Holland Rescue Mission. A snowy Thursday evening. After having the wonderful privilege of leading worship, I took my seat among the group.


"It is finished!"


The room was overcome with an eerie silence. In the midst of loud coughs from years of smoking, heavy eyes from sleepless nights, and souls deeply in need of comfort, the gospel was proclaimed. Beautifully. Passionately. 
With tear filled eyes he spoke of a judge. Humbly he spoke of a man who plead guilty: whose future seemed to hold nothing but a life of payment for his crime. 


"You are free to go", said the judge.


Free? No sentence? No payment?
To the world it seems as if justice had not been served.
But.
That judge knew grace. The crime of the man had already been paid for by another.
With wide smiles and broken spirits,
We rejoiced.
Because we are just as the man who committed the crime. We deserve to pay.
But.
Our God, the Judge: He knows grace. Our sin has been paid for.
What a wonderful call to rejoice and be glad!
Our hope is not in our ourselves,
but in the life and death of another. Jesus. King of Kings. Lord of Lords. Emmanuel. The Lamb. Jehovah. Alpha and Omega. Light of God. Bread of Life. Our Mediator.


He has conquered. He is victorious.
Rejoice with me.