Credit — what a great thing it is! It enables us to buy things that might otherwise be out of reach. Vacations for adventure; cars and clothes for style; electronics for entertainment; homes for security and comfort: All these things can be bought on credit. But there is a “catch.” The money that is borrowed has to be paid back. It can get people in a lot of trouble when the bills come due and they do not have the means to make a payment. Credit ratings fall, repossessions begin, and wages may even be garnished. Credit which seemed like a wonderful thing just a short while ago may seem pretty foolish then.
In our society that likes to buy now and pay later, many people have learned difficult lessons about credit. Do you know that sinners are living on credit, that is, borrowed time before God? Their situation is analogous to someone who has gone on a spending binge and none of the bills have come due yet, but they will soon, and they have no way to cover their debts. You see, there is a “catch” to living apart from God in sin. At some future moment, sinners will come into judgment for what they have done on earth. Second Corinthians 5:10 reads, “We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.”
Take note: Someone who has overspent on credit may appear very happy for a short time. But when the bills come due, the happiness has a way of vanishing away. The same scenario takes place in the lives of sinners.
They may appear happy for a season as they pursue sinful pleasures and leave God out of their lives, but that happiness must be short-lived because God, the just Judge of all the earth, must punish sin.
A Long-Term Solution
It is absolutely certain that at some future moment, God will demand payment for the sinful acts in each person’s life. Sin has earned a debt requiring everlasting punishment. “The wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:2323For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Romans 6:23)). And this death includes not only separation of body and soul, but also the separation of God from the soul in the darkness of hell.
What does a sinner have in their possession to cover such a debt?
Nothing! This is why the Lord Jesus came to earth and gave His life for sinners. “Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures” (1 Corinthians 15:3).
Oh the love and mercy of God! When He saw the world of lost sinners speeding on to hell, He opened His heart and sent His Son the Lord Jesus into the world. “The Father sent the Son to be the Savior of the world” (1 John 4:1414But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life. (John 4:14)). The Lord Jesus died on the cross so that the debt of sin might be paid for all those who would believe on Him. “The wages of sin is death,” as we quoted before, “but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Because of His death in the sinner’s place, all those who believe on Him have the debt of eternal punishment wiped off their accounts. From the God who would have judged them and sent them to their eternal destruction, they may instead receive the forgiveness of sins and the gift of eternal life. Could anything be greater than this?
With credit, many people think they can buy all sorts of things that bring happiness and contentment. But true happiness and contentment are not to be found in created things. God has made our hearts so large that only He Himself could ever fill them. God is waiting for you to return to Him by faith in the Lord Jesus. He wants you to come to know Him and love Him. Oh, won’t you end the mad spending spree where you think you can rush after sin as if you will never come into judgment, and instead place your trust in the God who made you and loves you?
Some people are blinded by their rush to buy and have now. But there are more serious forms of blindness. Read Bandits Use Pepper to learn more.