Speeding, Guilt, and Grace

I hit a major milestone in my life this week.  I got my first speeding ticket.  My wife was so excited about me getting my first speeding ticket she sent out a public service announcement to inform all of Facebook world about it.  When I went into the church office that day I was greeted by our church staff making siren sounds and giving me a hard time about it.  If I had to be a judge our children's minister, Chris Cunningham, makes the most realistic siren sound.

Before the officer came to my window I had several excuses running through my head: "I was following behind a row of cars, they were all going the same speed, I was going with the flow with everyone else."  "I did see the sign but really didn't think it was serious since 200 yards right up the road the speed goes up 20 mph."  "I drive a Toyota Yaris, I didn't think my car could actually go that fast."  Really I didn't have an excuse though, I knew how fast I was going and was guilty.

The same goes when we stand before God.  We can use excuses like "I was just doing what everyone else was doing." or "I knew exactly what Jesus said but I didn't take it seriously." or "I really didn't think I was all that bad of a person."  But the fact is we'll know we're guilty.  In the presence of a holy God our sin will be exposed for what it is.

Romans 3:23 reads For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God,.  There's no distinction, we can't compare our level of badness or sin with another except God.  We won't have an excuse because God is the standard for perfection and He has clearly communicated that.  

But just like the late Billy Mays became famous for saying, and that’s not all.  If you look again at the verse above I intentionally left the comma at the end of the sentence, it wasn't a typo.  Yes, every person in the world, all of you reading this blog post is sinful and broken but God has placed a comma there.  The story continues.  Romans 3:24 reads and are justified by His grace has a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.  Wow, let that sink in a moment!

God is just and He is a righteous judge.  When we stand before Him the sentence is death.  Satan stands as the accuser and all of the evidence is available to convict us.  But we have an advocate if we have accepted Jesus Christ and surrendered our life to Him.  How I wish I could stand before the Judge with my $170 fine for speeding and announce "Jesus it all" to get out of having to pay that fine but I must live with the present consequences of my sin.  Amen.  On the day you and I stand before God we'll get to do just that except we won't be the ones talking.  It will be Jesus, our advocate, who will approach the bench and show the proof He has already paid our penalty with His life by showing the scars on his hands, side, and feet.  We will then walk into heaven and enjoy eternity with our Creator God completely reconciled to Him.   His justice will be satisfied

As you go about your week take time to pause and reflect to remember Jesus is our advocate who paid our guilty sentence with His life.  The eternal God stepped down from heaven because of His great love for us and His desire for reconciliation with His precious creation.  Jesus paid it ALL.  ALL to Him I owe.