The Judge

By Lisa Nordell-Detres

It is quite intimidating to think that the Creator of the Universe is both our Lawgiver and our Judge. God expects perfection from us all, even though He knows that we are incapable of living up to His standards. That is the ultimate problem of humanity. We stand guilty in front of the perfect Judge, with no way to redeem ourselves. Why would a loving God intentionally set humanity up for failure? That question is answered in the Apostle Paul’s letter to the Galatians, where he explains that the Law was like a tutor intended to reveal humanity’s need for a Savior, Jesus Christ. (Galatians 3:24)

Humanity’s response to this problem goes in one of three directions: atheists decide to deny the existence of God. This settles the problem in their minds for the time being, as long as the pesky Christians leave them alone. Unfortunately, denial of the truth does not change it at all, but rather leaves them in the position of trying to stamp out all evidence of God around them.

Another response is to try to redeem oneself through religious experience or good works. This is a popular belief these days; that our good works and bad actions are held in some cosmic balance and if we just have more good than bad, we will get to go to heaven. The big dilemma here is that by whose standards are the good and bad balanced? Most people compare themselves to those whom they judge to be really bad, thus creating a scale skewed in their favor.

In Romans 3:23, Paul states that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” God’s expectations are not a slightly unbalanced scale on the side of good, but perfection. Fortunately, He made a way for us to find salvation even in our imperfection, as Paul goes on to show in the next verse: ”being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.”

The final response to the human problem of sin is to embrace Jesus the Savior that God himself sent to bear the penalty of our sin. Although the Lawgiver and the Judge, He is also the most loving redeemer who welcomes all who accept Him as their Savior. There is no better time than now to ask for God’s redeeming grace to bless your life!

Lisa Nordell-Detres is a mother or four, pastor’s wife and has worked in the garment and customer service industries in southern California. Besides writing, Lisa enjoys cooking, sewing, organic gardening, hiking, skiing and doing most anything outside.

Lisa was born and raised in Denver, Colorado, holds a Bachelor’s of Science in Fashion Design from Woodbury University and an MBA from California State University at Northridge. Lisa, her husband and their youngest child now live in central Oregon.