- July 4. 1776: British Colonies In America Declare Independence
- August 12, 1861: Southern Rebels Attack Fort Sumter
- December 7, 1941: Japan Attacks US at Pearl Harbor
- September 11, 2001: Terrorists Fly Jets Into World Trade Center
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Listed above are some of the key events in the history of the United States that signaled the beginning of war. One could make a similar list of events related to events signaling the beginnings of economic turmoil. Others that signaled the beginnings of territorial expansion and industrial advances.
None holds a candle to the day we celebrate today.
Today is the day that signaled the beginning of peace between God and Man. The beginning of a greater war for our hearts. The beginning of a new level of relationship with God.
Good Friday is called “good” because this is the day that Jesus Christ, God and Man in one, died on a cross to pay the price for all of our sins. Pope Benedict stated today in his Good Friday remarks that Jesus was unique in that he impacted the world not by taking the lives of others, but by allowing his own life to be taken for the sake of others.
I cannot imagine the pain that Jesus experience, both physical and emotional, as his friends abandoned him and in the end, his Father (God) turned away from him as Jesus took on the sins of the world. But that did not deter him from changing the course of history and the hearts of generations of men who placed their trust in Him.
My pastor recently mused about how odd it is that the very tool of capital punishment used to take the life of our God, our Savior, and used for taking the lives so gruesomely of people for so many generations, would become the very core symbol of our faith as Christians. But it demonstrates the power of the Cross to change lives, to take away sin, to bring us into a loving, dependent, and Spirit-filled new life with Christ, and a future of spending eternity with Him.
While we look forward to the joy of celebrating Easter Sunday, the day of Resurrection, today is to me the most important day, the most important moment, the most important step in my own walk with Christ. Without the events of Good Friday, Easter Sunday is just another day. And life for me would be steeped in corruption.
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I hope you have a blessed day today. Jesus Christ died so that you could have eternal life. If you want to know more about His death and His love for you, please feel free to send me an email.