Justice For All

Introduction:

We have been reviewing Dr. Charles Stanley’s book, “How to Handle Adversity.”

Each of us struggle with why things happen in our lives and we have had to deal with some pretty tough questions.

I struggle with even talking about struggling. I believe in divine healing and I also believe that in this life their will be trials. There is a healthy tension that we must embrace. What we are really talking about is so much more than a physical healing. We are talking about adversity and it comes in a variety of ways.

Last week we dealt with the issue that it seems like God is silent sometimes.

We have also looked at the Power of Perspective recognizing that we need to have the right point of view.

And we started all of this off by recognizing who is behind it all. Sometimes God brings adversity in our lives, sometimes it is sin, either our own or someone else's, and ultimately the enemy of our souls is behind all adversity.

One of the issues that we will look at tonight is this:

“If God is all-powerful, He certainly has the ability to put an end to injustice. If He is a righteous and just God, He surely must desire to do so. Yet we live in a world of injustice. What’s up?”

That is a great question and lets see if we can unpack this:

What can we say about the wife whose husband has left her for another woman?

What can we say about the loss of a child during pregnancy?

What can we say about murder, rape, molestation?

Church, the question that all the world wants to know the answer to is this:

“If God is just, why does He allow injustice to touch the lives of those He loves?”

Let’s take a trip back in time to the ancient land of Israel.

During the first century they faced injustices of every kind.

They were occupied by the Roman Empire and were not free to do as they pleased.

The Romans taxed the Jews heavily in order to pay for their campaign to dominate the world.

They took lands, livestock, produce, people.

They set up their own government.

Israel needed their leaders and what were they doing. They were protecting their butts and cowering to the Roman authorities. They were more interested in privilege and places of honor.

The Pharisees took on a role of compliance and urged the citizens to go along with the Roman rule and not make waves.

It is in this situation that our Lord Jesus Christ walked right into.

Many of the people saw this as an opportunity to overthrow that Roman oppression and put Israel back on top.

The Messiah would deal with all the injustices that had been done to them and be the proud kingdom they once were.

“The expectations and desires of the people in Jesus’ day were much like our own. They wanted justice. They were tired of suffering unjustly. They were ready for God to do something.”

Maybe you feel like that! Maybe you are tired of dealing with these injustices in this life. Maybe you are facing them personally or know someone who is. Or maybe you have just watched the news until you are fed up. You may want to shout, “God do something!”

Jesus knew the place that His people were in and He knew the way they had been treated and you maybe as shocked as they were when He told them this parable in response to their plight:

Luke 18:2–8 NLT

“There was a judge in a certain city,” he said, “who neither feared God nor cared about people. A widow of that city came to him repeatedly, saying, ‘Give me justice in this dispute with my enemy.’ The judge ignored her for a while, but finally he said to himself, ‘I don’t fear God or care about people, but this woman is driving me crazy. I’m going to see that she gets justice, because she is wearing me out with her constant requests!’ ” Then the Lord said, “Learn a lesson from this unjust judge. Even he rendered a just decision in the end. So don’t you think God will surely give justice to his chosen people who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? I tell you, he will grant justice to them quickly! But when the Son of Man returns, how many will he find on the earth who have faith?”

Wow, Jesus tells them about a judge who doesn’t fear anyone or care about anyone.

Here is a widow, a woman who had no rights, or very few.

She needs justice and this judge is her only hope. (Doesn’t look good)

She begs the judge till he can’t take it any longer and gives her the justice she was looking for.

Here is how many people interpret this parable: If you bother God long enough, He will give you justice.

This is not what Jesus is saying here.

He is contrasting what a judge who doesn’t care with our loving Father who does care. This is the difference between an unrighteous judge and The Righteous Judge.

This is the point that Jesus makes: “if an unrighteous judge can be convinced to bring about justice for a widow with whom he has no relationship or invested interest, how much more confident should we be that a righteous God will bring about justice for His elect.”

God will bring justice!

So then the question is when?

A Scheduling Problem

I think we can all agree that our timetable and God’s timetable don’t often align.

The people of Israel during Jesus’s time would have had concerns about when this justice was going to come about and lets see how Jesus answers their concerns.

Jesus has a way of answering a question with a question and in doing so, turn things around and puts it right where it belongs.

Look again at verse 8:

Luke 18:8 “I tell you, he will grant justice to them quickly! But when the Son of Man returns, how many will he find on the earth who have faith?””

Do you want to know when justice will come? It will come when Jesus returns.

When Jesus was telling this story, the crowd had to be just a little confused about the Son of Man returning. He was there now. What is wrong with now? Can’t you just zap them now? Go ahead and let’ em have it, Lord.

I love how Dr. Stanley writes it down, “For us, His response does not bring so much confusion as it does disappointment because we do not want to wait until Christ comes again to see justice prevail. We want it now!”

There has been a move in the church to place so much emphasis on what God will do for you and what He will do for you right now.

The books sell off the shelves that promise if you believe today, you will be healed today. Give today and God will bless you tomorrow.

While God does still heal and bless, we miss it. “In our quest to see God do something in our lives we have lost sight of the big picture. We have forgotten what God is doing in the realm of world history.”

It is the drive-thru, McDonald’s form of religion that has affected us on a very deep level.

Lets look at Scripture:

Romans 8:18–25 “Yet what we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory he will reveal to us later. For all creation is waiting eagerly for that future day when God will reveal who his children really are. Against its will, all creation was subjected to God’s curse. But with eager hope, the creation looks forward to the day when it will join God’s children in glorious freedom from death and decay. For we know that all creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. And we believers also groan, even though we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory, for we long for our bodies to be released from sin and suffering. We, too, wait with eager hope for the day when God will give us our full rights as his adopted children, including the new bodies he has promised us. We were given this hope when we were saved. (If we already have something, we don’t need to hope for it. But if we look forward to something we don’t yet have, we must wait patiently and confidently.)”

When Jesus, the only righteous judge comes back, he will judge all the earth. Every person alive and dead will give an account for what they have done.

Revelation 20:11–13 “And I saw a great white throne and the one sitting on it. The earth and sky fled from his presence, but they found no place to hide. I saw the dead, both great and small, standing before God’s throne. And the books were opened, including the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to what they had done, as recorded in the books. The sea gave up its dead, and death and the grave gave up their dead. And all were judged according to their deeds.”

The world will be judged

Paul echoes this thought when he wrote:

2 Corinthians 5:10 “For we must all stand before Christ to be judged. We will each receive whatever we deserve for the good or evil we have done in this earthly body.”

This passage includes believers. But more importantly it reveals something very powerful: Believers will be paid back for what has been done to them.

Whatever has happened TO you will be avenged. Not only will it be avenged but God will be the One who brings it about.

Not only will you be avenged but you will also be rewarded for being treated unfairly:

Matthew 5:10 “God blesses those who are persecuted for doing right, for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs.”

1 Peter 2:19–21 “For God is pleased when, conscious of his will, you patiently endure unjust treatment. Of course, you get no credit for being patient if you are beaten for doing wrong. But if you suffer for doing good and endure it patiently, God is pleased with you. For God called you to do good, even if it means suffering, just as Christ suffered for you. He is your example, and you must follow in his steps.”

When you are treated unjustly, God smiles on you

Why does God smile?

Because you are like His Son when you suffer successfully.

Something to Think About

There is something that I think we all need to think about.

I don’t know if you realize this or not but the murder of the Son of God has yet to be avenged.

“The most hideous crime in the history of mankind has yet to come to trial. Somewhere there is a group of men responsible for the murder of Christ. Though the crime took place many years ago, their case has yet to be tried. God has chosen to wait for Christ’s return to judge those who crucified his Son.”

If Jesus’s case hasn’t been tried yet, who are we to demand justice for ourselves now?

God knows when we have been treated wrong. He takes note and He never forgets. He is holding off justice for now but not forever.

He has already selected the prosecutor, the jury and the judge. They are the same person: the Lord Jesus.

So What Do We Do Now?

Here we are back to the same old question: What are we to do now?

Look at verse 8 one more time:

Luke 18:8 “I tell you, he will grant justice to them quickly! But when the Son of Man returns, how many will he find on the earth who have faith?””

Be faithful!

Do all that you know to do and trust God to do everything else.

Walk in forgiveness and grace and look to Jesus who loves you with an everlasting love.