Don’t Do The Crime

Imagine that you’re a Judge, a Magistrate. You sit in the Court of the land and wield power and consequence over people’s lives. You dispense justice to those who stand before you, guilty as charged.

Your own life however is not free from the consequence of crime. One day, your Son is taken from your backyard. All the worst is done to him. His bruised and beaten body is found a week later. It had been thrown by the side of the road like a piece of garbage. The perpetrator is finally caught. I’ll call him Mark. Your Son’s rape, torture and murder was recorded and copies, ready to be shipped, were discovered in Mark’s apartment.

Mark’s parents and friends are in shock. “Mark was such a nice person. He’d never hurt anyone.”

According to God, our Creator, the wrong that we do are crimes committed against Him. After committing adultery and then killing the woman’s husband, King David got it right when he said to God, “Against You and You alone have I sinned.” It’s His objective moral law that we are breaking. It’s His planet, His creation that we are destroying.

Regardless of how we see our crimes against God, He sees our open rebellion against Him as horrific. God sees our callous disregard for and the habitual mistreatment of beings created in His image as worthy of eternal banishment from His presence. The place of banishment is called Hell.

God has made it clear that ritual, religious behaviours, or trying to be as good as we can, will not:
a) Do anything to prevent us from committing crimes against Him, nor
b) Come even close to being a just penalty for crimes already committed.

God has made it clear that claims of, “You shouldn’t punish me because I’m actually a pretty good person,” are nothing more than a delusion. We’ve made it necessary for God’s one and only Son to die, to be tortured to death and pretending that it didn’t happen or that it wasn’t such a big deal isn’t going to cut it. Let me return to my story.

You, Mark’s Judge as well as being Mark’s victim understand Mark. You know that he entered life with the deck stacked against him. Both parents were drug addicts. He suffered Fetal Alcohol brain damage. He never completed grade four and by ten years of age Mark was on the street fending for himself. Mark was also a victim of verbal, physical and sexual abuse. He’s been beaten and discouraged, helpless and hopeless for most of his life. You read his file and your heart breaks. You step down from behind the bench, take off your robe and move toward Mark in an attempt to hug him.
Certain that you hate him and that you’re out for revenge, Mark recoils with, “What are you doing? Get away from me!”

Mark’s Judge - Mark, I too grew up on the street. One of my parents died of a drug overdose and the other died of a suicide. I too was sexually abused. I know the pain, and rejection and confusion and anger that you experienced as a child. I want to forgive you for what you've done to me.

Mark - But I killed your only Son.

Mark’s Judge - I know.

Mark - You should hate me.

Mark’s Judge - I know.

Mark - I deserve to die.

Mark’s Judge - I know.

Mark - I deserve to die at your hands.

Mark’s Judge - I know that Mark. But I want to forgive you.

Mark - Forgive me! I’m a misfit, a freak. Whenever I’ve tried anything in life, I’ve screwed it up. No one will give me a first chance, so why would you give me a second?

Mark’s Judge - I know you. I love you. I’ll help you change.

Mark - I can’t learn.

Mark’s Judge - I’ll teach you. I’m very patient.

Mark - I don’t have any place to live. I’m a castaway. I’ll be hounded from place to place for the rest of my life.

Mark’s Judge - You’ll come and live with me.

Mark - Why are you doing this?

Mark’s Judge - I feel compassion for you. I want to forgive you and let you know what it’s like to live in the presence of love.

Mark - I’m too bad a person. I can’t accept your forgiveness.

Mark’s Judge - Mark, you have committed a very serious crime. You have hurt me more than you can ever imagine. If I were to sentence you to die it would be just and fair. I am offering you a clean slate, forgiveness for your crime, freedom from any and all guilt. It’s one or the other Mark, freedom or judgment. What’s it gonna be?

Mark - This is for real?

Mark’s Judge - Yes. It’s for real.

Mark - So I can experience your love and mercy and grace and forgiveness at absolutely no cost?

Mark’s Judge - Well, it’s free for you, but it cost me the life of my Son.

Falling on his knees before you, Mark cries, “I am so very sorry. How can you be so kind to someone like me? I promise to love you and serve you for the rest of my life. Thank you, thank you, a thousand times thank you.

Mark’s Judge - You’re welcome Mark.

I know. The ending sounds pretty cheesy. You might say that something like that would never happen. If you are talking about life here on earth you are probably right. But God sees things differently than we do. God is shamelessly in love with us, His creation. He cares about us. He wants what’s best for us. He wants that so badly that He came to earth in the form of Jesus to do exactly what is described in the story above. Knowing in advance how we would treat Him, Jesus stepped down from His throne and came to earth not to condemn us but to provide for our forgiveness and salvation.

That God is a God of love is beyond dispute.

He says in effect:
If you will let Me, I will pay the consequence of your crime for you.

If you let Me, I will keep you from eternal banishment and instead bring you into my very own home.

If you let Me, I will lavish you with eternal gifts and riches beyond imagination.

If you let Me, I will die in your place and allow you to live forever in paradise. All you have to do is let me do this for you, accept the deal, take the gift, make it yours.

Now, I ask. Who’s insane? Is it God, for offering to pay your penalty and then declaring you not guilty, or you for refusing to take Him up on the offer?