God's Justice
Notes
Transcript
Intro
What Justice looks like in the world around us.
Law & Order
Victim
Perpetrator
The Law
Judge
Jail
Justice = What you deserve
All people have a baseline of what they deserve based upon the dignity of being created in Christ Jesus.
Law - This is the standard that is set that we must uphold.
Actions - You either uphold or transgress the law.
Judgement - Your actions will be held to account. Viewed as righteous or unrighteous.
Wages - Getting what you have earned.
The great intervention: Grace
Hebrew word: Shaphat - Justice and Judgement are the dual meaning.
When Saul returned from following the Philistines, he was told, “Behold, David is in the wilderness of Engedi.”
Then Saul took three thousand chosen men out of all Israel and went to seek David and his men in front of the Wildgoats’ Rocks.
And he came to the sheepfolds by the way, where there was a cave, and Saul went in to relieve himself. Now David and his men were sitting in the innermost parts of the cave.
And the men of David said to him, “Here is the day of which the Lord said to you, ‘Behold, I will give your enemy into your hand, and you shall do to him as it shall seem good to you.’ ” Then David arose and stealthily cut off a corner of Saul’s robe.
And afterward David’s heart struck him, because he had cut off a corner of Saul’s robe.
He said to his men, “The Lord forbid that I should do this thing to my lord, the Lord’s anointed, to put out my hand against him, seeing he is the Lord’s anointed.”
So David persuaded his men with these words and did not permit them to attack Saul. And Saul rose up and left the cave and went on his way.
Afterward David also arose and went out of the cave, and called after Saul, “My lord the king!” And when Saul looked behind him, David bowed with his face to the earth and paid homage.
And David said to Saul, “Why do you listen to the words of men who say, ‘Behold, David seeks your harm’?
Behold, this day your eyes have seen how the Lord gave you today into my hand in the cave. And some told me to kill you, but I spared you. I said, ‘I will not put out my hand against my lord, for he is the Lord’s anointed.’
See, my father, see the corner of your robe in my hand. For by the fact that I cut off the corner of your robe and did not kill you, you may know and see that there is no wrong or treason in my hands. I have not sinned against you, though you hunt my life to take it.
May the Lord judge between me and you, may the Lord avenge me against you, but my hand shall not be against you.
As the proverb of the ancients says, ‘Out of the wicked comes wickedness.’ But my hand shall not be against you.
After whom has the king of Israel come out? After whom do you pursue? After a dead dog! After a flea!
May the Lord therefore be judge and give sentence between me and you, and see to it and plead my cause and deliver me from your hand.”
As soon as David had finished speaking these words to Saul, Saul said, “Is this your voice, my son David?” And Saul lifted up his voice and wept.
He said to David, “You are more righteous than I, for you have repaid me good, whereas I have repaid you evil.
And you have declared this day how you have dealt well with me, in that you did not kill me when the Lord put me into your hands.
For if a man finds his enemy, will he let him go away safe? So may the Lord reward you with good for what you have done to me this day.
And now, behold, I know that you shall surely be king, and that the kingdom of Israel shall be established in your hand.
Swear to me therefore by the Lord that you will not cut off my offspring after me, and that you will not destroy my name out of my father’s house.”
And David swore this to Saul. Then Saul went home, but David and his men went up to the stronghold.
God’s Justice Respects Established Authority
God’s Justice Respects Established Authority
We See David Respect the King’s Authority.
God Establishes Authority.
We are called to respect that authority.
Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God.
Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment.
We cannot use unrighteousness to accomplish righteousness.
There is a vast and complicated moral and ethical pool that we could, but are not going to wade into at this point, simply understand:
As a general rule, you should not do something that is wrong, to accomplish and end that is right.
You should take what legitimate action you can to change the outcome.
This requires trust in God.
God hates abuse of power.
Throughout scripture it is clear that those who abuse the power that the Lord has given them will face his wrath. A few examples of this in Scripture:
Pharoah
The Pharisees
The rich man and Lazarus.
James warning to the wealthy who abuse their workers in James 5.
God’s Justice is Built Upon a Foundation of Grace
God’s Justice is Built Upon a Foundation of Grace
David Spared Saul’s Life
While he had cause to come against
We can and should give opportunity for repentance to those who have wronged us.
This does not mean that we always leave things just as they were before
David did not go back home with Saul.
However, it does mean that vengeance is not ours to repay.
God has given us great grace, and we must remember that this is how we are called to interact with others.
Justice Calls us to Repay Evil with Good
We can and should give opportunity for repentance to those who have wronged us.
We will get more into this, and why this is so important in just a bit.
Justice Means that We Seek to Right Injustices in the world.
There is a baseline dignity that all people deserve as they are created in God’s image.
We are called to right these wrongs.
Often God’s word talks about seeking justice for the orphaned, the widow, the afflicted, and the oppressed.
We use God’s Word as the standard.
We often have “1st world problems”
The worst thing you know is the worst thing you know.
That doesn’t make it this kind of injustice.
We must be committed to living out God’s Justice in our life always.
This is not something we do when it is convenient. David spared Saul, even though Saul was there to end David’s Life.
His Justice Not Ours.
Cannot Change when Convenient.
God Blesses Those Who Walk in Justice.
Saul says this to David.
God’s Justice belongs to Him
God’s Justice belongs to Him
God is Just
Bound in God’s Character
He is the only one who can be a righteous judge.
The different uses of the idea of Judgment
“Only God can judge me” is correct… but the issue in our language is that we use judge in two different ways.
Judging as examination of people next to the law.
We are called to do this. With both those who are lost and saved:
Sharing the Gospel holds people to account for their sin.
We admonish and build each other up as we
Judging as establishing a verdict about a person.
We cannot establish a verdict about a person.
In Matthew 7:2-5
For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you.
Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?
Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye?
You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.
This reinforces the idea that we are not in the place to be the arbiters of God’s Justice.
This is when and why people hate hypocrisy.
When you confront sin, do you do it as one who is a fellow sinner leading others to the father?
Or do you approach it as a person who is above the one you are correcting.
As D.A. Carson said, “We are never more than poor beggars telling other poor beggars where there is bread.”
This passage reinforcers this idea and gives a better picture of how exactly David is approaching this situation.
The beauty of obedience is Scripture being present in the very actions and activities of our lives.
Why do you pass judgment on your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God;
for it is written, “As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.”
So then each of us will give an account of himself to God.
This idea is prevalent in Scripture. We are not called to execute judgment and condemn people, rather we are called to be gracious and merciful to them. Because God is the ultimate Judge.
This is why David stood before Saul and said:
The Lord will judge between them, but David will not raise his hand against Saul.
He trusts that The Lord will be the one who will judge between them and will pay back Saul for what he has done.
This is the embodiment of this passage in Romans 12:17-21
Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all.
If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.
Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.”
To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.”
Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
Our graciousness and Mercy serves the purpose of pointing them to the Father, the one who will ultimately judge them, but also will show them great grace.
If we live in this way, people should be able to see God’s grace through us.
The Gospel message will have real impact when people can see a foretaste of God’s grace through our actions.
All people will stand before God and give an account.
Because God is just and we are sinful, if we stand before him on our own, we will receive the just wages for our actions.
Romans 6:23 tells us that those wages we have earned are death. But that isn’t the end of the verse.
For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Because of Christ, we can made right with God.
For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
Christ, God in the flesh, lived the life we could not: fulfilling the law. Totally righteous and without fault, gave himself so that if we would believe, we might be saved.
Our debt that we owed, the wages that we earned covered by the blood of Christ, so that we might stand before God Justified.
This is the core of what it means to be a Christian. Through Christ we can be justified before God, by faith.
This means that when we stand before God we will be counted as righteous, not because of what we have done, but because of what Christ has done.