In the first devotion of this series, Welcome to our World, we saw a reason for the Lord to be born and live as a man on this earth. He came to warn us of danger (Hell) and guide us to safety (salvation through His blood.) Today, I hope we will find in the little illustration below, that maybe it wasn’t so strange for Jesus Christ to come into the world the way that He did. It says in Hebrews 4:15, “For we have not a high priest which cannot be touched with the feelings of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.” When Christ came, He came to save us, but along the way, He endured every possible thing a human being could go through – so, when Believers walk through the same trials, He could say, “I was there.” – And, when the time comes for Him to judge all men at the end of time, no person will be able to stand before His throne and say, “You don’t understand what I went through…” – for, as Hebrews says, He went through it all! He was tempted in all points!

With these thoughts in mind, let us read these words written by another…

At the end of time, billions of people were seated on a great plain before God’s throne. Most shrank back from the brilliant light before them, but some groups near the front talked heatedly. Not cringing, with cringing shame, but with belligerence. “Can God judge us? How can He know about suffering?” A snappy, pert, brunette ripped open a sleeve to reveal a tattooed number of a Nazi concentration camp. “We endured terror, beatings, torture and death.” In another group, a Negro boy lowered his collar, “What about this?” He demanded, showing an ugly rope burn – lynched for no crime but being black. In another crowd there was a school girl with sullen eyes, who had been brutalized and murdered, “Why should I suffer?” she murmured, “It wasn’t my fault.” Far away across the plain, hundreds of such groups, each with a complaint against God for the evil and suffering He had permitted in this world.

How lucky God was to live in heaven! … where there was sweetness and light, where there was no weeping or fear, no hunger nor hatred – what did God know of all that man had been forced to endure in this world? “For God lives a pretty sheltered life,” they said.

So each of these groups sent forth their leader, chosen before because they had suffered the most. A Jew, a Negro, a person from Hiroshima, a horribly deformed arthritic – and in the center of the vast plain, they consulted with each other…at last, they were ready to present their case. It was rather clever. Before God could be qualified to be their judge, He must have endured what they had endured. They decided this: God should be sentenced to live on earth as a man, let Him be born a Jew, let the legitimacy of His birth be doubted, give Him a work so difficult that even His family would think Him out of His mind, let Him be betrayed by even His closest friends. Let Him face false charges, let Him be tried by a prejudice jury, and convicted by a cowardly judge. Let Him be tortured, and at last, let Him see what it is to be terribly alone, then let Him die – so that there can be no doubt that He is dead, and let there be a great host of witnesses to verify it. Each of the leaders announced their portion of the sentence. Loud murmurings arose from the throng of the people assembled, and when the last had finished pronouncing sentence, the Judge on the throne stood up, and stretched out His hands.

There was a long silence.
No one uttered a word.
No one moved.
For suddenly all knew that God had already served His sentence…