Of Dirt and Grace 3-Day Easter Devotional by UNITEDSample

“Oh, that rugged cross, my salvation, where Your love poured out over me” - Man of Sorrows

As we enter into Easter weekend, we are invited to remember the passion and mystery of God’s love for humanity through the events of Jesus’ crucifixion. Good Friday teaches us to reflect on the moments of Jesus’ death with humble reverence, and part of the humbling act in remembering the events of Good Friday isn’t just that Jesus was crucified, but that he was crucified for our sake; or in other words, for our sins. In Matthew 20:28, Jesus says plainly that he came to give his life as a ransom for many. Paul’s short explanation of the gospel in 1 Corinthians 15:3 (NIV) starts with, “Christ died for our sins”. Sin isn’t only a problem of having a different set of morals from God or failure to keep his commandments, though these are true; but most significantly, the problem of sin is the spiritual death it brings us (Ephesians 2:1).

Despite the spiritual death that sin causes, Scripture teaches what Christ’s death for our sins accomplishes for us:

• To offer us eternal life with God (John 3:14-17)
• To demonstrate his love for us (Romans 5:8)
• To reconcile us back to him (Romans 5:10)
• To redeem us from sin (Hebrews 9:15)
• To prove his Lordship (Romans 14:9)
• To defeat death once and for all (Hebrews 2:14)

Christ spoke of his death at the Last Supper as “for the forgiveness of sins.” (Matthew 26:28). For these reasons, we can remember why it is that we call Good Friday “good”.As we think of that “rugged cross”, we don’t simply recount the extraordinary sacrifice of Jesus, we also remember its incredible significance—not simply what it means, but what the cross of Christ has accomplished.

This is also the very reason we celebrate his death and resurrection—because it is his victory over sin and death, and the demonstration of his perfect love. With these things in mind, praise is the most fitting response to the love of God in Christ Jesus. Our hearts can gratefully sing, “Now the curse of sin has no hold on me. Whom the Son sets free, oh, is free indeed!” Christ has died for our sins, and that is a very good thing to remember this Good Friday.