Today is Good Friday, and while the traditional events of this day probably took place on Wednesday, not Friday, it does not at all diminish the importance of what this day represents. This is, traditionally, the day that Christ was crucified, taking all of the sins of the world upon Himself and becoming the perfect, spotless sacrifice to pay for the mistakes that each and every one of us has made. I believe that this is why this day is called GOOD Friday, because I can't imagine why else it would be considered good. It represents the day that Christ was tortured and brutally executed, forsaken by God, and became sin. So this gets me thinking...
During this Easter season, our celebration is on Easter, and what it represents. We celebrate the resurrection of Christ, His return to physical life, His defeat of death. This is what the rejoicing is over. So as I think about it, was it His sacrifice that brought us salvation, or His resurrection that brought us salvation?
In 1 Corinthians 15, Paul states, " 12 But if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? 13 If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. 14 And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. 15 More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that he raised Christ from the dead. But he did not raise him if in fact the dead are not raised. 16 For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either. 17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. 18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. 19 If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied."
So this makes a pretty compelling case that our hope and salvation are rooted in Christ's resurrection, without which we would still be in our sins with a futile faith, and this makes sense. This is the argument that I have heard countless times: "Many religious leaders are "good" and many have or would die for their cause, but at the end of the day, they are all still dead and Christ is alive, which is why He is so great and why we can have a confident hope in our salvation."
We celebrate Easter, the resurrection, as the culmination of Christ's gift to us, and believe that it is because He is alive that we have any faith or hope at all. It is all about the resurrection, but...
In Hebrews 9, it states, "14 How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God!
15 For this reason Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance—now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant.
16 In the case of a will, it is necessary to prove the death of the one who made it, 17 because a will is in force only when somebody has died; it never takes effect while the one who made it is living. 18 This is why even the first covenant was not put into effect without blood. 19 When Moses had proclaimed every command of the law to all the people, he took the blood of calves, together with water, scarlet wool and branches of hyssop, and sprinkled the scroll and all the people. 20 He said, “This is the blood of the covenant, which God has commanded you to keep.” 21 In the same way, he sprinkled with the blood both the tabernacle and everything used in its ceremonies. 22 In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness. ...
"26 Otherwise Christ would have had to suffer many times since the creation of the world. But he has appeared once for all at the culmination of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself. 27 Just as people are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, 28 so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him."
So wait a minute. This makes a pretty compelling case that our salvation is a direct result of Christ's sacrifice, His shed blood, His death. This is what brings salvation, and without Christ's death we would have no hope of salvation. This also makes sense. The Bible is full of references to Christ being the sacrificial lamb, to forgiveness requiring a perfect sacrifice, to Christ's blood being our means of salvation. Christ even says, in Matthew 26 "28 This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins." We even have plenty of hymns, such as "Nothing but the Blood," which imply that nothing, but the blood of Jesus can wash away sin.
So then, which is it? Why does there seem to be such a strong emphasis on both, separately, and, would Christ's perfect sacrifice have been enough to bring us salvation, had He never risen? Could we still celebrate our salvation even if we never celebrated Easter? Would we have a Good Friday holiday alone? Or is the shedding of blood essentially worthless without the resurrection?
Here are my thoughts: Christ's sacrifice, His death on the cross, His shedding of His blood bought us salvation. He paid the ultimate price for the ultimate prize, and through this, you and I now have the opportunity to accept that freedom. Jesus paid the price, with His blood, to buy our freedom, and all we have to do is accept it. It was His death, the death of a spotless lamb, and the shedding of the pure crimson blood that brought us salvation.
Now, what about the resurrection? It is no less important, and here is why. Christ's death brought salvation, but only because He is perfect, spotless, the prophecied Messiah, God. Had He been ANYTHING less than this, His death would have been futile and useless. When Christ rose from the dead, He proved that He was God. Only God has power over death, and Christ's resurrection verified, undeniably, that He was who He said He was. His resurrection gave power to His shed blood. Additionally, it was procephied that the Messiah would rise from the dead. Had Jesus been perfect, and shed His blood, but not risen, it would make God a liar, and leave us hopeless as our hope and faith would be based in a lie.
The way that I see it, Christ's blood, His death, is what made salvation possible for us. However, had Christ not risen from the dead, He would not have been the Messiah, and therefore His death would have been meaningless and completely unable to provide salvation. So the two are joined. Obviously, He had to die for there to be a resurrection, and there had to be a resurrection to give power to His death.
So those are my thoughts, and they are just that, thoughts. If you agree, disagree, have a completely different view, or can more clearly explain my view, please leave a comment. Have a great Easter everyone!
God bless!
