Judge and Saviour

With light we would not recognize the darkness. And neither our sins, without the clear law of God. For the sins in this life is not found in a dark corner of our short-lived existence. In Romans 7:7-11 we read: “What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, (Exodus 20:17) Thou shalt not covet. But sin, taking occasion by the commandment, wrought in me all manner of concupiscence. For without the law sin was dead. For I was alive without the law once: but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died. And the commandment, which was ordained to life, I found to be unto death. For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it slew me.” That is the character of sin, when light shines upon it, when it is uncovered and exposed and revealed to us for what it is, its purpose is as clear as daylight: sinning! Sin is incorrigibly, un-counselable, inseparably linked to the life of humans. The only way to be free from it is to die. Once and for all! When God took on a human form, this had consequences for all people throughout all generations. If God remained in heaven, there would be no knowledge of sin, nor the chance to invoke God's anger. As emergency steps, a lot would have been judged, without really understanding why. But, God became human and did not leave us without understanding. He gave His life and His precious blood, so that, through His sacrifice, sin could be destroyed for all believers. And today unbelievers, react to the Gospel as one who has not understood whatsoever, what sin has to do with it, and why an almighty God has to give us forgiveness and salvation. It is to them, as the Bible tells us (1 Corinthians 1:18) foolishness, as a result of their lost conditions.

Through Jesus Christ the Light came upon the world (John 9:5) and separated the good and the evil. Through His sacrifice at Calvary, Jesus also purchased the right to judge the living and the dead. Luke writes in Acts 10:42-43 “And He commanded us to preach unto the people, and to testify that it is He which was ordained of God to be the Judge of quick and dead. To Him give all the prophets witness, that through His name whosoever believeth in Him shall receive remission of sins.” The chaff separates itself from the what (Luke 3:17). It has already happened, however, as yet, it is not obvious. Time is running along and the sin on earth is also not getting any better, only worse. The unbeliever is lost, in every manner unusable for heaven and on the way to hell. Hell represents complete loneliness and a soul-emptiness and ungodliness. Nevertheless, even today still, the call is made for all sinners (who want to acknowledge their condition) to find, in Jesus Christ, a gracious and merciful Saviour (John 3:16). We don't have to remain in our present conditions before God. It would not be in any way better nor wiser (Psalm 53:2 “God looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, that did seek God.”) Either Jesus is our Judge or our Saviour – inbetween is nothing! He wants to be our Saviour, because for this reason God's Son opened the way for us. There is also no other way to God and His forgiveness of our sin is only possible through God's Son Jesus Christ, the Way, the Truth and the Life (John 14:6). Jesus testifies of this in the Bible, the Word of God, in which we can and must put all our trust – there is no other way (and never has been) apart from it.

Jörg Bauer