(See bottom of post of additional resources)
As you may know, tomorrow is Good Friday, the day set aside by many to reflect on the death of Christ. I remember growing up and wanting to know WHY Jesus died. I’d ask and the answer given was always “because He loves you”. That didn’t make any sense to me. Lots of people love other people and I didn’t understand what dying had to do with love. Studying the Bible as a believer, I now understand some of the richness of that why. And yes, love is a big part of that why, but there’s so much more to it. So WHY DID JESUS NEED TO DIE AND WHY DO WE CELEBRATE IT? 

Here’s your Good Friday Crash Course: 
God is perfectly holy and cannot tolerate sin (Ps5:4). And man is completely sinful (Rom3:10). This creates a problem.

 God set forth the punishment for sin as death (Rom6:23). Every sin must be paid for because God is just and justice demands retribution. God is also loving and He graciously provided a payment for our sins(Jn3:16). 

The sins of man needed to be paid for by a man. But every man sins and therefore would never be able to pay for the sins of anyone else (Ps49:7-9). Only God is sinless and doesn’t need to pay for any sins of His own. 

This is why Jesus needed to be fully God (sinless) and fully man (able to pay the debt man owes). Jesus took the punishment we deserved and died for all who would believe (1Pet2:24). On the third day He rose in triumph. In His death, He fully paid our sin and gave us His righteousness(Phil3:9). 

Now we can be reconciled to a holy God. This is how God can be just and the justifier of many (Rm3:26) Christians celebrate the sacrificial death of Christ because He paid our immeasurable debt; because He made peace between us and God; because He freed us from the bondage of sin and gave us a new life. And that’s the short story of what makes Good Friday truly good. 

For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. 2Cor5:21

As with anything, I hope you’ll take the time to look up each verse given, in their proper context and let this post be a starting  point  for your personal prayer and study time. 

Here is a sermon I found to be super helpful on the topic: https://www.gty.org/library/sermons-library/47-39

And here is a blog post with additional info: https://www.gotquestions.org/amp/why-Jesus-die.html

 Last week we established that everything exists for God’s glory and that believers are to live for God’s glory. This week, I wanted to get specific. What does it look like? HOW CAN I GLORIFY GOD? 

As always, Scripture has the answer. But first, let’s go over the definition of “glorify”; to praise, magnify, celebrate, or to cause the dignity and worth of someone to be acknowledged and praised”. Now let’s see what the Bible tells us about how God is glorified.
In His Word, we read that God is glorified when believers bear fruit and do good works, proving that we are Christ’s disciples (Jn15:8, Col1:10). God is glorified when believers thank Him and praise Him for who He is and what He has done (Ps50:23, 1Chron16:28-29, 2Cor4:15). And God is glorified when His gospel is proclaimed (2Thes3:1). 

“Whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God” 1Cor10:31. It is possible to glorify God in our daily lives. The ability to glorify God is not exclusively given to some elite class of radical Christians. Every believer is able to glorify God right now, no matter their job or life situation. Teachers, students, moms, and CEO’s; the young and the old. If you are in Christ, you have the ability to glorify God wherever you may find yourself this day. 

We glorify God in our lives by living for Him and submitting to His Word in our actions. 

We glorify God in our speech by letting our words be kind and gracious, as we speak the Truth in love. 

We glorify God in our minds by thinking on what is true, lovely, right, pure, good and praiseworthy. 

We glorify God in our hearts by confessing our sins and keeping ourselves free from idolatry, by loving Him above all else and guarding ourselves against impurity. 

We glorify God in our relationships by sharing the gospel and loving sacrificially.

Whoever speaks, is to do so as one who is speaking the utterances of God; whoever serves is to do so as one who is serving by the strength which God supplies; so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belongs the glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.1 Peter 4:11

#solideogloria!

Good morning, ladies! Today is the final segment of our 5 SOLAS series, WHAT IS SOLI DEO GLORIA? 

Soli Deo Gloria, “Glory to God Alone”, is the issue that was at the very heart of the Reformation. It is the teaching that all glory is to be given to God alone. 

In a man-centered, self-obsessed culture, full of man-centered, man-glorifying theology, a biblical understanding of this concept is sorely needed for the body of Christ.
▶️ Every point of a believer’s walk, from justification to sanctification to glorification, is accomplished by God’s will. Therefore, He alone is worthy to receive glory.

2 Peter 3:13 says that God has called us by His own glory and excellence. 
▶️ I like the way Michael Horton explains this concept, “Because we are saved by grace alone on account of Christ alone through faith alone, there is no place where we can make a claim and say, “Ah! See, there it is! I did do something. I did cooperate with God for my own salvation.”
▶️ In Isaiah 43:7,God reveals that He has created His people for His glory. later in this same chapter, v25, we see that He wipes out our transgressions for His own sake. So believers were created for and forgiven for the Lord’s own purposes. Shouldn’t He receive all the glory?
▶️ The entire purpose of the life of a believer is to bring glory to God. The Westminster Catechism asks, “What is the chief end of man?” and then answers, ‘Man’s chief end is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.”

We as believers are instructed to do everything for God’s glory, “Whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31). 
For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. AMEN! Romans 11:36
Next week, Lord willing, we will talk about what glorifying God looks like practically, in our daily lives. I hope to see you back again!