Justified!

For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. John 3. 17

What a big deal we make of self-justification - to others and even to ourselves. Why? There must be many reasons: from covering up our guilt to asserting our rights. The fact that we feel the need either shows how fragile we are or that we have something to hide!

But imagine how we are going to feel when the time comes to give an account to our Creator for the way we have lived our lives? Bearing in mind that we shall be standing before One who cannot be deceived, who knows our every move, who is aware of every thought we have ever had and every deed we have ever done, how shall we make our defence?

The Good News is that we don't have to - necessarily. I add that conditional because, in his grace, God allows us free will: we are not forced - by God at any rate. But that Good News is the back-story to Christmas: God entered creation in order to live a perfect life as a completely human being so that he could stand in our place at our judgment. It means that, instead of being assessed in terms of our own sinfulness, we can opt to be justified according to Jesus' righteousness.

How? By embracing Jesus as our Saviour and entrusting our lives to him. It really is as fundamental as that. There are no hidden obligations, no hoops to leap through. It will, however, change your life: because nothing else will matter quite as much and you will begin to see everything in relation to Christ and his gathering authority - over your life and over the whole of creation.