What God Did With His Precarious Situation

God’s Precarious Situation: When it came to humanity’s sinfulness and God’s righteousness, God was in a difficult situation.

- Romans 3:25b-26.

- It’s a quandary. God is just but humanity is sinful. God loves humanity but is righteous.

Some Paths To Pursue:

1. Option #1: Give humanity the due punishment for their sins.

a. Good: God’s justice is upheld.

- This does maintain the justice of God. To be true to His character, He needs to do what is right and just. Giving humanity the punishment they brought on themselves does that.

b. Bad: God’s beloved are condemned.

- God loves humanity even more than we each love our own children. The fact that humanity is trapped by their sins is a tragedy to a loving God.

2.Option #2: Excuse the sin.

a. Good: God’s beloved aren’t condemned.

- If God winks at our sin, then we get off scot-free.

b. Bad: God is not acting with justice.

- To do so would go against the character of God. It would require Him to do something that changes the nature of who we know Him to be.

c. Bad: God’s beloved are left in their sins.

- If God just excuses our sins, we have the momentary happiness of knowing that’s not hanging over us, but then we are struck with the harsh reality that we are still sinful. Nothing has changed about the muck and mess that we are living our lives in.

3. Option #3: God’s Son absorbs the sin and imparts righteousness.

a. Good: God’s justice is upheld because the penalty for sin is paid.

- God did not excuse our sin. He didn’t just say, “Don’t worry about it.” In taking our sin seriously, Jesus came to pay the price for our sin. That upholds the justice of God. Sin must be atoned for.

b. Good: God’s beloved are not condemned.

- Because of Jesus’ actions on our behalf, we find that we are no longer under the condemnation of sin’s penalty. We have been freed by Christ.

c. Good: God’s beloved are not just excused but are transformed.

- Because of what Jesus has done for us, a door has opened for us to receive into our lives His power and character. This is what the Bible speaks of when it refers to the “new creation.” This means that we no longer have to live in our sin. We can live transformed lives that overcome sin.

d. Good: God is glorified.

- To take such sinful creatures and make them into such magnificent creatures is an impressive achievement. As God changes lives, He receives glory.

What God Did With His Precarious Situation: He is both just and justifier.

- Romans 3:25b-26.

- This all leads us back to our passage for today. God is both just and justifier. He maintains His just character through Jesus taking the penalty of our sin. He through Christ is also the justifier of us, changing us into who we are in Christ.