Opening Illustration: 9/11
Why do bad things happen to good people?
Why do good things happen to bad people?
Dictionary:
1) the quality of being righteous
2) impartiality; fairness
3) reward or penalty as deserved; just desserts
A.W. Tozer:
Justice embodies the idea of moral equity, and iniquity is the exact opposite; it is in-equity, the absence of equity from human thoughts and acts. Judgment is the application of equity to moral situations and may be favorable or unfavorable according to whether the one under examination has been equitable or inequitable in heart and conduct.
Illustration: Timeline
We live in that brief segment of time during which a good, sovereign, holy, wise and just God is interacting with a fallen world. Our world is already under judgment due to sin and no part of our lives is untouched by sin. That’s the nature of life within the parentheses:
God’s justice is revealed very early on in the Bible:
• Cain is judged for Abel’s murder
• The world is judged for the epidemic of sin by the flood
• The arrogance of man is judged at Babel
• God is determined to judge Sodom and Gomorrah for their wickedness and reveals to Abraham what He is about to do:
Far be it from you to do such a thing - to kill the righteous with the wicked, treating the righteous and the wicked alike. Far be it from you! Will not the Judge of all the earth do right?"
Genesis 18:25 (NIV)
Chip Ingram:
Life during the brief segment of human history may not always be fair. But when life inside and outside the segment are taken into account together, God’s justice will be perfect. In the big picture, he makes all things right…Between this life and the life to come, you and I can know that no person who has ever lived will get a raw deal – even if it looks that way right now.
How does God reveal His justice?
• Through the natural order
The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities - his eternal power and divine nature - have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.
Romans 1:18-20 (NIV)
“Whatever goes around, comes around” – this higher law of justice is ingrained in God’s natural order. While we can all cite exceptions to the rule, we can’t deny that is the “normal” pattern.
• Through the human heart
Even when Gentiles, who do not have God’s written law, instinctively follow what the law says, they show that in their hearts they know right from wrong. They demonstrate that God’s law is written within them, for their own consciences either accuse them or tell them they are doing what is right. The day will surely come when God, by Jesus Christ, will judge everyone’s secret life. This is my message.
Romans 2:14-16 (NIV)
God has built into the hearts of all men an internal law that tells them right from wrong. In other words, the human heart internalizes what is observed in the natural order. Again, this doesn’t always work perfectly in a fallen world, but it is the normal pattern.
• Through His role as judge
For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to all men by raising him from the dead."
Acts 17:31 (NIV)
Not only does God have the ongoing role as judge throughout history, the Bible is also clear that one day he will be the final judge over all people for all of history.
We often use a statue of a blindfolded woman to picture the idea of impartial justice. But God is not blinded when he judges. He judges with goodness, sovereignty, holiness and wisdom.
• Through the cross
God presented him [Jesus] as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished - he did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.
Romans 3:25-26 (NIV)
Why did God allow His Son to die on the cross? To demonstrate His justice. Because God is just, He had to judge all the sins that he had left unpunished up to the time Jesus came to this earth and died on the cross. But instead of bringing that punishment upon us, His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ became a sacrifice of atonement for us.
o atonement = covering; Jesus covered our sin, not by hiding it or pretending it didn’t happen, but by replacing our great offense against God with His sacrificial death. Jesus bled, died and suffered in our place.
Through the cross, God satisfied all His attributes at once – his goodness, holiness and justice in particular.
What God’s justice demanded, his love provided.
• Through the promise of eternal retribution
Retribution = the account is settled; you get something for what you do.
o For believers
By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as an expert builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should be careful how he builds. For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man’s work. If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward. If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames.
1 Corinthians 3:10-15 (NIV)
Retribution for believers has a limit. The fact of heaven and eternal life is not in question, but the quality of our heavenly experience will. We will either be purified and rewarded or we will see the smoldering ruins of unused gifts.
o For unbelievers
Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment
Hebrews 9:27 (NIV)
Hell is one of the clearest evidences of God’s justice. God has reserved a place for those who choose to reject Him and follow their own way. A good God never sends anyone to hell. Those who go there have chosen to be there.
How do we respond to God’s justice?
• Choose to embrace Jesus
o Either by embracing Him for the first time or returning with a deeper understanding
o Choose to do now what everyone on the planet will eventually be compelled to do:
Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Philippians 2:9-11 (NIV)
Jesus’ promise for those who choose to embrace Him:
“The Father handed all authority to judge over to the Son so that the Son will be honored equally with the Father. Anyone who dishonors the Son, dishonors the Father, for it was the Father’s decision to put the Son in the place of honor. It’s urgent that you listen carefully to this: Anyone here who believes what I am saying right now and aligns himself with the Father, who has in fact put me in charge, has at this very moment the real, lasting life and is no longer condemned to be an outsider. This person has taken a giant step from the world of the dead to the world of the living.
John 5:22-24(Message)
Notice the present tense verbs. Eternal life is more than just some future benefit. It is the very best quality of life that I can enjoy right now. When I die, I just start fully enjoying the eternal life I have right now.
Invitation
• Refuse to seek vengeance
Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: "It is mine to avenge; I will repay," says the Lord. On the contrary: "If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head." Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
Romans 12:17-21 (NIV)
When we harbor bitterness and unresolved anger, when we think about or seek to obtain vengeance, what we’re really doing is a form of idolatry. We’re attempting to play God and take his place as the judge over the injustices of life.
• Take comfort in God’s justice
This third response goes hand in hand with the second. Instead of taking vengeance when we encounter injustice, we need to take comfort in the fact that God will eventually balance out the scales.
In Psalm 73, Asaph looks around at the prosperity of the wicked here on the earth and he is in great distress. But then we come to the middle of the Psalm and Asaph begins to focus on God’s justice and he is comforted:
When I tried to understand all this, it was oppressive to me till I entered the sanctuary of God; then I understood their final destiny. Surely you place them on slippery ground; you cast them down to ruin. How suddenly are they destroyed, completely swept away by terrors!
Psalm 73:16-19 (NIV)
• Meditate on the effects of God’s final judgment
For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.
2 Corinthians 5:10 (NIV)
If you are a believer, you need to do a spiritual heart check. Ask yourself this question: “If I continue to live for ten, thirty or fifty years with the same priorities, same use of my time, talents and treasure, the same passions and energy will I hear “Well done good and faithful servant’ or will I hear ‘What in the world did you do with what I gave you? How in light of all eternity and what I did on the cross, could you live such a self-centered, self-focused, pleasure-seeking life and actually be one of my children?’”
