This is the short message I shared on Good Friday 2022… Craig Gale

Although it is a day of sadness at the death of the innocent Jesus, Good Friday is a good day for those who believe in Him. On Good Friday, Jesus, the Christ, the Son of God, He deals with our guilt from not fulfilling the requirement of the law, He deals with our Sin and He deals with our Shame.

Guilt

How does Good Friday deal with the law and mean we can live free of guilt?​

Galatians 3:10–14 ESV

“For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, “Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them.” Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for “The righteous shall live by faith.” But the law is not of faith, rather “The one who does them shall live by them.” Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree”— so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith.”

Good Friday is good because it’s the day that marks when man no longer needed to fulfil the law in order to get close to God because God sent his son so that he might fulfil the law on our behalf. He bore the curse of the law so we don’t have to. We don’t have to feel guilty for not making the mark set by the law. He met the mark on our behalf. Good Friday is good because it deals with our guilt.

Sin

Good Friday is good because it deals with our sin. Our nature of sin, our past sins, the sin you did this morning or are doing right now, and the sin you’ll commit tomorrow and everyday thereafter. On Good Friday, He who knew no sin became sin for us

​2 Corinthians 5:21 ESV

“For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”

Through union with Christ, us being in Christ, our sins are removed. When we believe, we are united with Christ and our sin is removed from us and taken by Jesus into Himself, God takes our sin and makes Jesus Christ the perfect offering for sin in our place. Remember the chorus from Here is Love, Vast as the ocean?

Grace takes my sin, calls me friend

Pays my debt completely

Love rescued me, seated me

With my King forevermore

Good Friday is good, because our sin is imputed to Christ, He takes it to the cross, and his perfect righteousness is credited to us. If you believe, then Jesus has taken your sin, his blood pays the price of your justification, your freedom, your redemption. Good Friday is good because it means the price we owe is paid by Jesus, and that we don’t have to live in the power of sin anymore.

Shame

Good Friday is good because it deals with our shame. Zephaniah spoke of the day when shame would be turned into praise.

Zephaniah 3:19 ESV

“Behold, at that time I will deal with all your oppressors.

And I will save the lame and gather the outcast,

and I will change their shame into praise and renown in all the earth.”

God is the God who turns our shame to praise, who turns our mourning into dancing. The enemy wants us to be ashamed because when we’re ashamed we’re not living in the fulness of life that God wants for us.

Good Friday is good because at the cross, our shame is dealt with. We don’t need to be an ashamed people but instead we can be a people of praise.

Good Friday is good because on the holy day of Good Friday, Jesus dealt with our guilt, our sin and our shame, and today we remember Jesus’ cry on the cross. “It is finished.” He has done it, we can know freedom because it was finished upon that cross.