What’s Good Friday? As we prepare to commemorate the crucifixion of Christ, many will ask us (or the thought will cross their mind): what’s “Good Friday” all about? This may present a rare opportunity to share your faith.

Good Friday is all about the kept promises of God. It’s been said that those who forget the lessons of the past are sure to repeat them. Good Friday reminds us of our need for a Savior and God’s grace in offering (and providing) us forgiveness.

God promised redemption long ago. Our “first parents,” the first people, Adam and Eve attempted a rebellion against God ages ago. God created them, gave them each other, and gave them His world, this planet, to take care of. His only requirement was that they trust Him. Their trust would be demonstrated by their obedience to His single requirement. All the earth would be theirs with the exception of one symbol of their trust in Him—the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. There are urban legends that suggest this was an apple tree. No one really knows. However, evil (sin) is defined by doing what God forbids. Adam and Eve would experience the knowledge of God and evil if they disobeyed God by taking of the fruit of that tree. It would be a demonstrable act of rebellion. The penalty would be death. In Genesis 2:17 God says this: “but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” (Genesis 2:17) Some translate the last phrase, “dying you will die.” That’s the literal translation. People wrestle with the grammar here. Some see it as an intensification of an idea, “surely die…” Others find the germ of an idea of a death that is not immediate but imminent. You can see that the Hebrew words contain the same comment element or root word (highlighted).

Genesis 2:17B ...מ֥וֹת תָּמֽוּת׃

Personally, I see an intensification. But I think within it and the aftermath we see a hint of immediate spiritual death followed by an eventual physical death. Regardless, Adam and Eve disobeyed and received their death sentence and in time, they surely died. God had intended them to live forever but sin has consequences. It always does. You find the record of their rebellion and sentences pronounced in Genesis 3.

God shows the rebels justice and mercy all at once. In pronouncing sentence upon them and the one who tempted them with the idea to rebel, God shows great mercy, kindness, and reason for hope. In sentencing Satan, He utters these words:

I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.” (Genesis 3:15)

In the process of dealing with the first couple’s sin, God kills an innocent animal to clothe them. An innocent dies because of their sin. Some suggest this is a foreshadowing of Christ’s innocent sacrifice on behalf of humanity. Something else that is peculiar happens. Adam names his wife “Eve,” which roughly translated means “life” or “living.” An odd action for two people sentenced to death. This gets us back to Genesis 3:15. This is called the “protoevangelium”—the “first gospel.” Why? God promises a Rescuer. God tells Satan that the seed of the woman will be injured by Satan, but He will crush Satan’s head, signifying defeat Satan and his kingdom. If you have some time, read Isaiah 49-55. It spells much of this out long before Christ is born in Bethlehem. The Messiah would not merely redeem Israel but the whole of the world who turns to Him.

All of which brings us to the Cross and Good Friday. Here Christ receives His injury, when He is nailed to the cross to pay for our sin. The Bible says that He suffered in our place for our sin although He never sinned. He paid our debt, a debt we could not pay. You see this in Philippians 2:5-8 and you see the risen Christ explain this to His disciples in Luke 24:44-48:

Then he said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” 45 Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, 46 and said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, 47 and that repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. 48 You are witnesses of these things. (Luke 24: 44-48)

His suffering is the wound that God describes in Genesis 3:15. God kept His promise to Adam and Eve. Through the seed of the woman, through the virgin born Son of God, God sent a rescuer to defeat sin and death on our behalf. Jesus suffered death for us (spiritual and physical) and then demonstrated His power over sin and death and showed His promises could be trusted by rising again on what some call Easter Sunday (Resurrection Sunday). As the writer of Hebrews tells us Jesus made the once for all sacrifice for our sin so that we may have forgiveness and eternal life, in heaven with God (if we trust in Him).

Good Friday is the day where we commemorate Christ’s suffering for our sin. How He who was perfectly righteous died for those who were not. Good Friday is where we see the goodness and grace of God in a promise made long ago that was faithfully kept. And that’s why Jesus uttered on the cross “It is finished.” The Greek word is Τετέλεσται “tetelestai (paid in full)” or “finished for all time.” Grammatically, it is in the ‘perfect tense’ the tense of completion. God’s promise was accomplished and completed at the cross.

Good Friday is about promises kept. We see the faithfulness of God in Christ to do for us what we could not do for ourselves, pay our debt in full—because we were morally bankrupt. After all, we all sin—all of us. We tell half-truths that are whole lies. We act selfishly. So, Christ died for us selflessly.

There’s another promise associated with Good Friday. It’s more closely associated with the resurrection:

…if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. 11 For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” 12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. 13 For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” (Romans 10:9-13)

Good Friday was both a dark and glorious day in history. The mysteries of Christ suffering and all He endured at the cross cannot be fathomed by men. Neither can the forgiveness He offers. We cannot understand it exhaustively, but we can understand it sufficiently to embrace it by faith, confidence, or trust in Him. Look again at the promise above in Romans 10:9-13. It is the promise of redemption through the debt Christ paid in full at the cross for you. You don’t have to earn anything. But you do have to admit your sin and believe Christ can save you and commit your soul to His care in a full surrender of your whole being as you call upon Him for salvation. Commit to Christ and you will be saved. Call upon Him as a sinner in need of forgiveness. He’s done all the work for you at the cross. And God kept His promise for a deliverer. If you haven’t already—call on the name of the Lord. And if you did that long ago, or previously and are His child. Remember how easy He’s made it for you by going to the cross in your place… a promise made and kept long ago. This Good Friday: be sure to thank Him.