Rev. Versey Williams, Contributing Writer

Salvation is without cost because God gave us all God had—God’s self. Twelve pastors and congregations combined their faith, celebrated Salvation, and offered hope to those needing a more excellent way. Their combined effort became a Good Friday virtual service.  

COVID-19 is evil, but what the devil is still killing people with, God is using to unite people. One of the last words from Jesus’ cross was, “My God, my God, why has thou forsaken me?”  (Matthew 27:45-46)Intellectually, Jesus knew, mentally, spiritually, and emotionally, that the only existence he had ever known—perfection, was being ripped away from him. It was necessary because an absolute, perfect, flawless God could not emphasize God’s then and now broken imperfect creation. Jesus was already exhausted prior to being nailed to the cross. The Roman soldiers had beaten him. He had stab wounds all over his body; they looked like strips. He had been ridiculed, humiliated, and shamed.   He alone, a human yet divine, could not carry his cross alone. God sent himself someone to help bear the cross. We often forget that Immanuel, God with us, was just as human as he was divine. Certainly, Jesus knows how evil influences life experiences. God’s providential and sovereign nature is apparent during God’s humanly divine experience. We can never claim that God does not know about our many sorrows and the injustices that plague the people of the African diaspora.  

We may feel forsaken, but we are not. When Jesus cried out again, with a loud voice, he gave up his spirit. He gave up the human, finite of his existence, but the good news is that at that very moment, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, and for the first time in eternity, God’s people – all humans – would not have to go through another human – the high priest – to get what they needed from God. God made you and me alive through Jesus, our risen Savior, our Christ. He forgave our sins, having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that were at war against us and stood opposed to us. He took our sin away, nailing it to the cross. Having absolute power, he made a public spectacle of those opposed to us. The vices of the devil,  permanent physical death, and spiritual damnation were voided, triumphing over them at the cross.  

Those written codes and regulations still exist, but when we renew our minds with the knowledge that God has freed us through God’s Salvation, we experience life more abundant. What is sin? Sin is whatever causes us to think that God has abandoned us. The error of human supremacy’s intentional political systems – the written codes and regulations – were meant to destroy us. Like Immanuel, we must renew our minds, reframe behaviors, and embrace when we need someone to help him bear the cross. We need each other.