Here is a beautiful explanation of Christ's sufferings:
From the beginning of [Christ's] incarnation to the end of His life on earth, He bore for us the wrath of God, under which we should have perished eternally. By His perfect obedience He has fulfilled for us all the righteousness of God's law. He did so especially when the weight of our sins and the wrath of God pressed out of Him the bloody sweat in the garden of Gethsemane. There He was bound that He might free us from our sins. He suffered countless insults that we might never be put to shame. He was innocently condemned to death that we might be acquitted at the judgment seat of God. He even let His blessed body be nailed to the cross that we might cancel the bond which stood against us because of our sins. By all this He has taken our curse upon Himself that He might fill us with His blessing. On the cross He humbled Himself, in body and soul, to the very deepest shame and agony of hell. Then He called out with a loud voice, 'My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?' that we might be accepted by God and never more be forsaken by Him. Finally, by His death and the shedding of His blood, He confirmed the new and eternal testament, the covenant of grace, when He said, 'It is finished.'
~Form for the Celebration of the Lord's Supper, Book of Praise, Anglo-Genevan Psalter
Q. How does Christ's resurrection benefit us?
A. First, by His resurrection He has overcome death, so that He could make us share in the righteousness which He had obtained for us by His death.
Second, by His power we too are raised up to a new life.
Third, Christ's resurrection is to us a sure pledge of our glorious resurrection.
~Heidelberg Catechism, Lord's Day 17
And for some excellent instruction on the celebration of church holidays, click on this link:
http://www.oceansideurc.org/journal
1 comment:
Just look at how much justification by faith alone is in view here. First, from the form for the Lord's Supper, where it mentions that "He has fulfilled for us all the righteousness of God's law." This is HIs active obedience. And we also see His passive obedience in His suffering for us. And Lord's Day 17, which you also posted, goes into this as well. And 6 Lord's Days later, it asks, "What doth it profit you that you believe all this?" This is the definition of justification sola fide!
But what else is interesting (which was brought out in the Good Friday sermon at the church I attend) was this: how was it that the Father could just stand by and just watch this all happen and allow His only-begotten son to die? The answer: Isaiah 53:10, which states, "Yet it pleased the LORD 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." This is also the answer to the question of who killed Jesus (answered in the very first clause, see also Acts 2:23).
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