judgment/Justice & Mercy

God of Justice

to understand Gods justice we need to understand 3 things

God is Good

We were once Good but are no longer good

And the Ultimate Fulfillment of Good is the destruction of Evil. Light cannot coexist with dark.

lets pray…

1. God is Good

at the very beginning of the bible we see something vary clear

God is good and all that He dose is good

and everything he makes is good as well

in genesis 1-2 we see the pattern of “God said and it was Good”

each day…

God is a good God who makes good things

He is Holy, set apart, He is Righteous,

but He is not just good, He is the only one who is Good

Luke 18:18–19 ESV

18 And a ruler asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” 19 And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone.

this man saw Jesus as a good man. not as God so Jesus knowing himself to be the son of God clarifies this point to the young ruler

He says no one is good but God

and this apply to us as well.

When we compare ourselves to God none of us are good we are all sinners who are imperfect and are in need of a savior

And this brings us to point #2

2.We are no longer Good…

Because according to scripture we are fallen

again looking at the rest of gen 3 we see the fall of man

explan the fall

one rule, temptation from the devil, lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, and the pride of life

Genesis 3:6 ESV

6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate.

this was the first act of rebellion that has tainted all of humanity. us included

Romans 6:23 ESV

23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Adam and Eve spiritually died that day

And would physically die as well

Through one man sin has entered the world as scripture says .

when man sinned agents God we were now faced with a problem

God is a good God and we are no longer Good.

God is a perfect God who is perfectly Good and God cant allow evil or sin to go unpunished because of His justice and Goodness.

The bible describes God as the perfect Judge

and a perfect Judge cant let evil go unpunished

“for the wages of sin is death.”

and the truth is that at some base level we all agree with God on justice we want the evil and the bad things of this world to be gone

but our problem is we don't see ourselves included in the Bad category

But the bible makes is clear that we are found guilty before a Holy and Righteous God

Romans 3:23 ESV

23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

3: Good and evil can't coexist

so what does this mean for us?

lets look back at Genesis 3:11-22

Genesis 3:11–22 ESV

11 He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” 12 The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.” 13 Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.” 14 The Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock and above all beasts of the field; on your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life. 15 I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.” 16 To the woman he said, “I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children. Your desire shall be contrary to your husband, but he shall rule over you.” 17 And to Adam he said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, ‘You shall not eat of it,’ cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life; 18 thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field. 19 By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” 20 The man called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all living. 21 And the Lord God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them. 22 Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil. Now, lest he reach out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat, and live forever—”

Here we see God's goodness translating into justice

The wages of sin is death spiritually and physically

Adam and Eve have committed a crime and vicariously through them we all have committed a crime that requires a payment

And because of God's justice and his goodness he will require it.

The Lord will punish the devil for his part but the question of man still remains if God is good and God is just how does he reconcile our evil with his goodness?

1 John 1:5 ESV

5 This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.

Sin cannot coexist with justice and righteousness

Sin has a penalty and someone has to pay the penalty

Because God is good and the man is bad God's justice must take place.

so where dose that leave us?

Conclusion: The answer is his mercy and grace

God is not only a just God… He's not only a good God… but He is a merciful God

And because of his mercy he has offered us grace

An alternative payment .

In genesis we see a prophecy of the seed of woman crushing the head of the serpent

And this is a picture of Jesus crushing Satan

Because of God's goodness and justice he required a payment for sin

But because of God's goodness and mercy he sent his son to die and paid the penalty for sin

share the gospel fully,

we were good… sin entered the world though one man… and through one man the Justice of God and the wrath of God was satisfied for all who believe

because of Gods mercy he has offered us grace and forgiveness

Psalm 103:1–4 ESV

1 Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name! 2 Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits, 3 who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases, 4 who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy,

again God is Good

and he is perfect and holy and just

but He is also full of love and compassionate and forgivness throgh the death Of Jesus on the cross.

1 John 1:5–9 ESV

5 This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. 6 If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. 8 If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Romans 10:9 ESV

9 because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

Ephesians 2:4–6 ESV

4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— 6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,

God is good and because he is good he is just and because he has just he must judge sin and evil and because we are evil we are under his judgment. but because God is rich and full of mercy he sent Jesus to die for our sins and if we repent and believe in him if we confess and believe in him we will be saved. this is our Hope lets pray…