It can be so hard amidst Easter bunnies and Easter eggs to focus on what Easter is really about. It’s a time of celebrating God’s amazing love for us. But you can’t have Easter without first having Good Friday. And that’s where God’s love really stands out.
Amazing love!
“My Lord, what love is this that pays so dearly; that I, the guilty one, may go free?“
For I am guilty. I am the one who has sinned. I am one of the all who “have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23)
And the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23).
“but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23).
“Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death” (Romans 8:2).
Amazing love! O what sacrifice!
“Then Pilate took Jesus and had him flogged. The soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head” (John 19:1-2).
“And they crucified him” (Mark 15:24).
“And at three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, ‘Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?’ (which means, ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’)” (Mark 15:34).
“And so they watched Him die, despised, rejected.”
“He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief, and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not” (Isaiah 53:3, ESV).
“But, O the blood He shed flowed for me.”
“But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed” (Isaiah 53:5).
Amazing love! O what sacrifice! The Son of God giv’n for me! My debt He pays, and my death He dies, that I might live.”
“”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” (John 3:16).
“‘It is finished'” (John 19:30).
And now this love of Christ shall flow like rivers; come wash your guilt away, live again.”
“if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved” (Romans 10:9-10).
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come” (2 Corinthians 5:17, ESV)
Amazing love!
Soul Refreshers for your life:
- If you already know Jesus as your Lord and Savior, take time to reflect on His amazing love and the great sacrifice He made for you because of that amazing love He has for you.
- If you do not yet know Jesus as your Lord and Savior, listen to His call. This amazing love is for you too. All you must do is acknowledge that you have sinned and are deserving of God’s judgment. Then know that Jesus died to pay your debt, the penalty for your sin. He died your death, that you might live. Tell God you believe this and you accept this great gift of salvation and eternal life that Jesus is offering you. Accept Him as Savior and live with Him as your Lord.