Good Friday is observed by Christians worldwide as the day of Jesus Christ’s crucifixion and death.

The fact that some countries in the world have marked it as a statutory holiday not only reveals their recognition of this historical event, but also their affirmation to the story in the Bible that took place over 2,000 years ago—that Jesus truly died on the cross (He did not escape it nor was He spared from death).

More importantly, by observing Good Friday, you and I are paying tribute to a Man, who claimed Himself as the Son of God (and the Son of Man), who lovingly and lavishly sacrificed His life for the salvation of humanity.

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

John 3:16

God is love. He loves, so He gives. And He gives the most precious one for us—His one and only Son: Jesus. He is the One who has been given to humanity—to save His people from their sins (Matthew 1:21). His name (Jesus) literally means “the Lord (Yahweh) saves.”

Scripture reveals that there is no other name in the entire world that can save us: “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12).

Consistently, Jesus Himself proclaimed, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” (John 14:6). Jesus is destined to be the Savior of mankind. Refuting Jesus as Savior means rejecting God’s plan of salvation.

This statement may be offensive to some (or many) because this would exclude any other alternatives. On the other hand, Jesus being the only Savior essentially makes life easier (at least, that’s the way I see it).

This means for our salvation: we don’t have to spend time searching any other names; we don’t have to spend time studying history; we don’t have to spend time filtering the true (information) from the false; and we don’t have to spend time/energy/money sacrificing [torturing, killing] animals every year to be saved. Simply, put our faith in Jesus Christ. He will do the saving work that He alone can do.

Such faith is centered on God, relying on His power to save or to give salvation (as opposed to centered on human, relying on human efforts to save or to earn salvation).

On this Good Friday, let us remember that this event is not just historical, but it is transformational. Let us learn from Jesus and His transformative attributes, which, to name a few, I would share with you here in this short article.

Jesus, the Word of God: Full of Grace and Truth

You’ll see that faith in Jesus is exclusive (as we believe He is the only true Savior). In other words, salvation is only for those who believe in Jesus. However, from the Bible we’ll learn that salvation in Jesus is inclusive (as it is available to everyone, according to Titus 2:11). This means that everyone can come to Jesus to receive this gift of salvation from God.

That is why Jesus is the only One able to reconcile this dilemma, proving the worth of His attribute: full of grace and truth (John 1:14). In simple terms, Jesus is able to be inclusive (grace) and exclusive (truth) at the same time—just as He is fully man and fully divine. [Read further: Dualism of Christ]

Jesus, the Lamb of God: The Perfect and Pleasing Sacrifice

The mission of Christ’s first coming to the earth is clearly described in the Scriptures. First, by John the Baptist who witnessed, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29). Then, by Jesus Himself who declared that “the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.” (Luke 19:10) and that “the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.” (Mark 10:45).

Remarkably, Jesus reveals His divine authority to lay down His life and to take it again: “Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again. No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This command I have received from My Father.” (John 10:17-18).

By this claim, Jesus implicitly made Himself equal to God, the Author of Life, who alone has the ultimate power to give and take life.

His statement “Therefore My Father loves Me…” is consistent with what the prophet Isaiah wrote, “Yet it pleased the Lord (Yahweh) to bruise Him; He has put Him to grief. When You make His soul an offering for sin, He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in His hand.” (Isaiah 53:10).

God delights in His Son, Jesus, as the perfect offering and pleasing sacrifice to Himself for our salvation. It was His pleasure to even crush His Son so that we all the sons of God can be saved from sin and death.

In the Old Testament, we can see that God is pleased to provide the lamb for a substitutionary sacrifice when Abraham’s faith was tested/confirmed in the offering of Isaac, his only son (read Genesis 22:1-19).

God has been faithful and never fails to provide—not only all good things in life, but also the one thing necessary for our salvation that He alone can give: the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! The One true God that we worship is called Jehovah-Jireh.

It is by the blood of Jesus that God paid a ransom to save us—not only from sin and death, but also from the emptiness and meaninglessness of our old ways of life—to make us a new creation with meaning and purpose in Him.

For you know that God paid a ransom to save you from the empty life you inherited from your ancestors. And it was not paid with mere gold or silver, which lose their value. It was the precious blood of Christ, the sinless, spotless Lamb of God. God chose Him as your ransom long before the world began, but now in these last days He has been revealed for your sake. Through Christ you have come to trust in God. And you have placed your faith and hope in God because He raised Christ from the dead and gave Him great glory.

1 Peter 1:18-21

Jesus, the Mystery of God: Divine Wisdom, Power, Love

Friends, have you ever asked these questions (as I have done myself): “How can God die if He is immortal? If Jesus is God the Almighty, how can we make sense of His suffering in light of His infinite power and strength? How can we make sense of His command for us to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters (1 John 3:16) in light of our finite human abilities?”

Such questions actually reflect our limited human understanding.

Scripture reveals that “in Christ lives all the fullness of God in a human body” (Colossians 2:9) which means that only through Christ—and only because of Him—human can know God, His characters (attributes) and His power (authorities). In Jesus Christ, who is the mystery of God, all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden [kept safe] (Colossians 2:2-3).

Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation, for through Him God created everything in the heavenly realms and on earth. He made the things we can see and the things we can’t see—such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities in the unseen world. Everything was created through Him and for Him. He existed before anything else, and He holds all creation together.

Colossians 1:15-17

Yet, despite all these privileges and supremacy, Jesus chose to empty Himself—voluntarily surrendering His divine privileges—by taking the humble position of a slave, being made in human likeness. He humbled Himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross. (Philippians 2:5-8).

When I was a youth, I used to think, “Of course, it was easy for Jesus to do all these things because He is God—nothing is too hard for the Almighty God and He can do [and is free to do] whatever He wants! He could activate or deactivate His divine power anytime He would, including the supernatural ability to endure the cross. What looks painful to human eyes might not be painful to Him at all. So what’s the point of His sacrifice? After all, He is God who was, and is, and has always been all-powerful and self-sufficient.”

As I have grown [and continued growing] in my spiritual journey—thank God for teaching me through His Word, His Spirit, and His people—I have learned that this act of Christ is set as an ultimate example for us to follow. It is the path to a holy life that God has desired and prepared for us to walk through.

Christ’s suffering and death is the ultimate expression of God’s sacrificial love for humanity.

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

Romans 5:8

Imagine this: the God of the universe, being perfect and holy, is willing to step down from His glory to be a human like us—although He did not sin—giving up His life by dying on the cross after suffering from the brutality of people [His own creation] who hated and rejected Him (Isaiah 53:3).

Why did the God of glory has to go through all this shame while He could have just remained on His throne in heaven? Why did the God of justice has to go through all this pain while He could have punished or obliterated those who rejected Him?

All because of love. His love for us—sinners.

Love that is willing to embrace us in our brokenness. Love that is willing to forgive us in our stubbornness. Love that is willing to strengthen us in our weaknesses. Love that is willing to comfort us in our helplessness. Love that is willing to transform us so that we can share His pure love.

Jesus Christ, the Son of God, died so we can live and be forgiven. He was crushed so we can be made whole. He became poor so we can become rich in Him. He even became sin so we can be made holy and righteous in the presence of God the Father. That’s the amazing love of Christ for us, the transforming power of God in us, and the life-giving wisdom of God for us!

So my dear brothers and sisters, rejoice always, remain strong and faithful in Christ.

Now all glory to God, who is able to keep you from falling away and will bring you with great joy into His glorious presence without a single fault. All glory to Him who alone is God, our Savior through Jesus Christ our Lord. All glory, majesty, power, and authority are His before all time, and in the present, and beyond all time! Amen.

Jude 1:24-25

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^{This article was written and finalized on March 23–30, 2024 in Delta, BC, Canada.
The featured image was originally designed by the author with images from online resources.}

Read also:

• A Simple Reason Why Jesus Is God
• The Attributes of Jesus In the Bible
• 7 Reasons To Believe In Jesus