The Sacrificial G.O.A.T. (Good Friday)

The world grovels at the feet of people who are high achievers in finance, or those from the music  theater, or movie industries, or from sports or dance; you name it.  We laud praise and honor on the “flavor of the month.”  We prostrate ourselves at the altars of the glamorous, the beautiful, the influencers.

A new acronym has entered our jargon: G.O.A.T., the Greatest Of All Times, which  identifies people who have excelled in their fields, like Tom Brady, the greatest quarterback in the NFL; Pele, the greatest soccer player of all time; LeBron James, the greatest NBA player (now that he has surpassed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for career scoring record, he surpasses Michael Jordan; for some that is still a “maybe”); Serena, greatest female professional tennis player; just her first name is enough for people to know who she is.  We have Katherine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy as the greatest female and male screen legends.  In dance we have Anna Pavlova, a ballerina, and Michael Jackson as the all-time greatest dancers. In the world of finance and money, we have Jeff Bezos, Oprah Winfrey, and Bill Gates.

But at the name of Jesus, every knee will bow, and every tongue confess that the REAL G.O.A.T is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.  A man who is the living Word, the Logos, very God from very God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light. His sacrifice, not just the bloodied dying on a cross but the separation from His Father, “My God, My God why have You forsaken Me?” has given me, you, and all humankind the redemption that only His death and resurrection could achieve.  Only God could pay the penalty that the righteous, just God of the Hebrew people demanded, the very God whose name is so precious and sacred that He is  YHWH, the Elohim of our salvation, the bright and morning star, the Yes and Amen, the Alpha and Omega, the One True God, King of kings and Lord of Lords, the mighty Counselor, the Prince of my peace and your peace, the Lamb of God. The great I AM.

Pray with me:

Lord, You are the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. Abide with us this day; capture our hearts and imaginations so that during this Lenten season, all we see is You and who we truly are in You.  In Your precious, forgiving, loving, restoring, redemptive Name, Jesus the Christ. Huzzah! So Be It. The world grovels at the feet of people who are high achievers in finance, or those from the music theater, or movie industries, or from sports or dance; you name it.  We laud praise and honor on the “flavor of the month.”  We prostrate ourselves at the altars of the glamorous, the beautiful, the influencers.

A new acronym has entered our jargon: G.O.A.T., the Greatest Of All Times, which identifies people who have excelled in their fields, like Tom Brady, the greatest quarterback in the NFL; Pele, the greatest soccer player of all time; LeBron James, the greatest NBA player (now that he has surpassed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for career scoring record, he surpasses Michael Jordan; for some that is still a “maybe”); Serena, greatest female professional tennis player; just her first name is enough for people to know who she is.  We have Katherine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy as the greatest female and male screen legends.  In dance we have Anna Pavlova, a ballerina, and Michael Jackson as the all-time greatest dancers. In the world of finance and money, we have Jeff Bezos, Oprah Winfrey, and Bill Gates.

But at the name of Jesus, every knee will bow, and every tongue confess that the REAL G.O.A.T is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.  A man who is the living Word, the Logos, very God from very God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light. His sacrifice, not just the bloodied dying on a cross but the separation from His Father, “My God, My God why have You forsaken Me?” has given me, you, and all humankind the redemption that only His death and resurrection could achieve.  Only God could pay the penalty that the righteous, just God of the Hebrew people demanded, the very God whose name is so precious and sacred that He is  YHWH, the Elohim of our salvation, the bright and morning star, the Yes and Amen, the Alpha and Omega, the One True God, King of kings and Lord of Lords, the mighty Counselor, the Prince of my peace and your peace, the Lamb of God. The great I AM.

Pray with me:

Lord, You are the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. Abide with us this day; capture our hearts and imaginations so that during this Lenten season, all we see is You and who we truly are in You.  In Your precious, forgiving, loving, restoring, redemptive Name, Jesus the Christ. Huzzah! So Be It.