Scripture: Psalm 118 v 21 - 24: "I will praise thee: for thou hast heard me, and art become my salvation.
22 The stone which the builders refused is become the head stone of the corner.23 This is the LORD'S doing; it is marvellous in our eyes.
24 This is the day which the LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it."
If ever there was a day since God created Man in which the whole of humanity should rejoice - this is the day! It is called Good Friday for a reason.
The tragedy that the Son of God was slain for our sins lies at the feet of those who rejected Him, but His mercy extended even to them. Yes, He turned His face away for nearly 2000 years from Israel, and they suffered greatly for their unbelief, but He loves them still.
Today in all of history every person who has ever lived was given a life or death ultimatum by God: -
John 3 v 16 - 18: "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God."
Only the Jews who believed the prophets of the Old Testament that their Messiah would come were saved. They waited in Paradise, Abraham's Bosom, for this day.
Since this day 2000 years ago the Gentiles, non-Jews, were able to enter into the family of God through the door called Jesus Christ. Born again, washed and cleansed by the Blood of the Lamb of all sin. This is the only antidote for the sin of the world.
We were born in sin with no hope of life after death because there was no power on Earth greater than sin. God accepted the blood of some sacrificial animals as a substitute on an annual basis from Israel. However it was not sufficient for Heaven, only to keep them alive in Paradise.
I once ministered to a man with a terrible testimony. It took time as he wept and cried that God could never forgive him. He was a German soldier who had put thousands of Jews to death in the gas chamber at Auschwitz concentration camp. He heard them crying out to God, repenting and many calling on the name of Jesus as they died.
He wanted to be saved but he struggled to forgive himself or believe God could love him. I understood his problem. I was struggling to even pray for him. The witness of Corrie Ten Boom, a beautiful Hollander, gave me the breakthrough. She was in Auschwitz with her sister for helping Jews escape. The day before they were due to die Corrie was released. One person let out without explanation.
She had a long ministry but one day in Hamburg during an altar call, the Camp Commandant of Auschwitz was standing in front of her, asking for salvation. She struggled with emotion wanting to expose him to the authorities but heard the words in her heart, I died for him too! She prayed with him to be born again. It helped me pray for my German visitor too.
So this is the day in which we can rejoice because no matter what our sins were before we came to be born, which are beyond our memory, even those are wiped out by the Blood of Jesus. He cried out on the Cross before He died, It Is Finished!
What was finished? The law of Moses that brought condemnation was now fulfilled in His death. In the book "Betrayed" by Stan Telchin, he was this bewildered Jew whose daughter at university had announced she was a born again Christian. He felt betrayed. He went to rabbis, churches, seminars to find out all he could about Jesus so he could convince her to return to Judaism.
One day he spoke angrily to God about His Covenant through circumcision. He shouted, we were cut as a symbol of blood and death to enter into covenant with You. So when did God bleed and when did God die in response? He saw a vision of Jesus dying on the Cross. He believed, was born again and is a Pastor today.
At the moment Jesus died there was a great earthquake in Jerusalem. The sky went dark because of a full eclipse of the Sun. The thick curtain that covered the Holy of Holies in the Temple split from top to bottom. The way for all to enter in had been made.
This is the day that the Lord has made, we will be glad and rejoice in it!
Prayer: Heavenly Father, words are inadequate to express our thanks and gratitude for the victory over sin that this day brought us. There was no other way, no human effort, that could reconcile us to You. You had a plan and it is perfect. It's not always easy to walk in the footprints of Jesus, to follow Him Home. Your love for us is the utmost comfort. Let us bow down and worship. In Jesus' name. Amen.