He stood up before the judge and the two men who had viciously taken the life of his son to read his victim impact statement before the sentencing: Your Honor, I have suffered a great loss, that of my only child. These men have taken his precious life from me and I will never have the privilege of watching him become the man he should have been, raise a family and bear grandchildren to my name. I therefore humbly ask that you consider my request to present this proposal to the murderers of my son…
They may choose to pay for their crimes and live out the rest of their lives in prison, or they may become my sons (following in my footsteps) with all rights and privileges therein. The judge agreed to the request, and the proposal was put forth to the two men guilty of murder. One of the men laughed derisively at the father calling him a fool and was led off to prison, but the other guilty man accepted the proposal, and walked home with the father as his son.
Does this seem like a crazy, far-fetched story? Actually, it is the very real situation that you and I- the whole world really- are in today. The Father deeply loved Jesus, “As the Father hath loved me…” (John 15:9) We despised the Son; we murdered Him by rejecting what He did for us and instead of instant condemnation, the Father gave us a choice: follow Him and become His sons, or pay the penalty for our sin.
In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 1John 4:9,10
He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? Rom.
But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. Gal. 4:4,5
Why, oh why would the Father ever consider such a proposal? It is for love of us, His lost ones on our path to the judgment we deserve. His love is proven in the very fact He sent His only Son down in the weak and mortal body of a human to show us the way of life, though the Father knew what we would do to Jesus. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten son…” (John 3:16) Crazy or not, the Father loves us and gives us a choice to follow Him and be His sons:
-Disregard and walk away from His proposal for your life and face judgment… (Rom.
-Or believe and accept His offer (though undeserved) and be adopted into His family. (Rom. ,15; Eph. 1:5)
For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Rom. ,39