Understanding the connection between the goodness and justice of God
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Introduction: [BE CONSCIOUS TO MAKE APPLICATION THROUGHOUT]
Introduction: [BE CONSCIOUS TO MAKE APPLICATION THROUGHOUT]
Illustration: Our son enjoys putting ketchup on everything including meats that are already made with sauces. On occasion, when we eat bbq ribs, he will ask for ketchup. In my mind he has taken an “either…or” situation and turned it into a “both…and” situation. Some things just don’t seem like they should go together.
As we look at justice and goodness, there seems to be an idea that God is either good or he is all-powerful, all-loving or he is all-powerful, either all-good or all-just…etc
I think it would be wise for us to remember:
Beyond Understanding
Topics: God; Mysteries; Understanding
References: ;
Since it is God we are speaking of, you do not understand it. If you could understand it, it would not be God.
—Augustine, philosopher and theologian (354–430), in “Reflections,” Christianity Today (July 20, 2000)
Larson, C. B., & Ten Elshof, P. (2008). 1001 illustrations that connect (p. 105). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.
Does God really care about good and evil in the world?
What is being said in the passage?
What is being said in the passage?
The Active One - Notice the one acting (v. 17, 18, 20) It is the LORD
This is Yahweh - He is the self-existent One who is known by this Name
The Addressed Ones - This is Ahaz & Judah (v. 17)
The character/worship of Ahaz
The Attacking Ones - king of Assyria (v. 17, 20)
The Aftermath Offered (v. 22 - 25)
Disparity of human life (v. 22)
Valuable vineyards become wasted
Threat of invasion
Animals loose (v. 25)
Summary:
Summary:
The Lord is going to bring judgment upon his chosen vine Judah.
Application:
Application:
The fact that the Lord is announcing his is merciful AND we know that what God says will come to pass.
Why is this being said?
Why is this being said?
may have indications of the indictment. God may be doing this because the people of God have chosen evil and refused good. (, )
What is the principle to learn here?
What is the principle to learn here?
God evidently cares about whether his nation chooses good or chooses evil! But why? Why not just leave them alone? Why does God have to do anything at all?
This is where it helps us to have a better understanding of God and his nature. When we say that God is good, we are not simply saying that God does good things. God is good because that is his fundamental character and nature.
The goodness of God means that God is the final standard of good, and that all that God is and does is worthy of approval
Grudem, W. A. (2004). Systematic theology: an introduction to biblical doctrine (p. 197). Leicester, England; Grand Rapids, MI: Inter-Varsity Press; Zondervan Pub. House.
For the Lord is good; his mercy is everlasting;
And his truth endureth to all generations.
Praise ye the Lord.
O give thanks unto the Lord; for he is good:
For his mercy endureth for ever.
God is understood as the final standard for good. If God is perfectly good, then any rejection of good is a rejection of God.
What right expectation does God have of us?
What right expectation does God have of us?
Moral goodness, all goodness flows from who God is by nature.God is the One who in the beginning said, "It was good." Any creature that would refuse good and choose evil will ultimately suffer consequences because it is a rebellion against Who God is. When a nation who is known to be the nation of this good God refuses the good and chooses evil, there is even more at stake. The nation of Judah was misrepresenting God among the nations. So, not only are they directly refusing God, but they are becoming an hindrance to the name of God among the nations.
Moral goodness, all goodness flows from who God is by nature.
God is the One who in the beginning said, "It was good."
God is by nature.God is the One who in the beginning said, "It was good." Any creature that would refuse good and choose evil will ultimately suffer consequences because it is a rebellion against Who God is. When a nation who is known to be the nation of this good God refuses the good and chooses evil, there is even more at stake. The nation of Judah was misrepresenting God among the nations. So, not only are they directly refusing God, but they are becoming an hindrance to the name of God among the nations.
Any creature that would refuse good and choose evil will ultimately suffer consequences because it is a rebellion against Who God is.
When a nation who is known to be the nation of this good God refuses the good and chooses evil, there is even more at stake.
The nation of Judah was misrepresenting God among the nations.
So, not only are they directly refusing God, but they are becoming an hindrance to the name of God among the nations.
God rightly expects us to BE good and to DO good by the standard of Himself!
Summary:
Summary:
God rightly expects all people to accept Who God is, to worship Him as good, and to recognize all that He does as good.
The Lord is good to all:
And his tender mercies are over all his works.
Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.
Why can’t we fulfill this?
Why can’t we fulfill this?
(1) We must be honest about the conflict - We are outmatched against the Lord. (He is the One acting and He is acting justly)
(2) If God is the standard of goodness, we can never measure up - - Human tendency is towards idolatry
(3) Human tendency is towards idolatry
To place faith in other gods outside of the Lord.
Where is Christ?
Where is Christ?
It is this confrontation that causes us to recognize several truths:
(1) Either know and believe that Jesus Christ is God or don’t call him good.
(2) If Jesus Christ is NOT God, then we are hopeless.
In trying to meet God’s standard of goodness we all justly deserve to be punished because we are sinners at odds with God.
(3) If Jesus Christ is God, then He must be able to manifest both the justice of God and the goodness of God.
(4)
This is precisely what Jesus Christ does in the Cross. (the Just for the Unjust)
For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit:
1001 Illustrations that Connect Illustration 184: His Crucial Death
HIS CRUCIAL DEATH
Topics: Cross; Death of Christ; Redeemer; Savior
References: Mark 10:45; Romans 6:3–9; 1 John 5:6–12
Of the biographies I have read—including biographies of men like Martin Luther King Jr. and Mahatma Gandhi, who died violent and politically significant deaths—few devote more than 10 percent of their pages to the subject’s death. The Gospels, though, devote nearly a third of their length to the climactic last week of Jesus’ life. Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John saw death as the central mystery of Jesus.
—Philip Yancey, The Jesus I Never Knew (Zondervan, 1995)
(4) If Jesus Christ is God, then the only way to choose good and satisfy the justice of God is in Christ.
Conclusion:
Conclusion:
How should we respond because of this?
How should we respond because of this?
(1) Believe that God is both good and just.
(2) Believe that the only way to partake in God’s goodness is by receiving Jesus Christ.
(3) Live lives that rightly represent Jesus Christ to the nations.
What is the connection between God’s goodness and his justice?
What is the connection between God’s goodness and his justice?
It is a connection that is most vividly seen in the Cross, where...
God brings goodness to rebels by justice upon Christ, so that...
Enemies could be made to be good and choose good.