This is Good Friday and it has eternal significance for mankind. The events that lead up to Good Friday must be understood before we can know how important it is.

In the beginning God created all things. His highest creation was mankind. We were created to give and receive love. To have the ability to love God and to love one another is what Jesus said was the most important command that God has made.

Adam and Eve sinned and were separated from Gods’ presence. Sin entered into the human race and there have been problems since that day. God, in an attempt to help his highest creation, gave the us the 10 commandments. He gave these commandments to make life better. The problem was that though mankind has tried, we could not keep them. All of these things were a process that God formulated to bring man back into the relationship with Him.

As Gods’ final move to retrieve man from the pit of sin that we are born into, He sent His son Jesus. Jesus purpose was to experience the human condition. He was born in a barn, grew up in a common home, and learned carpentry as a trade. Jesus then became the sacrifice for all of the sins of the world from before His time, during His time, and all of time to come. He taught many things to His disciples while here on earth that are recorded in the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John in the bible. We have that resource to understand the truth of our existence.

The bible explains that there can be no remission of sins without blood. Jesus suffered a terrible death as all of His blood was drained from His body. As He was hanging on a cross being crucified, He asked God to forgive those who were killing Him. At the end of this gruesome experience he said: “It Is Finished.”

The final plan of God to reconnect with His highest creation was completed. All of mankind now, through Jesus, has access to Him. Through the act of prayer we can make our needs known and God hears and supplies them. After His death, Jesus was taken down from the cross and put in a tomb. During the 3 days He laid in the tomb, He descended to the lower parts of the earth and took the keys of death, hell, and the grave from satan. He arose from the dead and defeated death, giving us eternal life. Jesus resurrection is what we celebrate this Sunday on Easter.

We continually talk about these things at the Gathering Place every Sunday morning at 10:30 and Wednesday evening at 7. Come and join us.