“‘Our sins’; what a horrible thought for contemplation! Think of the vast accumulation of impure thoughts, of unrighteous deeds and of unkind and dishonest words. Vast as they are, we rejoice today to be assured that our glorious Savior has borne them all ‘in His own body on the tree’. In His death, He took full responsibility for our sins and answered perfectly to God for them all. Are you personally resting on Him for your eternal salvation?” G. Hall.
We think of sin as being something like murder and forget that Adam and Eve came under the curse of death for eating a piece of fruit.
As you can see from the above quote, sin is impure thoughts, unkind words, the simplest things that we justify ourselves for doing, not just genocide, but the so-called little white lie.
Part of the reason that we excuse ourselves so easily is that we compare ourselves with the people around us. We will always find someone who is not as upright as we are, and this bolsters our opinion of ourselves.
God tells us this is not good.
“For we dare not class ourselves or compare ourselves with those who commend themselves. But they, measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise.” 2 Corinthians 10:12.
God’s intent is and always has been for us to compare ourselves to Christ. Jesus is the plumb line by which all humanity is judged.
“Thus He showed me: Behold, the Lord stood on a wall made with a plumb line, with a plumb line in His hand. And the Lord said to me, ‘Amos, what do you see?’ And I said, ‘A plumb line.’ Then the Lord said: ‘Behold, I am setting a plumb line in the midst of My people Israel; I will not pass by them anymore.'” Amos 7:7-8.
If you are building a wall and a neighbor comes by and says, “That’s a nice wall, but it isn’t completely vertical.” Your response may be, “Of course it’s vertical, and anyone can see that.”
The argument at this point will just be one of differing opinions but drop a plumb line next to the wall and the argument is over.
This is the life of Christ among men; the Gospels show us His righteousness in all aspects of life.
This also shows us that Jesus was the spotless Lamb of God who would make the perfect sacrifice for sin as commanded in Exodus.
“Speak to all the congregation of Israel, saying: ‘On the tenth day of this month every man shall take for himself a lamb, according to the house of his father, a lamb for a household.’” Exodus 12:3.
“Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year. You may take it from the sheep or from the goats. Now you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month. Then the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it at twilight.” Exodus 12:5-6.
Just as the sacrificial lamb was to be carefully examined over a period of time to ensure that it would be an acceptable sacrifice, so those around Him carefully examined Jesus and found Him to be without spot.
“Now the chief priests, the elders, and all the council sought false testimony against Jesus to put Him to death, but found none. Even though many false witnesses came forward, they found none. But at last two false witnesses came forward…” Matthew 26:59-60.
After all this they put Jesus under oath to testify whether He was the Christ or not, see Matthew 26:59-68 for this account.
Now pay attention to this, Jesus said under oath to the entire gathering that He is the Messiah which means that Jesus Christ is the Son of the living God. This blasphemous gathering called this blasphemy.
Do not let anyone tell you that Jesus never admitted to being the Messiah.
His life is also an example to all Christians a pattern for the way we should live. Jesus is the plumb line.
“Finally, all of you be of one mind, having compassion for one another; love as brothers, be tenderhearted, be courteous; not returning evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary blessing, knowing that you were called to this, that you may inherit a blessing.” 1 Peter 3:8-9.
Moreover, this shows us the meaning of the passage in Matthew four.
“And leaving Nazareth, He came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is by the sea, in the regions of Zebulun and Naphtali, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying: ‘The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles: The people who sat in darkness saw a great light, And upon those who sat in the region and shadow of death Light has dawned.'” Matthew 4:13-16.
Jesus is the light of the world and is the only marker by which we can align our lives.
The simple truth is that no matter how we view ourselves or what injustices have been done to us, if we were truly to receive the justice due to us, we would be cast into hell for eternity.
However, the infinitely just God has found a way to reconcile us to Himself.
Many folks in this world have a lot of trouble with the whole idea of a vicarious sacrifice. How for instance can one commit a crime and have the police arrest their neighbor, throw him in jail and knowingly have him pay for my misdeed?
This does not logically resemble true justice. And so many people turn away from God because they stumble at such a confusing question. And there the question would lie.
“For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lord. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.” Isaiah 55:8-9.
As you can see, we are dealing with an infinite God, which means that our sins are an offense against an infinite God. As a result, these tiny little sins that we cast about like rose petals are enough to keep us out of God’s presence in heaven. God is not present in hell!
No one is capable of paying for their infinite sins against God, but God has made a way which we will take up in Justice, Part 2.
“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” John 3:16.
Justice, Part 1B taken from godisrevealed.com posted on 7-11-15, updated on 8-18-24 ck.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version, copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission, all rights reserved.