A week ago I completed my entire physics course. Ahhh... it feels good to be free of that; talk about the advantages of homeschool! I didn't want to ever think about physics again if possible! And then... surprise! My Mom asks me if I can check all of the tests that she hadn't yet attempted to check--only about 10 of them backlogged from January! I'm honored, thrilled, excited... not. But I knew that it was just because she didn't have the confidence that she could score them fairly when she didn't understand the concepts herself. So I decided to tackle it Wednesday. Except it was kind-of late when I started, and it sort-of took a rather long time, so it was, like, 1:10 a.m. Thursday morning (yawn) when I finally finished. As I checked it, of course I found plenty of wrong answers. Some of them seemed only kind-of wrong-ish, but I'm a perfectionist so I was pretty tough on myself. :) Then I had to write a fraction thingy with points earned over the total possible points on each test so my Mom could calculate the score--I left that job for her cuz I didn't have a calculator handy. Some of the test scores weren't very impressive--but give me a break, physics is tough! Some were pretty good, and I'm like, "Yay me!" Two of them, amazingly, were perfect scores--100%. I have no idea how I did that, but I was pretty happy. And the two A+s will help even out the total physics grade so the not-so-good scores won't matter as much. So what's my point? Well, I do actually have one. :)
But, I won't get to it yet. Because I have another illustration (well, actually, this one is borrowed from my dad :-) And I like illustrations. Think for a moment about bowling. I love bowling! In fact, I'm going to have a bowling party with my Sunday School class this Saturday, and I'm excited! But, to be honest, I'm really not that good. At all. I've never been able to get a score much past 100. But I know some worse bowlers... so, I don't feel that bad. I mean, I could really cream them. Leave those gutterball kings and queens in the dust. On the other hand, I know some really good bowlers. I once watched a guy from my church get strikes for about 4 or 5 turns in a row! Impressive. Me, I just randomly do really good and get a strike or spare, and then, next thing you know, I'm cranking out gutterballs. You win some, you lose some.
Here's my point. Grading physics or going bowling is a little bit like life. You do some pretty stupid things. Make some "mistakes." Hmm... I guess that makes you a "mistaker."1 Maybe you'll be honest and call them sins. Meaning you're a sinner. But, you also do some good things! Maybe really good.
The problem is a lot of people believe that the good they do will make up for the bad. They compare themselves with Hitler or Joseph Kony and say, "Hey, I'm not that bad after all. Surely my good evens out the bad a little, and I end up pretty high on the 'scale of goodness.'2 I mean, Mother Teresa and Billy Graham may be closer to the top, but at least I'm not too far away from them."
How foolish we are! It doesn't make me a genius just because I might have gotten better scores in physics than the next guy. Neither of us are anywhere close to being Albert Einstein (who could have aced a course much harder than mine). I'll never be a pro bowler just because I get a better score than my sister, and I'm not too much worse than the guy with a bunch of strikes. None of the three of us are Parker Bohn III (who has bowled 85 perfect games).3
You see, Mother Teresa isn't our standard of comparison. No way. People aren't looking high enough. Our standard is Jesus' righteousness. And where is He on the "scale of goodness"? He isn't. He's off the scale, through the roof, outside Earth's atmosphere, beyond the Milky Way, clear out of our universe that is supposed to be infinite. And then even past that. His righteousness exceeds our imagination. And when we're compared with Him, we all might as well be down there with Hitler; there's really no difference anymore. We all fall short of the 4.0 grade point, the perfect score, the glory of God. Far short. God's righteousness, holiness, and glory is too unattainable. We can never make it. Ever.
God doesn't mix up our "scores," find the average, and compare us with another fallible human. He looks at His perfect Son and pronounces the verdict. Guilty. That's justice. God is holy and just and can't do otherwise. Or He would be a liar. None of us could ever do enough good to make a bit of difference. It doesn't matter how many or few sins we've committed, we're all condemned, death-row inmates. The self-centered baby, the rebellious teen, the faithful church-goer, the grizzly murderer--all just as guilty. The punishment? Eternal death in Hell.
But, thankfully, the story doesn't end there. You see, God the Father sent His only Son, Jesus Christ, to pay the penalty for our sins--the punishment that we deserve. He alone could be the ultimate sacrifice because He was completely and totally sinless. So He died on the cross and took our place, suffering so we don't have to, providing a way for us to be saved for all eternity. When you agree with God that you are a sinner, confess your sins, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and ask Jesus to come into your heart and be your personal Lord and Savior, He will give you the free gift of salvation. No strings attached.
"If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." (1 John 1:9)
"Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved..." (Acts 16:31)
And then... then Jesus changes the score! He washes your filthy life in His own blood and clothes you with His ultimate righteousness. And when God looks at you, He pronounces the verdict. Not guilty. Why? Because He sees nothing but... His Son.
Praise God!!!
The gift is free, the choice is yours.
p.s. And that is what I got from checking my physics :)
JPK
I write and maintain a blog which I have entitled “accordingtothebook” and I’d like to invite you to follow it.
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