The Impossible Exam
“There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who don’t walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus made me free from the law of sin and of death. For what the law couldn’t do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God did, sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh; that the ordinance of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.” (Romans 8:1-4 WEB)
There was once a teacher who punished his badly-behaved class of students by giving them an examination full of the world’s hardest questions spanning across all subjects and disciplines.
“Class, if any of you want to be dismissed from class, you must get full marks in this exam. If not, you will have to stay back for detention every day. To give you all an advantage, you may discuss the questions with your fellow classmates.”
Everyone in the class attempted the exam, but even the smartest students had many mistakes. It seemed impossible.
The classmates were all frantically flipping through all the textbooks in the classroom, but it was no use. The questions were just way out of their level.
Just when it seemed that all hope was lost, the teacher said, “Class, I see that you are all trying your very best to work together to do well on the exam. Tell you what—I cannot cancel the exam, but I will join your class as a student and attempt the exam with you. There is no rule against me joining as a student in your class.”
Since the teacher had set the exam based on the knowledge he had, he easily answered all the questions correctly. To whoever wanted to refer to his answers, the teacher allowed them to see and write the same answers.
The students were all overjoyed. One by one, they copied the answers, and handed in their exam papers, scoring full marks. They were finally able to go home. They had learnt their lesson, and decided to be more studious in the future.
——
God gave the children of Israel the Ten Commandments—an impossible exam for mankind. The Law is perfect, holy, and good, but it was weak through man’s sinful flesh.
Whoever wants to be justified through the Law must keep the Ten Commandments perfectly in both word and deed. Anything short of perfection is considered unrighteous. Everyone fails this exam.
Then, God revealed His master plan: Yahweh the Son became a man to take the impossible exam on our behalf.
He lived a sinless life for thirty-three and a half years, and offered up Himself as our atoning sacrifice for sins. The blood He shed at the cross and His death perfectly fulfilled the Law for everyone.
Whoever wants to refer to His answers can just take His answers as their own and get full marks on their exam. When we place our faith in Jesus as Lord, we share in Jesus’ death, resurrection, and become a new creation in Christ. We are finally eligible to go home to our Abba God in Heaven!
It takes humility for a person to admit that he is a sinner that has no hope of deserving salvation by his own works. God is so holy that even one sinful thought can make you unrighteous. Perfection is needed. The way to be saved is by grace through faith in Jesus Christ as Lord!
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