What's So Good About Good Friday?

A few years ago I gave a message to a youth group in Turkey with this title. The point: what is it about the horrible torture and brutal murder of Christ that leads us to refer to today as Good Friday? It seems kind of odd that his pain, suffering, and tragedy could ever be considered good. So I would like to take up the question again: What is so "good" about Good Friday?
I've heard people say that the cross was the victory of Satan. But this, according to the Bible, is wrong. Satan did not win at the cross. In fact, he actually destroyed himself. We give him too much credit if we even say that it was his idea. The cross was God's idea. It was God's doing. Don't believe me? Good. Check out what the Bible says:

"Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him; he has put him to grief" (Isaiah 53:10)

"Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men" (Acts 2:23)

"for truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, 28 to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place" (Acts 4:27-28)

Even though other people carried it out, the cross was God's idea and God's doing. And it was for our good. Consider with me three truths from Colossians 2:13-14:

And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, 14 by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. 15 He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.

We Were Dead, But By the Cross We Can Be Made Alive
Because we do not trust God, we are dead in sin (see Ephesians 2:1). But now, because of the cross, God makes us alive. Those who trust in Christ have been brought from death to life.

We Were Debtors, But by the Cross Our Debt is Cancelled
The debt record against us was huge. "The wages of sin is death" (Romans 6:23). We could not pay this back, no matter how hard we tried. Our fate with this debt is eternal separation from God. We are doomed to Hell if not for help. And now we can be forgiven. How? By the cross. God nails our sin to the cross and we bear it no more.

Satan and His Forces Are Now Disarmed and Defeated
Satan is our accuser (Revelation 12:10). He seeks to condemn us because of our sin against God. But, as we just saw, God took our sin and nailed it to the cross. So what does Satan have to say now? His mouth has been shut. He can't bring up our sin anymore. He has nothing to hold against us before God. And so he is shamed for trying to do so.

What's So Good About Good Friday?
So now we end where we began. I now ask the same question to you: what do you think makes good Friday good? Is it a day off from work? Is it the signaling of Spring Break? Maybe travel with family or something of the likes? Or is it the most precious day when God took away your sins, nailed them to the cross, shut up your accuser, and gave you new life? Is Christ the reason for your Good Friday? I pray that he is. If he's not, turn to him now. Trust him and follow him.