At the Foot of the Cross

The Spirit calls me today, understanding my sorrow as I reflect on the crucifixion of our Savior. He reminds me again of the necessity of the sacrifice. Today is "Good Friday". 

From the human accountability position, it is anything but good. This day represents humanity in it's darkest hour, demonstrating the very reason God sent us His Savior.

 Unfettered power in the hands of the human, exacting ultimate justice for the "sake" of society. The shocking depravity and cruelty of the cross in itself is a stark reminder of why we needed a Savior. Justice the human way, exacts it's toll on the condemned evil-doer, but does nothing to change the inner man. Even if the guilty serve a prison sentence or are required to do penitence, the end result is usually a promise to "try" to do better and if that fails, find a way not to get caught. But even the most law abiding citizens go over the speed limit sometimes. To say no one is perfect is the understatement of eternity. Yet God's requirement hasn't changed. The penalty for sin is death. 

The law of the speed limit is 55 MPH, just 1 MPH over and I am a law breaker. The fact that I know I am (or could be) a law breaker should drive me to the foot of the Cross. Even if the "law" of the speed limit doesn't apply, there is a greater set of laws as a human for which I am accountable before God as a lawbreaker. 

These are set forth by a Holy God and compliance is mandatory or else the sentence of death will be executed. Wow, to think that I would get a death sentence for driving 1 MPH over a speed limit is shocking especially when the penalty for murder is the same. Here is where the difference in God's justice comes to light: The goal in God's justice is to destroy the sin within. The ultimate goal is found in His love for His creation, devastated by the fall, to bring the lawbreaker back unto His righteous standard of Holiness and into fellowship with Himself. To execute the punishment of death for sin on all guilty flesh, would leave no man standing on merit..."for all have sinned and fallen short of the Glory of God" Rom 3:23

 All of us are guilty as charged. The fact that driving 1 MPH over the speed limit would receive the same punishment as murder hardly seems fair, yet when Holiness is the standard, any infraction constitutes an unacceptable violation. The point, to me, is that God sees all sin the same. There is no gradation for law breaking. To fail on one point of the law makes one guilty of failure. In the eyes of justice, 1 MPH over is the same as 100 MPH over and we are guilty of violating the "law" of the speed limit. God's justice must be equal to all and it is so, that no man can boast. Man's lesser-sin-status or merit-on-works claim, has no audience in the presence of Holiness. This is God's mercy. The end of God's justice is to condemn sin within and change the inner man. 

 Whether our depraved sin nature placed us at Calvary driving the nails into the hands and feet of an innocent or whether it places us in a vehicle driving 56 in a 55 MPH zone, we are all lawbreakers in God's eyes. Equal justice for all means the penalty for any law breaking is the same. Understanding this accountability is the important first step leading to the foot of the Cross. Judging God's justice to excuse our lesser sins is a no-win place to live and die. 

 Therefore we plead, "Come to the Cross and live". Let the powerful Blood of Jesus and the justice of our Holy God poured out on the Cross deal with your sin within. Be thankful that we don't ever have to wonder if our "good" works are enough to save us. Because on this "Good" Friday, Jesus paid the price for our sins and took the penalty for all who accept Him as Savior. For the "gift" of God is eternal life and forgiveness of sin. The glorious "Good" about "Good" Friday is in this amazing Truth: John 3:16-17,"For God so love the world that He gave His one and only Son (to die in the place of every human for we are lawbreakers all), that whosoever believes in Him (as the Savior who bore God's ultimate judgement and justice for the lawbreaker) shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him". 

Have you made it to the foot of the Cross? 

 The Holy Spirit is calling. Can you hear Him?