Atone: Crime
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In our study of the atonement we are looking at how God sees our sin and what Jesus did to bring reconciliation.
We have seen that the bible calls our sin a debt that we are unable to pay.
But Jesus as our surity paid off our debt.
We have seen that God refers to our sin as hostility and how Jesus Chist is our mediator that brings peace.
Today we will look at the last concept of sin that the bible speaks of and that is:
Our sin is a Crime.
4 Everyone who practices sin practices lawlessness as well. Indeed, sin is lawlessness.
When we looked at God’s holiness we saw that God is an absolute just judge who makes sure that everyone gets precisly what they deserve.
8 For I, the LORD, love justice; I hate robbery and iniquity; in My faithfulness I will give them their recompense and make an everlasting covenant with them.
In our country we see the perversion of justice everyday.
What do you think would happen to you if you hid 62 million rand from SARS?
Lets make it more personal:
How would you feel if a person with a history of drunk driving killed a dear person and the judge gave them a week of community service?
You will feel very upset.
This is because being made in God’s image we have a sence of justice built into our conscience.
14 Indeed, when Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law.
So as sinners we have commited a crime.
This crime has a predetermined punishment:
23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
God is the holy judge that we stand before for our crime.
25 Far be it from You to do such a thing—to kill the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous and the wicked are treated alike. Far be it from You! Will not the Judge of all the earth do what is right?”
As The Judge of the Earth - God will always execute right judgment and see to it that every sentence is carried out.
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This is nothing like human beings.
I think of Judah and Tamar.
When she wanted a son and disguised herself as a prostitute Judah slept with her and she fell pregnant.
When Judah found out his daughter in law was pregnant he sentenced her to death!
24 About three months later, Judah was told, “Your daughter-in-law Tamar has prostituted herself, and now she is pregnant.” “Bring her out!” Judah replied. “Let her be burned to death!”
But when Tamar revealed that Judah was the father he quickly changed the law and the sentence.
God is not luike this.
God’s perfect Holiness and Justice means that God must punish sin.
Not as a choice, but necessitated by His own nature.
God cannot act in any way that contradicts Himself.
13 if we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself.
So there is a real problem here for us.
We have broken God Law.
God had decreed the universal punishment for anyone who breaks His law. (Death).
And we will all stand before God and be judged.
11 Then I saw a great white throne and the One seated on it. Earth and heaven fled from His presence, and no place was found for them.
12 And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne. And there were open books, and one of them was the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their deeds, as recorded in the books.
13 The sea gave up its dead, and Death and Hades gave up their dead, and each one was judged according to his deeds.
As a criminal before the judge we desperatly need help.
What we need is an Advocate to represent us to the Judge.
But this Advocate, to be qualified but Himself not be guilty of any crime before the judge.
Who can fill such a position?
1 My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you will not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate before the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One.
Jesus Christ is our advicate, representing us to the Father.
That is wonderful news!
But there still is a problem:
Our Advicate will not try to “get us off” or hopfully get us a reduced sentence.
He will not try to show that we are innocent, that we are good people who made a mistake, or that we were maybe being manipulated.
Sounds like a terrible advocate.
Why will He not do these things?
Because he knows that the Judge is already in possesion of all the facts.
And that the Judge not only will not, but CANNOT make any adjustments to the prescribed sentance.
So then???
What is the point of having an Advocate?
Turns out Jesus is not just any kind of advocate my freinds.
Jesus does not need to make or even state the case to the judge.
The judge is all-knowing.
What Jesus “does” is ask the Judge what the sentance is.
The judge respinds with: Death.
Jesus then, by the Fathers will, takes our guilty place and has the full sentence carried out on himself.
25 God presented Him as the atoning sacrifice through faith in His blood, in order to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance He had passed over the sins committed beforehand.
26 He did this to demonstrate His righteousness at the present time, so as to be just and to justify the one who has faith in Jesus.
Let us state this plainly:
Sin is a crime.
We have sinned and are thus criminals.
God is the righteous Judge.
Jesus is both our advocate AND victim of our punishment.
5 But He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed.
Notice:
Jesus was pierced (punished) for OUR transgressions.
Jesus was crushed (punished) for OUR iniquities.
OUR punishment was executed UPON HIM.
10 Yet it was the LORD’s will to crush Him and to cause Him to suffer; and when His soul is made a guilt offering, He will see His offspring, He will prolong His days, and the good pleasure of the LORD will prosper in His hand.
11 After the anguish of His soul, He will see the light of life and be satisfied. By His knowledge My righteous Servant will justify many, and He will bear their iniquities.
12 Therefore I will allot Him a portion with the great, and He will divide the spoils with the strong, because He has poured out His life unto death, and He was numbered with the transgressors. Yet He bore the sin of many and made intercession for the transgressors.
