Today is Good Friday because we are bad, and our bad is covered by the Only One who is truly good. For everyone who trusts in Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection for salvation, his or her sins are forgiven. Thus, the Friday that involved the most horrific thing that has ever happened is remembered and celebrated as good. The day the perfect Son of God died a shameful, despicable, horrifying, excruciating, and humiliating death on a slave-criminal’s cross is the day we remember as Good Friday.
And, praise God because it was indeed a good day, a great day. This is true because of God’s glory and our good. God planned this event before the foundation of the world (see Acts 4:23-30; Ephesians 1:3-14; 1 Peter 1:20-21), and He gets the credit and the glory. He planned it, of course, for our good, too. “For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” (Romans 10:13). That salvation is only possible because of the death of Jesus Christ on the cross for our sins and His resurrection from the dead for our eternal victory (if you trust in Jesus alone). Praise the Lord!
On Resurrection Sunday morning, Lord willing, I will be starting a new sermon series on The Creed: What We Believe. For the first message, I will preach through 2 Timothy 3:10-17 on the reality that “The Creed Comes from the Bible.” Hopefully, it will be available HERE by Sunday evening.
Thinking about Good Friday and Easter Sunday, though, why do we believe what we believe? Ultimately, we believe what we believe because we trust the source – God’s Word. Similarly, we believe because of the affirmation of that source that has stood the test of time. That affirmation comes, in part, from confessions like the Apostles’ Creed, which is likely the oldest confession of faith in Christendom. For centuries, Christians have held to this creed as the basics of the Christian faith. It has been, for many across Bible-believing denominations, the answer to the question, “What must one believe in order to be a Christian?”
THE APOSTLES’ CREED
I believe in God, the Father almighty,
creator of heaven and earth.I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord.
He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit
and born of the Virgin Mary.
He suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried.
He descended to the dead.
On the third day he rose again.
He ascended into heaven,
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again to judge the living and the dead.I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic Church*,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting. Amen.*meaning the universal Christian church—all believers in Jesus Christ
Good Friday is good because we are bad and needed a good, perfect Savior to suffer and die for our sins. Good Friday is good, too, because things did not end on that day, but rather victory was won on the third day – the day Jesus rose from the dead.
On Resurrection Sunday morning, I hope to challenge my hearers to commit to know and grow in the foundational truths of God’s Word. Are you seeking to know and follow God according to His Word? Have you embraced the truth of the gospel, which is clear in the Bible and declared in the Apostles’ Creed? Let us prioritize our relationship with God in such a way that we point others to Him through our actions and words. To God be the glory!
DrakeCity 