‘God was also pleased to bring everything on earth and in Heaven back to Himself through Christ.’ Colossians 1:20 GWT
Carolyn Arends writes: ‘Easter Sunday is the Christian faith’s gold medal victory lap… the Happily Ever After… But I dread Good Friday… images of torture and suffering… the terrible recollected cry, “My God, why hast thou forsaken Me?” Left to my own devices, I’d probably skip Good Friday. But… if I did, Easter morning would become increasingly hollow. I’d forget how much my salvation cost… I’d start to believe that you can have victory without sacrifice… I’d buy the lie that Christ’s… victory over death—and my decision to follow him—means life will be trouble-free… The Biblical writers… encourage us to consider suffering… an opportunity to identify with Christ… to take up His cross. Yet… when the job is lost, or the tumour is malignant, or the friendship is betrayed, we grieve not only the wound but also the fact that we can be wounded. We feel… Jesus has let us down. We don’t consider it “pure joy”… So how do we become Easter Sunday Christians? When I’m expecting Easter Sunday and I get Good Friday… [I try] to remember that God’s definition of “good”… far exceeds my own… that almost all the new beginnings… have come from what felt… like terrible endings… What seems like a small (but devastating) death is actually a chance at new life.’
If you’re struggling to see the ‘good’ in your situation, hear this: ‘Life from nothing began through Him, and life from the dead began through Him, and He is, therefore, justly called the Lord of all… through Him God planned to reconcile… everything on earth and everything in Heaven by virtue of the sacrifice of the cross.’ (Colossians 1:18–20 PHPS)
SoulFood: Gen 22:1–18, Matt 26:69–27:50, Ps 22, Is 53
The Word for Today is authored by Bob and Debby Gass and published under licence from UCB International Copyright 2024
