Wednesday, June 6, 2018

Escaping Judgment .................Parables 751

May 14, 2002

The witness presented his evidence to my father. He said, “She was at the country dance driving your car, and she appeared to have been drinking. I know she is under the legal age.”

My father listened. He knew where I had been; he’d given me the keys to the family car. He also knew that I took three or four of my girl friends with me, and that when our group did anything together, we had fun and laughed ourselves silly. Dad knew me better than the witness. He quickly made his judgment, “She is innocent.”

At seventeen, I didn’t think much about what would happen had my dad believed this “witness.” My dad knew my attitude toward drinking and my ability to have fun without it. I also knew my dad. He was not a person to jump to conclusions, nor did he believe everything he was told. He was fair. More than that, he loved me too much to let slander turn him against me. He would defend me against any accuser.

Not everyone has such a father. For some, harsh parents have made “judgment” a scary word. Their children fear condemnation every time the gavel falls. This fear carries over to their view of God. They see Him as a harsh “judge,” a stern, frowning, bearded image with a huge hammer and a list of rules. They are repelled by such a god and rightly so.

That does not mean God looks the other way when people violate His laws. He is holy and hates sin. He is merciful and loves sinners. How can such a contradiction exist?

The Bible says God will judge sinners and punish sin: “The wages of sin is death,” meaning those who die in their sin will face eternal separation from God. No one can escape. We are “by nature objects of wrath” because all of us “sin and fall short of the glory of God.”

However, God does not sit on His throne with a hammer and an expression of anger. The Bible says, “God is not willing that anyone should perish but wants everyone to repent (of their sin).”

To partly understand this contrast, I think about my dad. He was not perfect, but he was always quick to show mercy and come to my defense. He would rather declare me innocent than listen to any accuser who brought my sins (actual or not) to him. Yet my dad would also take away my driving privileges if I abused his rules.

Sin against God is far more serious than breaking my dad’s rules. Sin is an offence against Him that requires severe punishment, yet God is also a wise and loving heavenly Father. How does God handle the seeming contradiction between not wanting us to perish, and the fact that our sin demands a penalty?

God’s love solved it. He came to earth, put on flesh and became one of us. Then He took the blame of our sin on Himself and paid our penalty. By dying on a cross, God the Son satisfied the judgment made on sin by God the Father. When we believe this, accept His solution for sin, and turn from sin to God (repentance), He comes to live in our hearts. Then we can confidently say, “Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right had of God and is also interceding for us.”

Our sin, and the accusations of any enemy who takes our sin to God, are no match for the grace of God. The Lawgiver on the throne becomes the Law keeper in our hearts, all because His love provided a way for us to escape His judgment.

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