{"id":3853,"date":"2025-04-18T06:04:19","date_gmt":"2025-04-18T06:04:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cornerstonecem.org\/blog\/?p=3853"},"modified":"2025-04-14T00:05:27","modified_gmt":"2025-04-14T00:05:27","slug":"good-friday-love-on-the-cross","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cornerstonecem.org\/blog\/good-friday-love-on-the-cross\/","title":{"rendered":"Good Friday \u2013 Love on the Cross"},"content":{"rendered":"

Friday, April 18<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u271d\ufe0f<\/strong> Good Friday \u2013 Love on the Cross<\/strong><\/p>\n

And when Jesus had cried out with a loud voice, He said \u201cFather, \u2018into Your hands I commit My spirit.\u2019 \u201cHaving said this, He breathed His last. Luke 23:46<\/strong><\/p>\n

The theme of today\u2019s devotional is one word: Love. Do you truly believe that God loves you?<\/p>\n

For many, love is a complicated word. Maybe you’ve struggled to receive it. Maybe the people closest to you haven\u2019t shown it well. Maybe you\u2019ve been failed by others again and again. Perhaps you\u2019ve searched for love and come up empty \u2014 even in your own reflection. Maybe your past feels too broken, your sins too heavy, your shame too deep to be loved.<\/p>\n

But today, on Good Friday, I invite you to look to the greatest act of love in all of history: Jesus on the cross.<\/p>\n

As Jesus was crucified, darkness fell. The curtain in the temple tore. The world held its breath.<\/p>\n

And on that rugged hill, Love took on flesh, bore the weight of every sin, and died \u2014 so that we could live. \u201cMy God, My God, why have You forsaken Me<\/em>?\u201d \u2014 Matthew 27:46<\/p>\n

In that agonizing cry, we witness the cost of love. God the Father, holy and perfect, turned His face away as Jesus, the spotless Lamb, became sin for us.<\/p>\n

As Paul wrote, \u201cGod made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.\u201d \u2014 2 Corinthians 5:2. This is love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and gave His Son as a sacrifice for our sins. Then, with His final breath, Jesus didn\u2019t whisper defeat \u2014 He declared victory: \u201cIt is finished.\u201d \u2014 John 19:30<\/p>\n

The debt of sin has been settled. The wrath of God satisfied. Nothing left undone. Nothing more to prove. Nothing more to pay. So yes, Jesus died \u2014 but Love was not defeated.<\/p>\n

The cross is not the end of the story.<\/p>\n

It is the turning point.<\/p>\n

It is just the beginning<\/p>\n

And it was all for you.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Good Friday is a day of sorrow, yes \u2014 but it is also a day of unspeakable love. Let the weight of it move you. Let the power of it change you. Let the beauty of it lead you to worship.<\/p>\n

You are deeply loved \u2014 proven once and for all at the cross.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Prayer for today<\/strong>: Thank You, Jesus, for the cross. Help me never to take Your sacrifice for granted. Let this love change everything in me. Today I remember with a mix of pain, sorrow, awe, and overwhelming gratitude. Thank You, Lord, for saving my soul. Thank You, Lord, for making a way. Worthy are You, Lamb who was slain, to receive blessing, honor, dominion, and glory forever and ever. Amen.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Friday, April 18 \u271d\ufe0f Good Friday \u2013 Love on the Cross And when Jesus had cried out with a loud voice, He said \u201cFather, \u2018into Your hands I commit My spirit.\u2019 \u201cHaving said this, He breathed His last. Luke 23:46 The theme of today\u2019s devotional is one word: Love. Do you truly believe that God […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3853","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cornerstonecem.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3853","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cornerstonecem.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cornerstonecem.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cornerstonecem.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cornerstonecem.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3853"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cornerstonecem.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3853\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3854,"href":"https:\/\/cornerstonecem.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3853\/revisions\/3854"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cornerstonecem.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3853"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cornerstonecem.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3853"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cornerstonecem.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3853"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}