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2016 GOOD FRIDAY MESSAGE FROM THE DEAN EMERITUS, CHURCH OF NIGERIA (ANGLICAN COMMUNION) AND THE DIOCESAN BISHOP OF LAGOS, THE MOST REVD. DR. E. ADEBOLA ADEMOWO, OON, FNAL PH.D.

People of God, it is another Good Friday, the Historic Friday that brought Freedom and Salvation to Mankind.  We appreciate the Almighty God for the special grace upon us as a Nation and His love over each and every one of us.  On this day Christians commemorate the passion, or suffering and death on the cross of the Lord, Jesus Christ.  This message can be tagged “The Ultimate Sacrifice”.  Crucifixion was not only one of the most disgraceful forms of death; it was one of the most dreaded methods of execution in the ancient world.  Christ’s death provided the perfect atoning sacrifice for the Sins of all mankind hence the crucifix is the symbols of Christianity.    

 WHY DID JESUS HAVE TO DIE?
This incredibly important question involves a matter central to Christianity.   It is also important to understand that Jesus clearly understood His mission on earth, and that it involved laying down His life as a sacrifice.  He proves His fore knowledge and understanding of His death in these passages from scripture.  Mark 10: 38, Mark 10: 43-45 and John 10: 17-18. Jesus freely gave up His life.  It truly does not matter who killed Jesus.  The ones who nailed the nails only helped carry out the destiny He came to fulfill by laying down His life on the cross.
The significance of the agony of Jesus’ crucifixion lies not in the emotional experience of those that were involved, but in what God accomplished through His son’s death.  The wrath of God against sin had to be poured out on Jesus, the perfect sacrificial substitute, in order for forgiveness and salvation to be poured out to the nations.  Without that awful day of suffering, sorrow, and sheding of blood at the cross, God could not be both “Just and justifier”   of those who trust in Jesus Romans 3: 26.  Paradoxically, the day that seemed to be the greatest triumph of evil was actually the death blow in God’s gloriously good plan to redeem the world from bondage.  The cross is where we see the convergence of great suffering and God’s forgiveness.  Psalm 85: 10 Sing of a day when “righteousness and peace” will “Kiss each other”.  The cross of Jesus is where that occurred, where God’s demands, His righteousness, coincided with His mercy. We receive divine forgiveness, mercy and peace because Jesus willingly took our divine punishment, the result of God’s righteousness against Sin.  “For the joy set before Him” Hebrews 12: 2 Jesus endured the cross on Good Friday, knowing it led to His resurrection, our salvation and the beginning of God’s reign of righteousness and peace.  As we celebrate Good Friday, we have a duty to emulate Christ’s selfless and sacrificial life, who through His death secured our freedom at a great cost.
The crucifixion produced the dynamics, and Jesus’ sacrifice empowers us to re-orientate our lives toward selfless living, giving, loving, caring and serving, instead of self-dominance or self-protection.  Christ calls us to follow Him by dying to ourselves – to give up our lives so that we might find them in relation with Him (John 12: 25-26).
Beloved Children of God, Good Friday teaches us to jettison all forms of abuses like gross corruption, kidnapping, stealing, violence and all forms of decay in our system that has put the Nation where we are today.  It is of paramount importance to call on the citizens of this great country in the spirit of the season to imbibe the true spirit of Nation building, which is characterized by sacrificial living as against the cankerworm of greed and grabbing which has eaten deep into the fabric of our Nation.
I hereby make a call to all those in position of authorities, trust and responsibilities to seek the common good instead of individual comfort and interest.  They should be sacrificial in their services to our great Nation.  With the ultimate sacrifice Jesus has made for us, there is no sacrifice one can make to secure the future and the growth of generations unborn that will not be reckoned with time.  Let us determine in our hearts to promote the ideals of transparency, honesty and have living faith in God to move our country forward. 
I wish you all happy Good Friday. 
The Most Revd. Dr. E. Adebola Ademowo, OON,
Dean Emeritus, Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion)
Diocesan Bishop of Lagos

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