An Undeserved Verdict

     The American justice system is fascinating!  It is based on the concept that people are presumed innocent until proven guilty.  The burden is on the prosecution to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that an individual has committed a crime. The Founding Fathers strongly believed in this principle.  In fact, after the Boston Massacre John Adams served as the defense attorney for the British Soldiers.  He later said his service was “one of the most gallant, generous, manly, and disinterested actions of my whole life, and one of the best pieces of service I ever rendered my country”.  Today, problems often arise when individuals interpret “reasonable doubt” differently.  I often wonder what the Founding Fathers would have thought about the O.J. Simpson trial and the recent Casey Anthony case.  The fact is, we are imperfect human judges and we can get it wrong.

     I have heard a few people compare God’s judgment of humans’ sin, to a courtroom.  I think it is a beautiful metaphor.  Obviously, God the Father is judge and we (each of us) are on trial for the countless crimes (sins) we have committed. 

     Before we get to the court case, let’s start where all courtroom drama begins, with the broken law.  Because God is a Holy and perfect God, He cannot look at sin.  In order for Him to have a relationship with humans we must be sinless.  So, in the beginning (in the Garden of Eden), God set up the basic law that sin equals death and separation from Him.  The problem arose when Adam and Eve (and each of us living after them) were unable to live up to God’s perfect expectation of a living a sinless life.  God, knowing this would happen, set in motion an unspeakable plan to buy humans back so He could once again have a relationship with us.  That’s where Jesus comes in.  He lived the sinless, perfect, holy life that we cannot.  And He received, in our place, the punishment that we all deserve.

     Now, back to the courtroom.  God sitting high up on the bench looks down at me sitting in the defendant’s seat.  He lists all of the sins I have committed in my life.  I am unable to defend myself, because all of it is true.  There is no question I have lied, put myself above others and God, taken things that do not belong to me, been jealous of others, spread gossip about others, and on and on and on.  Being a perfect judge, how can He give me anything but what I deserve?  Isn’t that what we expect of our judges in the American system?  What would we say about a judge that said, “I know you set two families’ homes on fire, but you worked in a soup kitchen for a while and got a little girl’s kitten out of a tree, so you’re free to go.”   No, a perfect judge must hand down the punishment that fits the crime.  God set the law, sin equals death and separation from Him.  He must follow through with it.  I deserve death and Hell (total separation from God). 

     But what happens if someone is able to pay the defendant’s debt?  That’s where Jesus steps up to the bench and whispers, “Dad, Tenille is one of mine.  I know she committed sins against you, but I paid her debt.  She is free to go home to Heaven.”  As the defendant, needing mercy so desperately, can you imagine the gratitude we would give Jesus and God at that moment when we were teetering on the gates of Heaven and Hell?  
     I saw the relief on the faces of O.J. and Casey when their verdicts were read, but their situations pale in comparison to each of ours in Mighty God’s courtroom.  The scary thing is that many people go on living their lives, never realizing they have an upcoming court date, and once they are sitting in the defendant’s seat it will be too late to do anything about it.

     God wants a relationship with us so much that He allowed His only son to be tortured to pay our debt.  It seems unthinkable, unfair.  But thank God He did, and that Jesus agreed to do it.  How much does God love us?  As long as we are on earth, we will never be capable of fathoming it, let alone returning it to Him.

     So how can we be sure Jesus is sitting at our defense table in God’s courtroom?  First, we must recognize we are sinners through and through.  And that we cannot make up for the laws we have broken by doing good deeds.  We must understand that sin is sin in God’s eyes, and it does no good comparing our lives to others saying, “Well at least I’m not as bad that guy.”  God compares us to perfection, not to one another.  Next, we must believe that Jesus lived a perfect life and died on the cross in our place.  Third, we must confess all of this to God and accept His gift of a paid debt.  Last, we must try to live in a way that pleases God and includes Him in our daily walk.  The bottom line is, He wants a relationship with us.

     When O.J and Casey walked out of the courthouse, surrounded by their attorneys, they stepped into a stinky, dirty, concrete city, in a harsh, judgmental world.  They have to face a life filled with reminders of their past.  When we exit God’s courtroom, we will walk with Jesus and enter the gates of Heaven, to live a wondrous eternity in the most breathtaking land we will have ever laid eyes on.  And not one of us will have deserved it!