Our God is Just

Nov. 8

Text: Esther 6:14-7:10

Title: Our God is Just

Intro:

· "Justice is served." - Those words we each long to hear.

· The American judicial system does not always execute perfect justice. In fact, it is impossible for any human institution to execute perfect justice in a fallen world.

· God is Holy. God is perfect. God is just.

6:14 - 7:2

· This is the second banquet prepared for the King and Haman.

· After the first banquet, Ahasuerus had a sleepless night. Haman was humiliated to parade Mordecai through the streets like the king.

· Now the second banquet - the 3rd time the king has asked Esther her request.

· This is the moment of truth -

o Esther will reveal her own identity.

o She will turn the King against his most trusted advisor.

o Big day!

3-4

· If she has not found favor - she's dead.

· Her appeal is strategic -

o Passive language - "We have been sold…"

o Language straight from the decree - "to be destroyed, to be killed, and to be annihilated. (3:13)"

o Places the King's needs above personal liberty and pursuit of happiness (4).

o She takes into account the King's financial loss, etc.

o She is not an activist seeking to end every injustice. She is simply doing what it takes to save her people.

5-6

· Esther could have answered, "It's you!"

o Nathan to David, "You are the man."

o The King's name and ring is on the decree.

· Esther only names Haman.

o She still has not identified her people as "Jews." She simply says that Haman is "an enemy."

o Haman is terrified. Rightly so.

7

· The king left. Not because he cared about the Jews. Genocide did not bother him. He left because he knew that he was in a pickle. He couldn't resolve issues with Haman, and not reveal himself as implicit. He needed a way to punish Haman that also excused himself.

· Haman should have left too. He was not be in the presence of the Queen alone.

8

· Haman helped resolve the King's situation.

· The king would not have honestly believed that Haman was trying to rape Esther, but it was a good charge to bring against him and to solve this problem.

9-10

· Gallows - best word we have. Actual Persian death was impalement. High and lifted up for all the world to see.

· "Then the wrath of the king abated." - This is key. The king has wrath, and it must be satisfied.

Application:

1. Justice Requires Punishment

a. Evil is Exposed

b. Sin is Rectified/Reconciled

V10 - "Then the wrath of the king abated."

c. Punishment satisfies wrath.

2. Salvation Requires Justice

o Sin has to be punished in order for salvation to occur.

· Sin cannot be overlooked.

· Haman had to be executed in order for the Jews to survive.

3. The Gospel is a Substitute

o Imagine Haman, begging for his life. Esther shows no mercy.

· What if a someone else could have died in Haman's place? There was no one else. A common criminal would not have mattered. There was no substitute.

o Our enemy has in fact enslaved us.

· Slaves to sin

· John 8:34, "Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin. "

· Sin makes us guilty. Reconciliation, justice, is our own execution.

· In order that we might be saved, someone must be executed.

c. God provides a substitute to be punished for our salvation.

2 Cor. 5:21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

1 John 2:2 - "He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world."

Romans 3:23-25 - "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith."

His Mercy is More

a. God sent his only Son to be punished and executed, impaled upon a tree, in order that we, his people, might be saved.

b. He determined to do this - to send his Son to die.

Conclusion:

· God is a God of perfect justice. He never fails to act justly. Which means, you need a substitute!

· Be redeemed today! Declare Jesus to be you Savior! Make it public. Profess him as your savior!

· Believe Him today! Trust that Jesus is your substitute! Trust that His death abated the wrath of the king.

· This is the gospel! You deserve death, but God sent his Son to die in your place that you might be saved. Trust him! Today.

Great Are You Lord!