Guilty or Not Guilty

The nephew of some very dear friends of ours, was on trial this week. He had been charged with a very serious crime which he did not commit. We all want to have faith in our American System of Justice - that every crime will be punished and every innocent person be set free. Unfortunately, our justice system is NOT perfect. Sometimes criminals go free - even worse, sometimes innocent people are found guilty.

Sheila was in court with the family these last few days, but I was not able to go to the trial, except today for closing arguments. In this case, justice was served and this young man was found not guilty.

We all wanted to believe that would be the outcome. We felt the defense attorney did an exceptional job in his handling of the trial. But, when that jury goes out and begins to deliberate, you cannot help but be extremely concerned about what they will decide.

As I sat in the courtroom today, I was reminded of the couple of times when I have stood before a judge and a jury, with my future at stake, awaiting the reading of the verdict, never knowing for sure what the outcome would be - Guilty or NOT Guilty.

I was reminded, too, that one day each one of us will stand before God Almighty and it will not be just a few years or even the rest of our life which hangs in the balance, but our eternal future will hang in the balance. Only there will not be a jury, there will be no prosecuting attorneys and no defense attorneys. There will be no questions about the facts entered into evidence - no defense - no argument. God and God alone will decide the verdict. Our life will be reviewed, laid open, and the verdict read. And we will be forever and eternally either Guilty or Not Guilty!
No appeals, no probation, no parole.

God, as judge, cannot be anything other than just. And, the Bible tells us that the wages - the reward - the verdict - for sin is DEATH!

But, God is also LOVE! And He does not want anyone to be found guilty and to die, but He wants everyone to be found NOT guilty and to live eternally in His presence.

John 3:16 says "For God so loved the world (that includes me and that includes YOU) that He gave his one and only Son (Jesus), that who ever believes in Him might not perish, but have eternal life."

But, here is what many people don't understand - when we stand before God on that Day of Judgment. The verdict has already been decided!

John goes on to say (3:17) "For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. (18) Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned ALREADY because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son."

Romans 6:23 "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."

When you and I stand before God for Judgment - the verdict will have already been decided - and WE are the ones who make that decision!

You see - we are ALL GUILTY - but in God's great love for me and in His great love for YOU, He sent in one and only Son to this earth, to be born as a baby, to live a sinless life, so that He could take the punishment of all of your sins and all of my sins upon himself and die on a cross 2000 years ago in your place and in mine - so that we might be found not just Not Guilty, but INNOCENT on that Day of Judgment - IF - and it is a big IF - we have believed that Jesus was the Son of God and we have asked Him to be our Savior and we have allowed Him to become the LORD of our life.

Really, it is that simple!

Jesus said, I am the way, the truth and the life, and NO MAN comes to the Father, except me.

Are you ready to face the Judgment?

Are you prepared for the Verdict?

If you've never accepted Jesus as your Savior and made Him the LORD of your life, then you need to do that TODAY!

It is the most important decision you will every make on this earth, because it is the only decision which has eternal consequences.

If you want to be forgiven of you sins, to have Jesus be your Savior and Lord, to receive God's Spirit to live in your life to help you become the unique and special person God made you to be and to know absolutely and for sure that when you stand before God you will stand INNOCENT, just follow the instructions on the right under How to Find Jesus!

And then let me know of your decision!

Love in Christ Jesus,

Jim