I watch crime shows fairly often, mostly because I am fascinated by neverending ways that people try to outwit police officers, detectives and others in their crimes. It never ceases to amaze me the lengths criminals will go to in order to plan their “perfect” crimes, and the tiny little things that trip them up. I am also amazed at the resources crimestoppers now have to catch said criminals.

In one recent show, however, I saw something so new and startling that God taught me a huge lesson from it.  There was a series of assaults, some very brutal, against several young women in this particular area.  The detectives were working their hardest but had very little to show for it.  As the days and months went by, they became more frustrated and determined to bring the attacker to justice.  They were also up against a statute of limitations in their state and it seemed they would not be able to meet that deadline.  Meanwhile more women were being victimized, and the assaults were getting worse.  Then one detective remembered a very seldom used law in their state…the John Doe indictment.

Because the attacker had been very, very careful there was little physical evidence to tie him to the crimes.  However, in one case, there was one drop of blood….yes, just ONE…left behind.  That one drop was big enough to be DNA tested, and a profile was issued from it.  At that moment, the John Doe law was used to get an indictment against that DNA profile…even though they still had no idea who the person was!  This would allow the criminal to be fully prosecuted, whether the statute of limitations expired or not.  In other words, this to-be-announced person was already in trouble and would be required to appear in court to answer charges whenever he/she was discovered!  As the show progressed, the attacker did get careless, and a victim was able to scratch him, leaving his DNA under her fingernails.  And it WAS after the statute had run out..but because of the earlier profile indictment, he was tried, found guilty, and sent to jail for life, with no possibility of parole.  As the DA said to him as he was being taken out, “if you were not going to jail, there would be more women”  to which the criminal answered, “Yes, there would have been”.

I couldn’t really believe what I had seen, until I went to the internet and discovered that John Doe was an active law in several states, although it had not been frequently used.  That’s when I had the moment of SPIRITUAL discovery from God.  You see, we all (the human race) eventually trace our roots back to Adam and Eve.  And although there are hundreds of centuries between our lives and theirs, we are their descendents.  Physical DNA will never prove that, but the Bible does.  And further, the Bible states that we are related to Adam and Eve in another way…spiritually.

You see, when Adam and Eve sinned in the garden, and were thrown out, and punished with separation from God, it affected ALL of us.  All.  No exceptions.  Instead of having a genealogical history of perfection and union with God, we inherited the drastic alternative of being sinners by nature…or by spiritual DNA.  And just like we cannot “undo” our DNA that gives us red hair, or blue eyes, or height or weight, we cannot undo our lost condition.  A condition that we are born with, because we inherited it.

AND YET!!  Unlike the attacker in the tv show, we do NOT have to pay the price for it!  Once we accept the life, death, and resurrection of the Lord as payment for our sins, and relinquish lordship of our lives to Him, we are RELEASED!  Unlike the man who was sent away from society to serve the remainder of his days in prison without parole, WE can become free.  Free from the penalty of sin (death), free from having to depend on our own power to escape, free to live in the light of the Word of God, and have Him as our constant guide.  GOD has paid the penalty for ALL the ugliness of our lives, no matter how long our “John Doe Indictment” was!  Even though we entered this world already indicted and heading for punishment, GOD took that away on the cross not only for one of us, or two, or people living then…but ALL the punishment for the rest of time by ALL who come to Him in repentance.

John Doe Indictments are meant to catch and punish wrongdoers, even when they are not known.  God’s work on the cross is meant to forgive and release wrongdoers, even before they are born.  Have you been indicted?  Yes.  Are you still living that prison?  It’s up to you!  God is waiting for repentant hearts, and will not turn one away.  Amen.