There is no jury in this courtroom, only a judge. Why? Because he's not just the fairest and wisest judge there is, he is fair, he is wise, and he is right. He is in himself the definition of those terms, and so he has absolutely no need of 12 angry men to help him out.
The defendant stands before him, and there is nothing but countless evidence pointing to his guilt. Far beyond a shadow of a doubt. Guilty as charged. Easiest trial in history, case closed. (Just another reason we don't need 12 angry men.)
And when the judge is set to deliver the death sentence, a surprise. There is none, at least not for the defendant himself. It's announced that the judge has taken the initiative to call upon a substitute who has agreed to take the punishment.
But the judge doesn't stop there. He takes the perfect, clean criminal record of the substitute, and replaces his name with the defendant's. Not just no punishment, but a clean record. As in, he didn't do any of the bad, and he always did all of the good. As far as this judge is concerned, the defendant is now a fine, upstanding citizen.
Already astounding enough, but the judge doesn't stop there. He steps off the stand, grabs the defendant by the hand, and escorts him gently from the criminal court down the hall to the court of the orphans. Knowing crimes were committed due in part to lack of a loving family, he's not about to throw this guy back out on his own. But another surprise: the judge isn't just officiating the adoption, he's the one adopting. The judge himself will be the father.
He's the one adopting you, he welcomes you into his family. The stately man wearing the robe takes you home after a day at work, changes into casual clothes, and wrestles with you on the living room floor amidst giggles of joy. The judge is not just your father, he's your papa.
And though it strikes you a little strange at first, you've never been happier, you've never felt more free, never more accepted, never more at ease. You belong. You're secure. You are loved.
"God sent forth his Son to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, 'Abba! Father!'" Galatians 4:4-5
Wednesday, November 21, 2012
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5 comments:
"But the judge doesn't stop there. He takes the perfect, clean criminal record of the substitute, and replaces his name with the defendant's. Not just no punishment, but a clean record. As in, he didn't do any of the bad, and he always did all of the good. As far as this judge is concerned, the defendant is now a fine, upstanding citizen."
i understand what you write of here (theologically speaking)...but it this biblical ? the imputation to the believer of christ's active life of righteousness, is this biblical...necessary...possible ?
great writing by the way. great illustrations, very creative. keep them coming...
i should have started with that...but your post made me think and i jumped past "compliment phase" and went right to "question phase".
well nt, there's talk on teh interwebs that you understand the doctrine justification a bit differently than some of your evangelical colleagues, and you've surely devoted more time to the subject than i have, so feel free to answer your own questions.
but my short response fit for a blog comment might be 2 cor 5:21 "for our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God."
the idea of an exchange has often been seen in this verse: he takes our record, we take his.
if we become "the righteousness of God," is that just sort of sins-forgiven neutral moral status? a blank slate? return to 0? or is "the righteousness of God" much fuller and complete? au-dela?
is it biblical? my hunch is yes, but i'm sure i'm underinformed.
is it necessary? no, but neither is adoption. neither is salvation. that's the wonder of it all.
is it possible? you know that's a silly question when you're talking about what God does or can do.
d'ailleurs, i'm gonna have to ask my friend chad what he teaches with that ol' sonship material we tend to reference...
regardless, nt, it's good to know there are still critical thinkers out there in the blog-reading world. (0 comments) tends to make a guy think that he is only right all the time. so thanks.
dis donc, nathan ! i heard that ntw sniffed around your blog and left his mark. wowzers ! i also heard that he put on his blog that you and your family are COURAGEOUS !
so jealous...
hey john, yeah, pretty crazy, huh? since he didn't answer his own questions, and since you've had a few run arounds with him on the subject already, maybe you could take a stab at responding?
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