I enjoy watching a dramatic courtroom trial. As a child, I would hurry home from school to watch black-and-white reruns of the American television series, Perry Mason. With the help of his assistant Della Street and private investigator Paul Drake, Mason would defend clients charged with murder and solve puzzling crimes, usually by finding the real murderer. In the Bible, the apostle John wrote of a Defender in a much different courtroom drama than one might see here on earth.

1 John 2:1-6 – My dear children, I write this letter to you so that you will not sin. But if anyone sins, we have Jesus Christ to help us. He always did what was right, so he is able to defend us before God the Father. Jesus is the way our sins are taken away. And he is the way all people can have their sins taken away too. If we obey what God has told us to do, then we are sure that we know him. If we say we know God but do not obey his commands, we are lying. The truth is not in us. But when we obey God's teaching, his love is truly working in us. This is how we know that we are living in him. If we say we live in God, we must live the way Jesus lived. (ERV)

Our Father God is a stern judge, but although His perfect nature cannot tolerate or ignore sin and prohibits fellowship and intimacy with Him, He has lovingly provided a Defender in Jesus. The penalty for our sin is death, but Jesus defends us by the voluntary sacrifice of His life to pay the penalty of death on our behalf to satisfy God's justice. He is qualified to do this because His life is sinlessly perfect. Jesus' atonement is not only for us but for the whole world, yet not all the world is saved, because atonement isn't the same thing as forgiveness; if we receive the gift of forgiveness, then the barricade of sin between us and God crumbles as dust.

This brings to mind the words of the hymn by Samuel Crossman (1664) : "My song is love unknown, my Saviour's love to me; love to the loveless shown, that they should lovely be." God as our Judge must be satisfied, but His Son's intervention allows Him to welcome us back into a loving relationship, as the father welcomed home the prodigal son. How do we know that we are in a right relationship with God? When we recognize His power and wisdom, and follow His commands, knowing that He is trustworthy and eternal.

To live in Christ is to draw life from Him, our Defender and Redeemer. So how do we live? We love one another and make that connection to Him daily. To reconnect us with God, Christ paid a great price to satisfy God's justice for our sin. What has happened to you today that could not possibly have happened but for the love of Jesus living through you?

Prayer: We praise You, our Father God, Who gave Your Son to pay the price of our sin, to restore that wonderful fellowship with us as Your children. Give us grace to allow the love of Jesus to live through us and to shine out to the world. Amen.

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About the author:

Shirley Moulton <shirley_moulton@yahoo.ca>
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
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