"But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." Romans 5:8
We all have different ways of looking at things. Different ways of trying to make sense out of something, so we can try to understand the idea. It’s like putting a puzzle together. Where do you start and what is your plan of attack?
At times, when someone tries to explain something to me, I need to rethink it in a way that helps me make sense out of the concept. Some people might think it’s a bit silly or childish, but oh well.
One such idea is Justification. If I were an accountant or bookkeeper I’d be talking about justifying the books, so everything is balanced. I can remember my mom trying to balance the bank account and the cash on hand and coming up short. Finally my dad would reach into his pocket, take out some money and say, “There, now it balances”. The books are even, they’re justified.
I remember a preacher talking about standing before the court in heaven and seeing each person step up and plead their case. One by one they’d list all the great and wonderful things they’d done. Each person with a longer list than the one before. Each time the gavel would sound and a voice would say, “Nope, not enough. You can’t come in. Next.” Then a person steps up, there is silence for a moment. Then the voice said “You belong to My Son, He paid for you. Your account is clear and justified. You may enter.”
Now, there you have it. A little simple, I know. Jesus’s sacrifice was a lot more than a few dollars to balance my mom’s household books or to pay a few court fines. I was subject to sin the day I entered the world and have been adding to it ever since. Christ’s blood and death is the only thing that could settle or justify that great a debt and make me acceptable to God.