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Posted on May 10, 2009 1:54 PM
As the evidence is presented, the heart of the judge sinks further with every detail that gives ironclad proof of his son's guilt. Turning to his son the judge asks him if he has anything to say for himself.
"Well dad I know that I am guilty but I only drove like that this one time and you know that I am basically a good person. I mean I help those in need, I give to charity, I treat my family right and I have always supported them and kept a job. I am hoping that you can just let me go this one time, I will never do anything wrong again. Besides there are people out there that do far worse things then I have done. Please let me go."
The judge listens to his son but he knows that good works do not cancel out bad works. He also must have a standard to be a judge and that standard cannot be to other people. It must be what is written in the law. The law has been broken and as a good and just judge, he is bound by the law to punish those that break it. But in this case he is torn by the great love he has for his son.
Turning again to his son he tells him, "I am sorry son I love you, but as much as I would like to let you go I am bound by the law. The minimum punishment for this crime is a $5,000 fine or 9 months in jail."
The son with tears running down his cheeks pleads with his father (the judge), "but I do not have that much money and cannot bear the thought of going to jail. Is there any way to avoid it."
The judge stands up and takes off his robe and steps down to the son's level. He reaches into his pocket and pulls out $5,000 and offers it to his son. The son is surprised and hesitates for a moment but he realizes that the only way he can go free is to accept the gift his father is offering him. As soon as the fine is paid he can go free.
God is in a similar situation with us. He is caught in the middle of His own laws requirement for justice and righteousness and his immense love for us. His law requires sin to be punished but His love wants to set us free. The only way that God can remain righteous and just and also let us go free is if someone else will voluntarily take our punishment, be our substitute. The volunteer must be sinless so that the law will not have any just reason to punish Him. This way the punishment He receives can be credited to us. Since none of us are sinless, God came down to our level to save us through his sinless Son. Jesus Christ, God in the flesh freely offered himself as the perfect sinless substitute. His payment fully satisfied the requirement of the law and made the only way for us to be set free.
This is why Jesus said: "I am the way, the truth and the life and no one comes to the Father except by Me." John 14:6
If you think that you are a good person before God and have nothing to fear on judgment day it is because you are using other people to judge your own goodness, For example: Hitler was far worse than most of us. The problem with this thinking is that the Bible tells us God uses His perfect standard to judge us, not other people, and we all fall short. Romans 3:23. You can see where you stand by looking at the 10 commandments. Have you ever lied, stolen, used Gods name in vain? His perfect justice extends all the way to liars who will need to pay for their own sins for eternity if they refuse to accept the payment that Jesus has made on their behalf.
Just like the judges son must use his free will to accept the $5,000 payment before he can benefit from it. We too must accept the gift of grace that God is offering us. He desires to save you or He would have never sent His son. I encourage you to accept His gift of grace today.
