Justice AND Judgment

Welcome

Well, good morning Lifepoint | Worthington fam. If we haven’t met yet, my name is Dan and I serve as one of the pastors here alongside Jason Phillips and we are so grateful you’re here with us today!

All the Lifepoint campuses have been in a teaching series through the New Testament book of Revelation over the last 7 weeks. Now, here at the Worthington campus, we’ve been doing a few different things while we’re getting off the ground.

But today, we’re jumping in…and we’re jumping in the deep end of the pool.

At some point I really need to thank Dean for having Revelation be the first series I’m working on with Lifepoint. Because at the end of the day, this is a challenging book to make sense of. We’ll talk about why that is in a moment, but for now, I think its helpful to keep in mind that Revelation is not written to confuse us, it’s written to comfort and confront us, but not to confuse. And what we’ll see over the next couple of weeks is that this book is more about having a present hope than it is about having a future calendar.

Alright, if you have a bible with you, why don’t you open up to Revelation, chapter 16. Revelation 16. It’s at the very end of your bibles. Revelation 16.

Introduction

And while you’re turning there. I want you to think about something for a moment.

Each year, Merriam-Webster’s dictionary, in conjunction with the New York Times, releases a ‘word of the year’. And they choose it based on how often people come on to their website and look up a particular word. In 2018 the word was: justice. In fact, the amount of people looking up the word justice grew by 75% that year.

Of course, we know now what Merriam-Webster and the New York Times didn’t…that just two years later, the world would be plunged into a pandemic that would force many more conversations about justice. What it is…what it means…what it looks like…what it requires…where it needs to be applied.

Every major city in the US experienced marches, protests, sometimes riots, in the name of justice. In fact, I don’t think I can forget the impact of some of the protests that turned violent by our last house in Chicago…broken windows, boarded-up businesses, and entire communities ripped apart because they found themselves on opposing sides of this “conversation.”

And in the aftermath of this, the dominant framework for how people see the world is bifurcated between the just and the unjust; those in power, and those whom they oppress.

It is not a stretch to say that we live a culture obsessed with justice.

The problem, though, is we can’t quiet seem to agree on how it’s supposed to work. Who gets to define what is just? More than that, how do you pursue it? What does a “just” society even look like? And, no pun intended, what means to get there are justified? What, exactly, is on the table here?

As we jump into the back half of the book of Revelation, we’re going to be bumping up against these questions over and over again—it really is the dominant theme that runs the course of this book. And today, as we look at Revelation 16, we’re going to land on this one idea.

In fact, if there’s anything I want you to walk away thinking about, it’s this: God cares more about justice than any of us ever could.

Let me say that again: God cares more about justice…and therefore injustice…than any of us ever could.

So if you’re not there yet, open with me to Revelation 16.

I’ll read part of this passage, pray, and then we’ll get started.

Revelation 16:1–7 ESV

1 Then I heard a loud voice from the temple telling the seven angels, “Go and pour out on the earth the seven bowls of the wrath of God.” 2 So the first angel went and poured out his bowl on the earth, and harmful and painful sores came upon the people who bore the mark of the beast and worshiped its image. 3 The second angel poured out his bowl into the sea, and it became like the blood of a corpse, and every living thing died that was in the sea. 4 The third angel poured out his bowl into the rivers and the springs of water, and they became blood. 5 And I heard the angel in charge of the waters say, “Just are you, O Holy One, who is and who was, for you brought these judgments. 6 For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and you have given them blood to drink. It is what they deserve!” 7 And I heard the altar saying, “Yes, Lord God the Almighty, true and just are your judgments!”

PRAY

Reading Revelation

All right, let’s get started.

I told you we were jumping in to the deep end of the pool! What are we supposed to do with a passage like this.

Well, first, I think it’s helpful to share a few thoughts on the book Revelation in general that will help us make sense not just of this passage, but the whole book.

An Apocalypse

Revelation was written down by the Apostle John. This is the same John who wrote the Gospel of John and other letters in the New Testament. And it’s written in very specific style—that we see all over the ancient world—called “Apocalyptic literature…which tends to use lots of symbols, numbers, and veiled references. The key for us is that apocalyptic literature is not intended to have every symbol interpreted literally but literarily…meaning we understand symbols like a beasts and number and things that show up here to be symbols…they point to something else.

Echoes of Exodus

I also think it’s vital to get that the symbols and flow of the book of Revelation are not randomly put together, but there is some deep intentionality here. Dr. G.K. Beale who is a leading thinker and writer about the Book of Revelation points out 278 of the 404 verses in this book contain references to the Old Testament. That’s just shy of 70%…more than that there are at least 500 allusions to the Old Testament!

In a lot of ways, we need to see that Revelation is not simply telling a new story about the future, it is retelling the basic story of God’s people first laid out in the Old Testament…particularly the story of the Exodus; that He is preparing His people, calling them out of suffering, bondage, and slavery, and bringing them into a new Land he has prepared for them. In fact, I’d say if you really want to understand the book of Revelation, you need to start by reading and rereading the book of Exodus.

Revelation 1-15

Finally, because we’re jumping in today just over halfway through the book, we need to summarize what’s been covered already in Revelation. The first five chapters have all been about Jesus…who He is, what He’s like…and what He has accomplished through His death and resurrection.

It’s interesting to remember that John’s original audience all lived in the Roman Empire, and in a lot of ways, John describes Jesus with language that was typically reserved for Caesar…as a way to show the Jesus is victorious even over the most powerful individual on earth!

But starting in chapter 6, things take a bit of a turn…and the focus is on what Jesus will do to set the world right again. And this will take up about a third of the book—God seeing what is wrong in the world and stepping in to make it right. And to talk about this, John uses three images: Seven Seal—like on an old school letter, not the animal—seven trumpets, and seven bowls. And with each one of these comes a particular aspect of Judgment on evil in this world. These are not necessarily all different events, but more likely John is describing the same events from three different angles.

And this third angle, when he describes seven “Bowls” is where we find ourselves today.

Justice OR Judgement

Deep breath. Now we can actually get to our passage this morning. Look with at v. 1.

Revelation 16:1 ESV

1 Then I heard a loud voice from the temple telling the seven angels, “Go and pour out on the earth the seven bowls of the wrath of God.”

And there’s that phrase: wrath of God.

It sounds archaic…and ancient…and a bit fanatical, doesn’t it? Like wrath is word we think of for people who are “out of control” angry.

And here’s the basic problem we have with a passage like this…and much of Revelation for that matter: Wrath is not an action we like to think of with God. It violates the mental picture we have of God who we like to think of as something more like a heavenly grand-father…you know, someone who doesn’t really agree with what we’re doing but is ultimately, laissez faire, live and let live.

And so the idea that he would unleash judgment upon the earth…we’re not really about that.

The problem is only complicated when we keep reading because we see what the wrath and judgment looks like. Look at v. 2

You have sores forming…water turned to blood. Famine…darkness...

Interestingly enough, these judgements start to sound a little familiar…right? Remember what I said about the book of Exodus? These judgements mirror the 10 plagues in Exodus.

But at the end of the day, if we’re honest, we’re not quite sure what to do with this. We may not say it out loud, but we tend to think of “judgement” as an example of God “flying off the handle.” So we cringe a bit, try not to bring it up very often, and them move on to the more light-hearted, welcoming topics in the bible.

And yet do you see how our views on judgment are actually in conflict with our thirst for justice?

Because on the one hand, we recognize there are things wrong in the world around us…that something is not right. More than that, we are confronted each and every day with the fact that there is true and real evil at work in the world. And we desperately want something to be done about these things. We want justice.

But when we talk about judgement, it feels like its an over reaction..so we’re not quite sure how told hold these things in tension and so what ends up happening is that we value one at the expense of the other. And whether we recognize it our not we tend to think in terms of justice OR judgement.

Justice without Judgment

Some of us value justice over judgement. This is your view if you think of God’s response to evil and wickedness and brokenness only in terms of forgiveness. That if he were really an all loving God, he would simply forgive all people of all things and we could all move right along right. And to be honest, I understand why that feels attractive. Because it sounds like you can have a God who is just going to be the “bigger person”…who will suck it up…move on…and forgive. If that’s the posture, you don’t need to worry about any of this judgement, wrath, or ‘hell’ business…drop the baggage there and move on and, on the plus side, Christianity all of a sudden feels a lot more palatable, doesn’t it?

But when you really stop and think about it…we have to ask if that equation actually works…justice without judgement.

I think of my kids when they’re fighting. Right now, the most grievous thing that can happen to my son Malachi these days is for his sister to play with his Legos. The other day I was sitting down stairs, enjoying a beautiful cup of coffee, and book, an oblivious fool to the cares of this world…when out of nowhere, I hear an earsplitting scream.

[EXPAND]

Imagine if I told Evelyn, I forgive you and then went back dow stairs.

That would be nothing. I’ve not done anything of value in that conversation. There’s been no righting of the wrong there…

And I know that’s a minor example, but it works on ever level, becoming more upsetting each time you kick up the intensity.

See, justice without judgment feels loving, but it’s ultimately meaningless…because it does nothing to right any wrong.

Judgment without Justice

At the same time, there are others of us who value judgment over justice. This is when we tell ourselves in the pursuit of making things right, that the ends “justify the means.” And I think we are particularly susceptible to this way of thinking when we are responding to someone who has hurt us…deeply.

It’s the subtle belief that we can and should go to any length necessary to make someone feel the pain they have made us feel and, in a strange way. And in a strange, backwards kids of way we can so give ourselves over to the pursuit of judgement, in the name of justice, that we become just as much a part of the problem as the next person.

The 19th century German philosopher, Friedrich Nietzsche had this warning about the human condition:

“Beware that, when fighting monsters, you yourself do not become a monster... for when you gaze long into the abyss. The abyss gazes also into you.”

See, judgment at the expense justice, feels like the right response sometimes because we can convince ourselves we are absolutely in the right—and what we are fighting for is such a righteous cause, that anything can be excused as long as we get the outcome we’re looking for.

But at the end of the day, judgment without justice is not true judgement…it is actually slavery…as we become enslaved to our opinion…enslaved to our pursuit of being right!

See, justice without judgement, is not justice…and judgment without justice is not judgement. And while we tend to oscillate back and forth between these two, we are confronted with the profound idea that God’s judgment and God’s idea of Justice is profoundly different that our own. The two are intricately connected in a way that is absolutely necessary for us to understand and necessary to keep us from falling into one the two traps we just talked about.

Justice AND Judgment

Look with me at v. 5 (Rev. 16:5-7

Revelation 16:5–7 ESV

5 And I heard the angel in charge of the waters say, “Just are you, O Holy One, who is and who was, for you brought these judgments. 6 For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and you have given them blood to drink. It is what they deserve!” 7 And I heard the altar saying, “Yes, Lord God the Almighty, true and just are your judgments!”

Ultimately what we see here is that God’s final judgement is a final response to evil and injustice in the world.

It is the moment when God unilaterally does something about what has gone wrong in the world around us and says once and for all, No More!

Friends, do you see that far from being a picture of a Cosmic Bully, God’s just judgment displays his deepest care and concern for the world He has created?

It says once and for all: Things are not the way they’re supposed to be…but I am now making it right! It shows that He cares far more about justice than we ever could. More than that, God’s judgment show us that He has not overlooked a single thing that we have experienced in this life…and some of you in this room today have experienced some of the most painful things imaginable. And there are no good answers as to why you have experienced what you’ve gone through…there are no quick solutions to make you feel better about it all…but the story of God’s judgment reminds you…it reminds us that God has not forgotten about it. He has not turned away or a deaf ear to your pain, sorrow, or heartache.

Remember what I said about the Exodus story and Revelation: that Revelation really is the retelling of the story of God’s deliverence of His people?

There a famous point in the Exodus story where God speaks to Moses out of the burning bush ( Exodus 3:7-9)…and what He says in that moment Moses, I think is one of the most powerful words God speaks in the entire bible. Remember the context for a moment. The Israelites have been in Egypt…slaves for 400 years…beaten, oppressed, taken advantage of, they have experienced a deep injustice and have no reason to think it will ever change.

And this is what God says to them:

Exodus 3:7–9 (ESV)

7 Then the Lord said, “I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters. I know their sufferings, 8 and I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. 9 And now, behold, the cry of the people of Israel has come to me, and I have also seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them.

He says, “I have seen your affliction…I have heard your cry…I know your suffering...”

In God’s judgment, He acts.

In God’s judgment, He responds.

In God’s judgment, He says, “Time is up...” and evil will be no more.

In God’s judgment, He proves that He cares more about injustice than any of us ever could. Amen?

Gospel - The Cross is where Judgment and Justice Converge

Now, there is one final problem with God’s judgment. See, it’s one thing for us to talk about God’s justice and judgment as what he does about evil in the world around us…but what about when the problem is not just those around us…but when the problem is us?

You see, central to the Christians story is that sin and brokenness don’t just reside in the world around us, but actually take up residence in our own hearts and minds.

This, friends, is the Human condition. That we are broken, we are flawed…we are not, in fact, basically good…but each us possess profound capacity to hurt and harm those around us. Again, this is what the bible talks about when it uses the word “sin.”

And all of us are guilty of it.

In fact, the apostle Paul talks about it this way: saying ALL us have sinned and fallen short of the life God has created us for. And because God is just, this means He will do something about our sin…about our brokenness…about our failure to live the way we’ve been created to live.

Paul says it this way in Romans 3...

Romans 3:23–26 ESV

23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25 whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. 26 It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

In other words, friends, while we deserve judgment, the gospel shows us that Jesus steps down into our place…to take that judgment on Himself. That the full weight of God’s wrath is placed on Jesus…He the bowl we could not bear. He takes the wrath we could not stand…as he becomes the sacrifice in our place for our sin.

And in this, God’s judgment of sin is JUST not because He counts to 10 and lets off some steam…He is just because his wrath is poured out on Christ....and the hope of the Gospel, then, is that when we place our faith in Jesus…pledging our allegiance to Him and Him alone, we find that our debt…is paid in full…we find our guilt is forgiven…we find new life and a new kind of life in Jesus.

Application - What Now?

We marvel at the gravity of the gospel

We endure through injustice

We rest in God’s ultimate pursuit of justice

We fight for justice in a word of injustice

Matthew 5:6 (ESV)

6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.