Justice

            It was recently reported in Newsmax Magazine that in Spain a man was traveling one hundred miles per hour in a fifty-five mile per hour zone. While in this violation, he hit and killed a seventeen-year-old boy. The family of the boy was compensated forty-eight thousand dollars by the violator’s insurance company. In a strange twist, the Spanish court ruled “mutual fault” because the boy was not wearing a helmet or reflective clothing. The unlawful driver is now suing the family of the boy for twenty-nine thousand dollars to repair the damage to his Audi. Is this not appalling to the very nature of justice? Is this not an example of the inmates loose and running the insane asylum?

           Let’s discuss justice today and see what enlightening insight God’s Word gives us.

1. God is just.
           Abraham asked a question: “…Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?” (Genesis 18:25). Later Moses tells us, “He is the Rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he” (Deuteronomy 32:4). God is just! God is just in all He does. God is just when it is hard for us to explain. Allow me to give you an illustration. Jesus passed judgment upon Capernaum with these harsh words: “And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted unto heaven, shalt be brought down to hell: for if the mighty works, which have been done in thee, had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. But I say unto you, That it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment, than for thee” (Matthew 11:23, 24). Although it may be hard to understand, keep in mind, Sodom had no Bible. Capernaum not only had the physicality of the Old Testament (Torah), which prophesied of Christ, but they had the Living Christ in their midst with power to do wondrous miracles. Yet they did not believe. In commenting about this, Dr. Vance Havner said, “Judgment is in proportion not to how many sins we have committed, but how much light we have rejected.” God’s scale is always right: “A false balance is abomination to the LORD: but a just weight is his delight” (Proverbs 11:1).         

 2. When justice is not in vogue, values are distorted and blocked.
           “And judgment is turned away backward, and justice standeth afar off: for truth is fallen in the street, and equity cannot enter” (Isaiah 59:14). The farther a nation or community strays away from God and His value system as exemplified in the Ten Commandments, the more distorted values become. Have you ever seen traffic backed up for a mile or so, then discover that one car broken down is causing it all? By the same token, when the justice of God is broken down (truth is fallen in the street) among a people, there is a moral back-up (equity cannot enter) that is defiling.

           One of my father’s most famous sermons was entitled, “Please Pass the Salt.” His application was that when you ask for table salt, the pepper is most often passed with it. His point was that when we invite one sin into our life, another one comes on its heels. Today we see a lifestyle applauded by our society that displeases God and “…justice standeth afar off….”   
      
3. God requires government to enforce justice.
           King David said to his heir, Solomon, “The God of Israel said, the Rock of Israel spake to me, He that ruleth over men must be just, ruling in the fear of God” (II Samuel 23:3). Even the Queen of Sheba recognized in Solomon this high sense of justice when she declared, “Blessed be the LORD thy God, which delighted in thee, to set thee on the throne of Israel: because the LORD loved Israel for ever, therefore made he thee king, to do judgment and justice” (I Kings 10:9).

          God said in the New Testament in reference to rulers, “For he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil” (Romans 13:4). Anarchy abounds where justice is not enforced. The root of “anarchy” means “without ruler.”

4. God commands mercy to pour out of justice.
          “Defend the poor and fatherless: do justice to the afflicted and needy” (Psalms 82:3). “Justice and judgment are the habitation of thy throne: mercy and truth shall go before thy face” (Psalm 89:14). “He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?” (Micah 6:8).

          God is holy and just, yet He is love and mercy. How does a holy God not only delight in showing mercy, but how can He show mercy without contradicting His high sense of holiness? The answer is given in the next point:

5.God took justice on the cross so we might be recipients of mercy.
          “Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in –Christ Jesus: Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus” (Romans 3: 24-26). This Wonderful, Just Justifier became sin for us, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him (II Corinthians 5:21). It is from this vantage point that we launch into worldwide missions. Because Christ died for us, we are obligated to share this redemptive truth with the whole world. “Let the redeemed of the LORD say so, whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy” (Psalm 107:2).

- Pastor Pope -

 

Back to Pastor's Word