Good Friday Indeed!

Amplified Bible

3 He was despised and rejected and forsaken by men, a Man of sorrows and pains, and acquainted with grief and sickness; and like One from Whom men hide their faces He was despised, and we did not appreciate His worth or have any esteem for Him.

4 Surely He has borne our griefs (sicknesses, weaknesses, and distresses) and carried our sorrows and pains [of punishment], yet we [ignorantly] considered Him stricken, smitten, and afflicted by God [as if with leprosy]

5 But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our guilt and iniquities; the chastisement [needful to obtain] peace and well-being for us was upon Him, and with the stripes [that wounded] Him we are healed and made whole.

6 All we like sheep have gone astray, we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord has made to light upon Him the guilt and iniquity of us all

7 He was oppressed, [yet when] He was afflicted, He was submissive and opened not His mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so He opened not His mouth.

9 And they assigned Him a grave with the wicked, and with a rich man in His death, although He had done no violence, neither was any deceit in His mouth.

Because Jesus was despised, rejected and forsaken, we are fully accepted.

Because Jesus was a man of sorrows and pains and acquainted with grief and sickness, we can live a life filled with joy, healing and wholeness.

Because Jesus was wounded for our transgressions and bruised for our guilt and iniquities, we do not have to pay the penalty for our sins or carry around the guilt. We are forgiven!

Because Jesus bore the chastisement due us, we can live in peace.

Because Jesus took many agonizing stripes upon His body for us, we can live in divine health.

We should take Jesus’ gift to us very literally and really believe in the Divine exchange He made with us, including the righteousness that has been put to our account, all because of what our wonderful Savior did for us!

2 Corinthians 5:21 says,

He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. (NASB)

This is a righteousness not based on our works, but on Jesus’ finished work through His death, burial and resurrection! Isn’t that great news?!

Sadly though, for most of my life, due to the heavy load of legalism in my own personality, I spent almost 100% of my time thinking about myself, how I could improve myself, how I could overcome my weaknesses and how I could be pleasing to God.

Ahhhh, but once the legalistic blinders fell from my eyes and I saw the truth about Jesus and His finished work, I stepped off my treadmill of accomplishment and began to spend my days thinking about my wonderful Savior and everything He is and everything He did for me and how, because of the cross, God is and will be pleased with me as His daughter, always!

I’m telling you, I hardly ever thought about what Jesus did for me all those years because I was too busy thinking about what I was suppose to be doing for Him, but now, not a day passes by without me remembering what Jesus accomplished…for me. It’s all about Jesus and boasting about Him – who He is and what He has done and what we can now do because of what He has done!

Oh yes… it was a good Friday indeed when Jesus accepted His Father’s will in the garden that Friday and stepped in and paid the price in our place. He changed everything for us and our part is to BELIEVE that Jesus did indeed save us in every imaginable way, that He overcame for us and that His finished work really did finish it!

This is something we can do, not just on Good Friday, but everyday, for all eternity!

If you have not yet made Jesus your Savior and received the wonderful joy that His finished work on the cross has provided for you to live in, please visit my page here titled Jesus In The Driver’s Seat. On this page I explain the good news of the gospel and you will have the opportunity to say yes to Jesus!

Sandra McCollom