What in the world was good about Good Friday, the day Jesus was crucified on the cross? The message of Good Friday leads us to Easter as we embrace the power of the resurrection of Christ. Don’t miss the free printable list of 17 verses on the resurrection life Jesus gives us in this Easter devotion (no email needed). My Easter gift to you!

The term Good Friday juxtaposes the suffering of our sinless Savior bearing our punishment. What happened on Good Friday is the death of Christ. There is so much that is not good about this day thousands of years ago when the sky turned black and Jesus cried, “My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me?” How can such pain be good?

The meaning of Good Friday is found in the truth that Jesus “bowed his knee and his heart to the will of His Father. He changed history and how we understand true love.” These are the words that greeted my first thing this Good Friday as my phone buzzed with this text message from my friend Cynthia Thomas, a prayer partner, friend, and fellow writer.

The salvation Jesus accomplished for us is the deep good in this terrible day long ago. It was profoundly good when the “ground shook, the power of the blood was released, demons trembled, captives were freed, believers were healed, the veil was split in two from the TOP to the bottom and man was reconciled to God…Yes indeed, He changed history and revealed LOVE.” This is the responding text from Mary Richard, another blessed soul in our trio of prayer that moves between the hearts of Jesus-hearted friends.

More good about this day is the truth that Sunday is coming.

That good Easter morning.

In the Easter story in the Bible we read that on that first Easter morning the women went to the tomb to anoint the body of Jesus. Hearts heavy with grief, they approached the tomb to find the stone rolled away.

Thoughts and emotions tangled and fought to make sense of the inexplicable. They entered into the tomb to discover His body was gone as two men appeared:

While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men suddenly stood near them in dazzling clothing; and as the women were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, “Why do you seek the living One among the dead? He is not here, but He has risen.”–Luke 24:4-6a

Words that changed the course of history and announced the reality of the resurrection of Christ, resound in our hearts on Easter. Joy pulses through voices echoing through the ages, “He has risen, He has risen indeed!”

We are saved by His life—this is the meaning of Easter and the grace of God.

The meaning of the word save includes “to save, keep safe and sound, to rescue from danger or destruction.” Zoe, the Greek word for life is one of my favorite words in Scripture. Zoe is “the of the absolute fulness of life, both essential and ethical, which belongs to God” and is also described as “life real and genuine, a life active and vigorous, devoted to God, blessed,” and eternal. It is a quality of life that only comes through the pain of Good Friday with the death and resurrection of Jesus.

A practical way of living in the power of Christ’s life.

This Easter, let’s embrace this life we receive from Christ as more than a spiritual concept.  Let’s embrace His life as both our holy identity in Christ and a practical way of living. Learning to live whole and healed is the saving life of Christ working in and through us. Through His life, we  learn to think, act, feel like we are (our identity in Christ). Each choice to rely on Christ is  the blessing and freedom of holiness.

We often worship Christ as our Savior and our Lord, but how often do we rejoice in the truth that He is our life? Here are two quotes from books that have increased my practical understanding of wonder of Christ’s life at work within us:

“Living in grace means that we express His life as a natural and normal part of our daily experience. We live trusting Him to express Himself through us every day.” Grace Walk, p. 174

 

“Christ lives in you. It is not your striving that releases Christ’s life through you. It is your trusting. Just say, “Lord, Your Holy spirit is showing me this truth. I embrace it by faith, just like I embraced Jesus for me by faith and experienced forgiveness of my sins. I now embrace Jesus in me as my life. Teach me, convince me of this truth by the Holy Spirit, so that I won’t be captive any longer to trying to produce the life myself.” The Rest of Gospel p, 62

Powerful verses about the resurrection life of Christ:

As we prepare our hearts to celebrate Easter, let the following Scriptures create space for worship and reflection on the resurrection life we have in Christ. Embrace the good of this Friday as you prayerfully consider these truths. Thank God for the eternal life that is yours in Christ. Whether you work through the verses all at once or savor one verse each day, I know Jesus will speak life to your heart as you embrace these truths. (Click here for a printable version of these verses. No email needed.)

The words that I have spoken to you are spirit, and are life. John 6:63

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him not even one thing came into being that has come into being. In Him was life, and the life was the Light of mankind.-John 1:1-4

Everyone who believes will have eternal life in Him. For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish, but have eternal life.-John 3:15-16

I came so that they would have life, and have it abundantly. -John 10:10

Jesus *said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father except through Me.-John 14:6

In Him we live and move and exist. . .-Acts 18:28

Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too may walk in newness of life.–Romans 6:4

For the wages of sin is death, but the gracious gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.-Romans 6:23

But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.–Romans 8:11 

Therefore if anyone is in Christ, this person is a new creation; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.–2 Corinthians 5:17

Be renewed in the spirit of your minds,  and to put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.–Ephesians 4:23-24

In Him you have been made complete, and He is the head over every ruler and authority; and in Him you were also circumcised with a circumcision performed without hands, in the removal of the body of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ, having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead. And when you were dead in your wrongdoings and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our wrongdoings. . . -Colossians 2:10-13

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. . .-1 Peter 1:3

 He Himself brought our sins in His body up on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live for righteousness; by His wounds you were healed.-1 Peter 2:24

By this the love of God was revealed in us, that God has sent His only Son into the world so that we may live through Him.-1 John 4:9

And the testimony is this, that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. The one who has the Son has the life; the one who does not have the Son of God does not have the life. These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life.–1 John 5:11-13

 Click here for a printable download of these verses.

A deeper relationship with God comes through relying on the life of Christ within us moment by moment. Let’s help each other to practice a life-giving way of life with God. Which of these verses is God speaking to your heart today? Happy Easter, friend!

More Easter Devotions and Posts

• Hope Rises: An Easter Poem
• Easter Will Not Be Cancelled: The Unstoppable Joy of the Resurrection
• 4 Worshipful Ways to Remember the Resurrection Every Day
• Family Traditions Create Special Moments
• Days in Jerusalem: Pictures of the Wailing Wall and the Garden Tomb

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