, when was the last time you experienced the kind of rest that restores? Steve speaks about this in an article called How to Have a Calm and Quiet Soul (from someone who struggles with it). You’ll find that piece in the newest edition of Key Life Magazine. You can claim your free copy of that magazine right now by calling us at 1-800-KEY-LIFE that’s 1-800-539-5433. You can also e-mail [email protected] and ask for that magazine. Or to mail your request, just go to keylife.org/contact to find our mailing addresses. Again, just ask for your free copy of Key Life magazine. One more thing, would you join in the work of Key Life through your giving? Giving is easy. You can charge a gift on your credit card or include a gift in your envelope. Or simply pick up your phone and text Key Life to 28950 that’s Key Life, one word, two words. It doesn’t matter. Text that to 28950. Key Life is a member of ECFA in the States and CCCC in Canada. And we are a listener supported production of Key Life Network.