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Without courts who deliver righteousness and justice in our world, we are in trouble.

Imagine you live in a world where laws are ignored and everyone does what comes to his or her mind without any consequences.Very quickly evil would become ingrained in society. Mankind would quickly get into a downward spiral without hope of escape.There are many examples of this in history and in the Bible. In the days of Noah evil had become the order of the day.
Genesis 6:5-6 tells us:  The Lord saw how great man’s wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time. The Lord was grieved that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain. – (NIV84)

To restore sanity in the world, God had to execute judgement in order to remove all the evil. God was grieved and pain filled his heart. Nevertheless, God restarted His relationship with Noah and his family. But soon evil was still raising its ugly head again. God was in a dilemma. On one hand He loved the people that He had made. But on the other hand, God is righteous and can therefore not tolerate evil.Parents may understand this dilemma in a small way when they have to execute punishment to the children they love.

The book of Judges tells us that the downward cycle of evil continued to happen even amongst the people He showed so much love and care. Israel had seen the miracles of God like no other nation on earth. And yet we read in the Book of Judges:After that whole generation had been gathered to their ancestors, another generation grew up who knew neither the LORD nor what he had done for Israel. Then the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the LORD and served the Baals. Judges 2:10-11 (NIV)

The statement “they did evil in the eyes of the Lord” appears at least seven times in the book of Judges.Only when God appointed a Judge would sanity be restored in the land.
Sadly, this is the story of mankind. Man sinned and the result was death and evil.Thank God, this is not the end of the story. God decided to work for the redemption of the people He created in His own image.
Consider the powerful word of John 3:16-17: “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.  – (NIV84)

Jesus Christ became the lamb of God who carried our sin. He endured the judgement of God on our behalf at the cross of calvary. Jesus was innocent, but He agreed to carry our iniquity and our judgement.
It was hard for God to judge His own Son, but there was no other way for our salvation, unless evil and sin were to be judged.This is what the prophet Isaiah declared over 700 years before Christ came: Isaiah 53:5-6: But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.  – (NIV84)

This is what Easter is all about. Forget about Easter bunnies and sweets. Rather meditate upon the judgement that Jesus carried on our behalf. Only when we believe in Him are we free of judgment and can live in peace with God and fellow men.

Helmut Reutter