blood Archives | Being Confident Of This

“Yeah, tomorrow is Good Friday because you get a break from school,” our six-year-old daughter quips.

“No, sweetie, that’s not why we call it Good Friday. We call it Good Friday because that’s the day Jesus took our punishment by dying on the cross and paying for our sins,” I explain.

“Oh, that’s the day Jesus died? That’s sad.” She grows solemn.

And we talk about it then, right there at the supper table, we talk about how He knew the suffering He would endure, yet He obeyed the Father anyways.

I think of them, His followers, the disciples, and how that day must have seemed anything but good to them. The fear they must have experienced, the sorrow, the confusion. I wonder if they felt hopeless and helpless.

That’s what we humans do when the skies around us grow dark and suffering multiplies – we despair.

It’s our first response to most difficult situations. Like the disciples, we fail to look ahead, for we only see the present, the now.

Yet on Good Friday we call the darkest day of their lives “good” because we can see now what they could not then.

We have the broader perspective, the bigger picture. We understand that the pain, the suffering, the darkness and death that day brought were the beginnings of a bigger and brighter glory than any soul had ever known before!

But the death came first, before new life.

Isn’t it the same even now?

We must die to self in order to live for Him. And it’s scary and dark and painful, but it’s oh-so-necessary.

When we find ourselves on the other side, we can look back and call it “good.”

“I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly. I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.” Jn 10:9-11

On the other side of the cross painted red, we who believe can call that darkest, death-filled day Good Friday because…

with one fell swoop, one simple yet agonizing act of obedience, sin and death were defeated once and for all!

So that we might know Him!

“It is Finished.”

Jen 🙂

I’m joining the Five Minute Friday crew this week! We all gather at Kate Motaung’s place and free-write for five crazy minutes – no planning, no editing, no stressing. 🙂 Come join us if you like!

Also sharing with: Grace and Truth

Paint.

It covers whatever is beneath it, each brush stroke blotting out all that came before.

It covers nail holes and cracks in the walls, the scribbles of a toddler and the spills of a preschooler. It covers poorly chosen colors and other such mistakes. It even covers rust and mildew, evidences of time and neglect. Paint masks all imperfections.

Paint makes old things new again, clean again, perhaps even beautiful again.

Yet at that first Passover, the paint was hardly beautiful – fresh blood splashed red across door frames painted as a covering, a protection over what was to come.

The people of God believed, and so they painted, each household, the blood of an innocent lamb across their door frames. They splashed ugly smears of musky red in faith that Yahweh would keep his promise to them.

Then they waited…

… as death passed over them, leaving their firstborns untouched, an act of mercy.

And again over a thousand years later, only days after the Passover celebration, a one and only Son painted a cross red with his own blood, spilled it willingly for a world full of undeserving sinners.

The bloody mess of his tortured, nail-driven flesh was gruesome, but the promise, the promise was a thing of beauty beyond comprehension.

Once again mankind would be passed over because of the blood of the Lamb.

Once again, salvation would be freely offered to those who chose to believe the promise.

Now we who believe are painted righteous by faith, passed over, wiped clean.

All of the mistakes, ugliness, and scars that were ours before are blotted out by bold, beautiful strokes in the hand of a Master who loves us enough to give a one and only Son.

Romans 5:8-10

But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

⁹Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him.

¹⁰For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been

reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.

Thus, the ugly red paint brings forth new life and along with it, joy and peace and beauty.

So those once black with sin

are now washed white as snow,

painted red

by the blood of the Lamb.

Jen 🙂

Do you understand the significance of the Passover? Jesus is our Passover Lamb!

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~ You’ve just finished an excerpt from Being Confident of This: 30 Days to Discovering Your Identity in Christ. For more information about this new devotional from Jen Stults, click here!

I’m joining the brave and lovely Five Minute Friday writers again this week over at Lisa-Jo’s place. She chooses a word prompt and we all write fast and furiously for five(ish) minutes, no planning, no editing, no over-thinking. All are welcome, so come on over and join us!

It Is Finished

That’s what we humans do when the skies around us grow dark and suffering multiplies – we despair.

with one fell swoop, one simple yet agonizing act of obedience, sin and death were defeated once and for all!

Painted Red: The Significance of the Passover

All of the mistakes, ugliness, and scars that were ours before are blotted out by bold, beautiful strokes in the hand of a Master who loves us enough to give a one and only Son.