Why Do We Call It "Good Friday"?

This Good Friday sermon from Refuge Church explores the profound theological significance of why the crucifixion of Jesus is called 'Good Friday' despite being the most horrific event in human history. The speaker dismantles three common but flawed interpretations: that the cross was God's desperate fix after a failed creation, that it was a legal necessity to satisfy divine justice, and that Christ suffered to empathize with humanity. Each of these views, while containing elements of truth, ultimately reduce God to a reactive or limited being. Instead, the sermon argues that the cross was not a reaction but a sovereign, intentional act of divine love from eternity past. The speaker emphasizes the depth of Christ's suffering—physical, emotional, and spiritual—especially in Gethsemane and on the cross, where He bore the full wrath of God for sin. The central revelation is that the cross is not just about atonement or justice, but the ultimate expression of God's very nature: love. Drawing from John 3:16 and 1 John 4:8, the sermon declares that God is love, and the cross is the only way this love could be fully revealed. The sermon concludes with a call to imitate this 'cruciform love'—selfless, sacrificial, and joyful—not out of duty, but because Christians are children of a loving Father who delights in giving Himself away.