God Holds Court

“Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.”  I Peter 5:8

In some ways, the devil acts like an unscrupulous lawyer that we call an “ambulance chaser” except his goal has much greater consequences for his victims.  He is much like a prosecuting attorney.  Imagine a courtroom scene in heaven.  God is the Judge, the devil is the district attorney for hell, and Jesus is the defense Attorney who is representing the defendants, us, pro bono, that is, it isn’t costing us anything, but it certainly cost Jesus to represent us.  As is standard practice, the D. A. presents his case against the accused first.  He has a rather large file filled with charges against us:  idolatry, making graven images, using God’s name as a curse word, dishonoring the day set aside for worship and rest, dishonoring parents, murder, adultery, stealing, lying, coveting, hatred, quarreling, rivalry, strife, heresy, envy, pride, and more.  The list was endless.  The Judge had to cut him off for the sake of time.

Satan then addresses the Judge:  “Your Honor, there’s plenty more, in fact, whatever is not of faith is sin, and I am determined to prove the guilt of every one of these defendants and see that they are sentenced to hell for all eternity.”  We defendants were horrified.  One whispered to another, “I haven’t done most of those things.  I might have gossiped or been jealous of my neighbor’s new car, but I certainly haven’t killed anyone”.  The one to whom the defendant was speaking replied, “I know, but the law is clear.  If you break one law, you are guilty of breaking them all (James 2:10).  All we can do is throw ourselves on the mercy of the court and plead guilty”.

Now that the D. A. has presented his case which no defending attorney could argue against, the Judge orders a short recess.  After everyone returns to the courtroom, the Judge of all the earth (Genesis 18:25) positions Himself behind the bench and reconvenes the court.  Satan requested that he be allowed to continue his charges against all of us defendants, but the Judge said that he had made his point and then called on our Attorney to present His defense of a group of defendants whose sins have been obvious and numerous, and our case seemed hopeless at this time.  Jesus rises from His seat where He patiently listened to Satan rattle off all the accusations made against His clients.  He stands before the Judge and says something like this, “Your Honor, the prosecutor has laid out what looks to be a hopeless case for these defendants.  I have to agree with him that by the law they are all guilty indeed.  There are no righteous works that they can do to ever remove the guilt from their souls.  However, Your Honor, they have placed their entire trust in Me to deliver them, and I have already paid their penalty”.

Jesus then holds up His hands to show the Judge the nail scars that He suffered upon the cross.  He shows Him the nail scars in His feet and the huge scar in His side.  The Judge looks on Jesus with grace and mercy in His eyes and exclaims, “Not for their sakes, but for Yours, I will forgive their sins and declare them righteous before Me”.  The Judge looks at us defendants and says, “You’re free to go, forgiven and justified.”

This is what it means when grace abounds, and we are “abundantly pardoned” (Isaiah 55:7), made free from the guilt of sin by the blood sacrifice of Jesus Christ.