The late Czar Nicholas of Russia would sometimes walk about his military camps and barracks dressed as an ordinary officer, in order that he might know firsthand what was going on without being known by others.

Late one night, the Czar was making one of these tours of inspection and noticed a light under the paymaster's door. He opened the door quietly and stepped inside. There, a young officer—son of an old friend of the Czar—was seated at a table, his head resting on his arms, sound asleep. The Czar thought to awaken him, but changed his mind when he noticed a gun on the table along with some money, a sheet of paper, and a pen which had fallen from the hand of the sleeping man.

The Czar looked at the paper which contained a long list of gambling debts as well as other bad debts accumulated over a period of time. The debt amounted to thousands of rubles. The paymaster had realized how much he owed and how impossible it was for him to pay it. His only way out, so he thought, was to end it all with the gun as he could not face the disgrace which awaited him, having used the army funds to cover his debts. Weary with sorrow and remorse, he had written below the terrible total:

"WHO CAN PAY SO GREAT A DEBT?"

The Czar's first thought was to have him arrested. The nature of the crime was such that it could not be ignored. But as he pondered the matter he thought of his long friendship with the officer's father. A feeling of compassion took possession of him and he took up the pen which the officer had dropped and wrote just one word:

The young officer awoke soon after the Czar had gone, intending to end his life, but noticed the name "Nicholas" below his own question. He was astonished and could not believe what he saw! He compared the Czar's signature with that on other papers in his possession, and there was no doubt about its genuineness. Joy and shame filled his heart as he thought of the fact that the Czar knew all about his dishonesty and recklessness and yet was willing to pay his debt.

The following morning the money arrived from the Czar enough to pay "So Great a Debt" down to the last ruble. The Czar was as good as his name which he placed at the bottom of the sheet of the itemized debts, and the joy of the officer for this kindness could not be described. He would think of it the rest of his life.

This true story reminds us of something more wonderful which transpired long ago, but the value of which remains for time and eternity. The coming of Christ into the world was not, as some think, to show people how to live right and then eventually, perhaps, they could gain heaven by so-called good living. Far from it! His coming was for the express purpose of paying a debt that we were not able to pay, "to give His life a ransom" for sinners (Matthew 20:28; I Timothy 2:6).

The Bible says: "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." (Romans 3:23). We are all conscious of the fact that we have not lived up to the glory of God, but rather "All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all" (Isaiah 53:6).

The young officer lived as he liked until his debts caught up with him, and then realized his inability to pay them. The Czar was in a position to pay and to forgive the offender. This is true of Christ today. All sin is primarily against God Himself, and He was pleased to send His Son to pay the debt which indeed can be called "A GREAT DEBT." God can—and will—forgive anyone who places his trust in His Son, Jesus Christ, because He paid the debt we owed. When He cried from the Cross of Calvary, "It is finished" (John 19:30) and then bowed His head in death, He had paid the penalty for sin, having passed through those awful hours of judgment. God displayed His acceptance of that payment when He raised Christ from the dead. Now God can be just and the Justifier of him who believes in Jesus as personal Savior. Listen to these words: "Therefore let it be known to you ... that through this Man is preached to you the forgiveness of sins; and by Him everyone who believes is justified from all things from which you could not be justified by the law of Moses." (Acts 13:38,39).