Human sin takes many forms and some are far more gruesome than are others. This time, the victim was fortunate and may well live a long and full life - God willing. Others in similar situations have not done so well and left memories and scares on loved ones that may never fully heal. But when it comes to perpetrators of such vile acts as this one, most hope that these do get exactly what they deserve. And as easily understood as that outlook may be, the Bible indicates that same grim outcome to be true for everyone – even most who would never conceive of a crime of this magnitude.
Scripture maintains that all have sinned and all have of fallen short of attaining God’s holy standard! The Old Testament confirms this harsh reality in Psalm 53:3. The passage was written by a great man of God and one all too familiar with sin – serious sin! King David says there of the entire race, “Every one of them has turned aside; They have together become corrupt; There is none who does good, No, not one.” Then again in Romans 5, Paul reminds the reader how the amazing love of God has been mightily shown to every desperately flawed, and fully undeserving, man or woman. In verse 8 he records, “In that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
Because of those 11 short words, not all will get “exactly what they deserve.” Instead, the opposite will be the case for some. The reason is provided in that fifth chapter. Right on the heels of the above verse, verse 9 reads, “Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him.” This clearly confirms the ultimate promise of not getting what we all deserve. It declares that some will not face eternal judgement for their willing and dreadful disobedience against their great Creator. But why is this true for some but tragically not others?
Hopefully Hannah Anderson has, or will realize in the healing days to come, that even as the innocent victim of this terrible offense, she and all of us with her can escape getting exactly what we, too, deserve. That can be true only by recognizing our deadly faults and then trusting in the One who got exactly what He did not deserve in order to save us! The Son of God sacrificed Himself willingly to pay the price of sin – all sin and every level of sin! Despite our initial lost spiritual state, He has given each of us the glorious opportunity to avoid the fully deserved penalty of eternal suffering and separation from Himself forever. It is through saving faith in Christ that we can all be spiritually rescued from a wilderness of sin and given in its place a new heart, a new life and a new eternal destiny!
Bill Breckenridge
