The Justice Problem

(This past week at Summer camp was amazing. Some of you professed faith in Jesus for the first time. Some of you had new revelations of Gods love. Some of you developed new and deeper friendships. God moved and it was cool to watch.

Now that we are back, we are returning to the book of Jude. This may seem like a joy-kill because Jude is mostly about false teachers. I have never been to a camp that teaches on church discipline, false teachers, or persecution. Can you imagine?

Why do we cover all of these hard topics? Because you do not live at camp. You live in the real world and you need to be prepared to stay strong during each season of life.

So tonight we are talking about the problem with justice. But first, we can all agree that...

We want justice!

Some of the loudest cheers I have ever experienced in movie theaters is when justice is served!

Avengers End Game when they assemble to destroy the evil army

Finding Nemo when they escape for Darla and the evil dentist

Harry Potter when Nevel chops off Nagini’s head

Because we are made in God’s image, we have a conscience. This conscience craves for wrong to be made right. Tonights passage teaches us that this craving will be satisfied during the second coming of Jesus.

14 It was also about these that Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied, saying, “Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of his holy ones, 15 to execute judgment on all and to convict all the ungodly of all their deeds of ungodliness that they have committed in such an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things that ungodly sinners have spoken against him.”

When Jesus returns, he is going to make everything right and peaceful. That sounds like gumdrops and lollipops, but the way to achieve eternal peace is to destroy evil.

He will be the one to personally bring justice. This time he will not use a foreign king or a flood.

He is bringing an army.

He will convict them of what they have done. There will be no jury. No second chance. That moment exists for executing judgement.

Seems intense? It is actually more intense than you can imagine. When people in the scripture encountered angels they were often afraid and sometimes fell on their faces. On the day of Jesus’ judgement, he is bringing countless angels!

If you actually believe that this day will happen, you may be thinking, wow, this seems like an overreaction… However, it is the perfect reaction. Because Jesus is the one wronged against...

The punishment should equal the value of the thing that was wronged.

Justice illustration: beetle, puppy, baby, GOD

All who are ungodly, unlike God, will be judged. We should rejoice and dream about the justice of God. But there is one major problem with this justice…

We’re ungodly...

We want justice...

As long as we are not being judged!

After this dramatic description of the coming judgement for those who are ungodly, Jude gives a clearer picture of their lifestyle...

16 These are grumblers, malcontents, following their own sinful desires;

Instead of being grateful for God’s good gifts, these people complain, are never satisfied, and as a result follow themselves instead of God.

Remember the example of the Israelites: God took to long to answer their requests so they started worshiping a golden cow, instead of being grateful to be delivered from slavery they wanted to go back, instead of taking the promised land they chose the desert.

We can be the exact same…

I can be the exact same…

Their heart of discontentment destroys their relationships.

they are loud-mouthed boasters, showing favoritism to gain advantage.

Instead of loving others, they want to use others.

So what should you do if this is you?

What is the solution?

6 For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— 8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. 10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. 11 More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.