Standing accused before a Judge

Standing before the Judge and about to be sentenced for a serious crime, how would you feel? What could you say in your defense that would make a difference? Anything?

“I have given ten percent to my church all of my adult life”; “I have always helped out during Christmas at the homeless shelter”; “I gave over a million dollars to the relief of hunger in Israel”:  Would any of these wonderful humanitarian acts mean anything in relation to the crimes you are convicted of? Have you forgotten anything?

Just before the Judge sentences you, a Man steps forward and tells the Judge, “I know he is guilty but I will pay for his crimes. I will take the punishment for him. Let him go free!”  What kind of person would do such a thing? Why?

The answer lies in a simple but profound word, love.  We are not wrongly accused at all. All of humanity has fallen short in that we cannot be good enough on our own. I know the One who would take and has taken the punishment for all of our sins, do you? The Man who stepped forward is Jesus and the one accused could be any of us. Our own humanitarian acts and good deeds in this life are not good enough to get us into heaven. We can’t be good enough because without Jesus, we are just as guilty of rejecting God’s gift of salvation as Lucifer and the other angels are of rebellion.

Our lives and the good works which we may do are gifts from God and yet the only way to heaven is through the blood of Jesus that was shed for our sins long before we were born. God cares for all of us, Jew and Gentile, but if we choose to live our lives our way instead of giving our life to Him through Jesus then it is our decision that condemns us not Him. It is a hard concept to accept from our limited point of view and it seems too easy, but that is why God gives us the choice and the ability to choose.

Give serious consideration to the message here and those found in the Bible because it is important! Your life here and in the hereafter will be greatly affected by your decision, so choose carefully. Regardless of the rhetoric out there regarding life or the lack of it after you die, wouldn’t you rather choose Jesus and His gift and find out that the Bible is true, than to choose not to believe and still find out that the Bible is true? One choice leads to life forever and the other leads to  eternal punishment for the simple act of refusing to believe.