The Difference in Jesus and O. J. (and the rest of us)

    Did O. J. do it or not? If you don’t know what I’m referring to (or don’t care) you were probably born after about, say, 1990. In what was hailed as the "trial of the century" O. J. Simpson was tried on two counts of murder for the June 12, 1994 deaths of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and a friend of hers – restaurant waiter Ron Goldman. The trial was held at Los Angeles County Superior Court. Opening statements began on January 24, 1995 and continued until October 3, 1995 when the jury returned a "not guilty" verdict and acquitted Simpson of both murders. Simpson – a retired NFL running back / actor / sportscaster – was widely known, very popular, and wealthy enough to assemble a group of high-profile defense lawyers who came to be known as the "Dream Team." Surveys showed dramatic differences in opinion between black and white Americans over Simpson’s guilt or innocence. Did O. J. do it or not? People are still divided about that. But whether he did or not, a duly selected jury acquitted him, so, as far as the legal record goes, he is innocent. The rancor and debate over his guilt / innocence makes me think of a story I once read. A man told about being selected as foreman for the jury he was serving on. "We deliberated after the trial and ended up acquitting the defendant. When we came back into the court room I announced our decision to the judge. He chastised us: ‘How in the world were you able to acquit?’ I replied, ‘Insanity.’ He retorted with great irritation, ‘All twelve of you?’ "

    Let us consider a trial that concerns all of us – not in a human criminal court but in God’s court. The trial is described in the New Testament book of ROMANS. For 64 verses beginning in Romans 1:18 all the way through Romans 3:20 the apostle Paul indicts every responsible person on earth as being guilty of sin. A summary can be found at 3:9-10 – "they are all under sin . . . There is none righteous, no, not one." Further, at 3:19 we read that "every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God." A further indictment of our spiritual guilt before God is in Romans 3:23– "for all have sinned [past tense – we’ve all done it] and fall short [present tense – we’re all doing it] of the glory of God." Turns out O. J. is guilty – if not murder, for sure of other sins! But, then again, so am I – and so are you! What can we do? Thank God we have, not a dream team, but a Divine Team! Romans 3:21-26 explains that in spite of our sin against God and guilt before God, He initiated a plan that makes acquittal available to any and all who will come to Him through Christ. When we come to God on gospel terms, we are "justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus" (3:24). Without cost to us or cause in us, God arranged that He could be both "just and justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus" (3:26). That required the shedding of Christ’s blood on the cross (3:25). Now don’t miss the difference in Jesus and O. J., and the rest of us. At the cross Jesus "suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God" (1 Peter 3:18). There’s the difference in Jesus and O. J. – regarding sin, Jesus was totally innocent, but O. J. is guilty, and so are the rest of us. Yet, incredibly, Jesus suffered the punishment we deserve so that in God’s court we can be acquitted and be saved! Is that gospel or what?! Think about it.

Dan Gulley, Smithville, TN