God Speaking

“Blessed are they whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will never count against him.” (Romans 4:7-8)

While sitting in church on Easter morning I was thinking about the incredible gift of salvation and why, as the apostle Paul puts it, some deem it to be foolish (1 Corinthians 1:18) and I was reminded of a story I had read long ago. It was a fictional story, but one I found had an amazing way of clarifying what salvation meant. Here is the story, as I remember it.

There was an honourable judge who lived in a small town who was respected by all who knew him. One morning he and his wife heard the sounds of a baby crying and stepping out the front door to investigate, found a baby lying in a basket with a note from a desperate mother saying she could not care for this small one. The judge and his wife tried all means to find the mother, but when all their searching failed they decided to adopt the little boy. The little boy was lavished with all the love this good father could give a child, but as the boy grew into a young man he began to rebel against his adopted parents. He refused to obey his adopted father and began to mix with other rebellious teenagers. He dabbled in drugs. He tried shop lifting. Eventually he ran away from home, (so he thought) to be free and his father mourned this adopted son he loved. Eventually the boy was involved in a botched “breaking & entering”, where someone was shot and he was arrested. On the day of his trial the boy was brought into court and when he lifted his eyes to where the judge was sitting he was startled to see his adopted father sitting at the bench, expecting to see a face full of anger he was surprised to see a face full of forgiveness. As he gazed at this loving face some incredible feeling swept over him. How could he have disappointed this loving father? How could he have disobeyed his teaching? How could he have brought so much pain to one who loved him? Too ashamed to look at his father, he whispered under his breath, “Forgive me”. The trial proceeded as planned. The evidence was clear. The boy was guilty. The judge rose to give his verdict. The whole court room was hushed as they waited to hear what the judge would say as they knew how just and honest he was and yet they also knew how much he
loved this boy.

“Guilty As Charged” rang out through the room.

“The prisoner will serve 10 years in jail.”

Then to the utter amazement of everyone present, the judge removed his robe, stepped down from the bench, stood in front of the boy and announced,

“I will serve his sentence for him”

We would all be “guilty as charged” if we stood in front of our Heavenly Father, the Judge. The incredible message of Easter lies in the fact that even like the boy in the story we deserve to pay for our sins, we are set free.

“Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.” (Romans 8:1-2)

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