Outside the classroom Door.

Conner was a boy in my year 8 English class. Unfortunately, I (and others) had to discipline him on a regular basis. One Friday afternoon during a class oral presentation which required respect for the students presenting, I had to “drop Kick” him from the classroom. I had demonstrated anger. Afterall my name is Ross (Wrath.) I mulled the incident over in my mind all weekend. On Monday morning I had him again. I pulled my chair up in front of his desk. “Conner” I said, “I’d like to talk to you about Friday.” A worried looked settled over his face expecting another negative lecture. I proceeded, “Conner, when I deal with you the way I did on Friday I don’t want you to ever think that I don’t like you. In fact, the opposite is the case…” I proceeded to recount all the good qualities in his character and his potential for the future and for life. There was now a big smile on his face as he inwardly acknowledged acceptance and love despite his behaviour. “However, Conner,” I continued “I have the same problem on a small scale that God has with the Universe. The classroom is like a miniature cosmos. In the Universe the wages of sin is death. Ours is a planet in rebellion and our original parents were instructed that if they sinned, they would die. God must be seen by the universe to be dealing with sin. He cannot excuse it, allow it, or ignore it. If He did then sin would spread like a cancer throughout the whole creation. So it is in the classroom” I continued, “If I do not deal with your behaviour then it becomes infectious and disruptive throughout the whole classroom. If I am soft on you then other students pick up on that softness and before long there would be chaos in the class, just as there would be in the whole universe if God was seen to be excusing it or allowing sin.” “So” I concluded “in the classroom the wages of sin is also death in a metaphorical sense.”

You know what, Conner agreed, and you would also be surprised at the change in that young man’s classroom behaviour. He wasn’t perfect, but when he transgressed, he was easier to pull back into line, even apologizing sometimes for being a disruption.

On a cosmic scale God has dealt with sin and its penalty by not only demonstrating that the wages of sin is death for all descendants of Adam, but by also showing that the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus the Lord. He did this by offering us an exchange made at the cross. Our sins become His so that we can have his perfection. Our death becomes His so that his life can become ours. That’s the exchange made at the cross. It’s a gift. If we don’t accept it and take the offer, then we must pay our own penalty with our own life, “outside the classroom door” so to speak.