Better Than We Deserve

Better Than We Deserve

Better Than We Deserve

Most of us at one time or another have been hooked on a TV series that involves police, detectives, and lawyers. When the day of reckoning comes in the courtroom many times the guilty go free. We feel like everyone has done their job if the guilty get what they deserve.
All of us have committed crimes; maybe not crimes that end up in a courtroom, but we have committed crimes against God. We call these crimes, sins. We have broken the law, God’s law; we are guilty as charged.
What are we guilty of? There are many crimes of which we are guilty. Galatians 5:19-21 tells us that we are selfish, jealous, divisive, angry, quarrelers and lists many other crimes. We can add other crimes to the list by looking at the commandments in Exodus 20. There is no shortage of crimes we have committed. A crime is committed every time we do not heed the command to “Love your neighbor as yourself.”
When a person is found guilty of a crime, punishment is required to satisfy the courts. The wonderful thing about God’s court is that He sent an advocate, a lawyer if you please, to plead our case.
“My dear children, I am writing this to you so that you will not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate who pleads our case before the Father. He is Jesus Christ, the one who is truly righteous.” I John 2:1 NLT
God is a righteous judge; Jesus is a righteous lawyer. We are guilty, no doubt. We deserve to pay for our crimes. Not only did Jesus plead our case when we were found guilty, He took the punishment as well; we are guilty, yet we are able to go free.
“He canceled the record of the charges against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross.” Colossians 2:14 NLT
Wow, what a feeling to leave a courtroom knowing you are free. We have been made right with God. Our record is clean; we are pardoned.
“For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ.” 2 Corinthians 5:21 NLT
I greeted someone one morning with the usual “Good morning, how are you?” not expecting anything else but a “Fine, how are you?” greeting. Instead he said, “Better than I deserve!” I had never heard a response like that before, but since then I have heard it many times. Every time I hear it, I always stop and think Yes, we are all better than we deserve.
Thank you, God, that “we are better than we deserve.”

–Colleen Morrison