Imagine being placed in a position of authority to judge the entire earth. Whatever you say goes. At one word, you determine who lives or dies. You know the law more than anyone on the planet and the law never changes so you have to judge everyone based on it. You know that if a person violates the law, which has been unchanged from the beginning of time the punishment is death. You also know that everyone that you will have to judge is flawed and imperfect because the environment they live in has a 24-hour a day, 365 days a year temptress that works against the weakness of your flesh, killing you slowly inside every time you take the bait, but even worse, blinding and deceiving many. As a judge you understand that living in that type of environment, no one would be able to perfect the law, with the exception of innocent babies. Violations of the law are punishable by death, but what if the law said that there is something that can be done to prevent one from dying, like someone taking the death penalty in place of the one that deserves it?

Imagine if all those people that you are ordered to judge have a special place in your heart, but most of them don’t know you or believe that you exist, some reject you or use your name profanely. You know that they’re all going to die according to the law. You also know that there is something that you can do to prevent them from dying and being separated from you, but it would mean that you would have to take the death penalty in their place and the process would involve getting whipped, scourged, nailed and hung to die. Would you do it?

When we think of God, we might get a picture in our mind of an enormous being sitting on a throne so enormous that looking up, we only see his feet and hands. We might have a vision of being in a line to the throne to be judge by this enormous God known as the Father, but the bible says that the Father has given his Son Jesus, the judgement seat.

For the Father judges no man, but has committed all judgement to his Son. John 5:22

Jesus the Christ, the one that has the authority to judge whether we are banished to hell or forever with Him for all eternity, decided to come down from His throne of glory in heaven, humble himself by becoming flesh with all the sufferings that come with a physical body, live for a short time on earth, suffered major physical and emotional pain, nailed on a cross and hung to die.

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. John 1:4

But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed. _Isaiah 53:5-12

He came down to earth, took the punishment for our sins as if taking a bullet, being whipped, beaten, lashed, spit on, nailed to a cross, left hanging to die, falsely accused and betrayed by his disciples. This was not just any death, but a payment for our sins should we decide to receive it. We can choose to take the payment freely given to us or suffer and die in our own wrongdoings. We are given by grace, a gift which we did not earn nor do we have the capacity to.

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

All of this, so that we have a way to with Him in heaven. Since we can’t save ourselves from our own sin, we can never be perfect or holy enough to enter into God’s holy presence that in order to get to heaven, we have to be covered by the blood of Christ, not literally, but spiritually. It’s either receive the gift of salvation that He gave us on the cross or end up separated from Him, which is hell in itself.

Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends. John 15:13