Perfect Justice, Perfect Love

Q

I am a regular visitor of your site from Saudi Arabia. Every morning I always feel excited to come to your site to be filled with the Word of God.

I have two questions: Who are we to deserve such a sacrifice as Jesus made for us? And, why will Jesus have those scars for all eternity? How sad it will be to those who are redeemed beholding the King of Glory with scars on His hands and feet because of our sins.

A

No one knows for sure just what makes God love us so. It’s beyond our comprehension. But here’s one answer. In one of his books, author Hal Lindsey speculated that at his judgment, Satan accused God saying, “You are not just and you have no love.” In response, God did four things.

To demonstrate His justice:

1. He created us, beings far inferior to the angels, but sharing with them the attributes of intellect, agency (freedom of choice) and eternal existence.

2. He gave us a perfect set of laws to live by and said that any violation of His laws (even those we only thought about) would be punishable by death. No exceptions. Perfect justice.

To demonstrate His love, He:

3.  Became a man Himself and took upon Himself the punishment for every violation of His law in the history of mankind, giving His life to pay the penalty due us.

4.  Finally, He decreed that anyone among us who accepted His act of love by faith would escape the penalty due them, whether they deserved it or not. And not only that, they would receive the incredible reward of living in His presence forever as a member of His own family, blessed beyond measure. Perfect love.

I have no idea if that was really going on in God’s mind when He decided to save us. As I said, it’s pure speculation. But I’ve always been impressed with Hal’s logic. It’s the best explanation I’ve seen for what He’s done for us.

As for the scars, I can only say this. The marks of His humiliation have become the emblem of His glory, visible evidence of His love for us.