We worship a God who defends. One of the beautiful things about God is that, wrapped up in his defense of man, is his power, his grace, his love, and his mercy. God defends out of strength and character. He defends, not because of our worth, but out of who he is.
Conversely, Satan is the “accuser”. (Revelation 12:10) Scripture tells us that he does this day and night. In other words, he doesn’t stop. The good news is that we have a defender who treats us with great love.
Movies and television series often depict defense lawyers of criminals. It is their duty to squash the charges brought against their clients. Theirs is a difficult job. They must often answer condemning evidence. When the guilty verdict is pronounced, the defense loses.
Almighty God is holy and just in all his ways, yet never loses a case as a defender, even though the evidence against all of humanity seems insurmountable. “All we like sheep have gone astray”. (Isaiah 53:6) “All have sinned and come short of the glory of God. (Romans 3:23) Everyone has chosen to sin and are guilty, but God will gladly defend anyone who places themselves in his hands.
How does he do this? Not by winking at sin, but by doing something about it! Hallelujah!
Before we come to God, we have no hope. There is no way out. Judgment is our only future, but God came to our defense and was punished on our behalf.
In John 8, we read a wonderful story of when Jesus came to the defense of a guilty woman. The crowd was ready to bring the death sentence down upon her. There was no hope because she was caught in the very act. Incidentally, all of us are in a similar position. We are all caught because a holy God has been present when we willingly sinned. One of the most well-known scripture verses is taken from this story. “He who is without sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone at her”. (John 8:7)
The scribes and the Pharisees were testing Jesus. They wanted to catch him. In order to be just, he had to agree with the law but what of his love for sinners? “They were saying this, testing him, so that they might have grounds for accusing Him”. (John 8:6) The scribes and Pharisees put Jesus in the place of a judge when Jesus Christ came to earth to be the defender. Oh yes, he is the righteous judge but, praise God, he is also the defender of mankind.
In the case of the woman caught in adultery, Jesus made a glorious statement. “I do not condemn you, either. Go. From now on sin no more”. (John 8:11) God defends, not because we are sinless, but because he paid the penalty already.
Some have wondered what Jesus wrote in the sand as the accusers were standing over him. Some think he listed the sins of the accusers who were looking on. We don’t know, but I wonder if he simply drew a cross in the sand. We appreciate your Comments