Justice Needs a Savior
Justice Needs a Savior
God condemns the destructive and sinful injustice within the community because it separates us from God. We are hopeless to achieve justice apart from God, so God must save us. And after saving us, God commands us to live in His word and share it
Isaiah 59 (ESV)
1 Behold, the LORD’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save,
or his ear dull, that it cannot hear;
2 but your iniquities have made a separation
between you and your God,
and your sins have hidden his face from you
so that he does not hear.
3 For your hands are defiled with blood
and your fingers with iniquity;
your lips have spoken lies;
your tongue mutters wickedness.
4 No one enters suit justly;
no one goes to law honestly;
they rely on empty pleas, they speak lies,
they conceive mischief and give birth to iniquity.
5 They hatch adders’ eggs;
they weave the spider’s web;
he who eats their eggs dies,
and from one that is crushed a viper is hatched.
6 Their webs will not serve as clothing;
men will not cover themselves with what they make.
Their works are works of iniquity,
and deeds of violence are in their hands.
7 Their feet run to evil,
and they are swift to shed innocent blood;
their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity;
desolation and destruction are in their highways.
8 The way of peace they do not know,
and there is no justice in their paths;
they have made their roads crooked;
no one who treads on them knows peace.
9 Therefore justice is far from us,
and righteousness does not overtake us;
we hope for light, and behold, darkness,
and for brightness, but we walk in gloom.
10 We grope for the wall like the blind;
we grope like those who have no eyes;
we stumble at noon as in the twilight,
among those in full vigor we are like dead men.
11 We all growl like bears;
we moan and moan like doves;
we hope for justice, but there is none;
for salvation, but it is far from us.
12 For our transgressions are multiplied before you,
and our sins testify against us;
for our transgressions are with us,
and we know our iniquities:
13 transgressing, and denying the LORD,
and turning back from following our God,
speaking oppression and revolt,
conceiving and uttering from the heart lying words.
14 Justice is turned back,
and righteousness stands far away;
for truth has stumbled in the public squares,
and uprightness cannot enter.
15 Truth is lacking,
and he who departs from evil makes himself a prey.
The LORD saw it, and it displeased him
that there was no justice.
16 He saw that there was no man,
and wondered that there was no one to intercede;
then his own arm brought him salvation,
and his righteousness upheld him.
17 He put on righteousness as a breastplate,
and a helmet of salvation on his head;
he put on garments of vengeance for clothing,
and wrapped himself in zeal as a cloak.
18 According to their deeds, so will he repay,
wrath to his adversaries, repayment to his enemies;
to the coastlands he will render repayment.
19 So they shall fear the name of the LORD from the west,
and his glory from the rising of the sun;
for he will come like a rushing stream,
which the wind of the LORD drives.
20 “And a Redeemer will come to Zion,
to those in Jacob who turn from transgression,” declares the LORD.
21 “And as for me, this is my covenant with them,” says the LORD: “My Spirit that is upon you, and my words that I have put in your mouth, shall not depart out of your mouth, or out of the mouth of your offspring, or out of the mouth of your children’s offspring,” says the LORD, “from this time forth and forevermore.”
Justice Needs a Savior
Justice is an essential topic to God, so it should be important to Christians. However, we must not assume that we can make justice a reality without God. Isaiah prophesied to the people of God that their sin of injustice could not be overlooked nor be solved without Him. And today, God continues to condemn the destructive and sinful injustice within the community because it separates us from God. We are hopeless to achieve justice apart from God and each other, so God must save us. And after saving us, God commands us to live in His Word and share it.
Separation is a result of our sin .
A popular saying goes like this. “If you feel distant from God, then ask, ‘Who moved?’” According to this chapter, it is clear that people’s sin causes them to be distant from God. They misunderstood the problem of distance as some inability of God. But that is not true. God can hear and act but has chosen not to because of unrepentance. God is holy, and sin does not exist in his presence. The holiness of God is an essential teaching of the Bible. His holiness includes perfect ethics, purity, justice, and the absence of any sin. Only God holds the attribute of holiness in this manner. We could never achieve this on our own. Scripture reminds us that we are born with a sinful nature. It is within our natural desires to ignore, reject, and disobey God. Yet, we are sinners because we also choose to sin. No one can say they are without sin. And we must never underestimate the power of sin and its consequences. It will always take us farther than we want to be.
God condemns sinful injustice.
Isaiah must give these words to the covenant community. They were to be a people in which the character of the Creator is lived out in human relationships. How could God’s covenant people act in such a terrible way?
• Sinful Hands - The people’s grip is stained by the harm they did to others through their sinful actions.
• Lying Lips - The people’s mouths are full of deceitful lies and sin. No one speaks kind, peaceful, or truthful words.
And when we look at the sins of the community in Judah over 2700 ago, we may be surprised to see how little things have changed when it comes to our modern world of post-enlightenment, science, and progress. The human heart has not changed, so God's Word is still reliable to tell us the primary issue and give us the answers. Unfortunately, we may be all too familiar with these things in our families and community. In Isaiah's day, we might assume that there were probably some "good" or "not so bad" people in the community, but the vast majority would have either actively participated in these activities or looked the other way when they saw it. Remember the words of Isaiah in chapter 6? Isaiah knew that he, too, was unholy when compared to the King, the Lord of hosts.
What is Justice?
Justice is a popular topic in our world today. But do we really know what justice is? Do we know God's definition of justice? Let's look at the following biblical understanding of justice.
Justice:
The Lexham Bible Dictionary (Justice in the Old Testament)
"divinely ordained actions that promote the well-being and equality of all humanity. ... punishing oppressors or by vindicating the oppressed, there is always the concept of returning humanity to שָׁלוֹם (shalom), an equilibrium in which wrongs have been made right and the impoverished have been restored to prosperity."
Key terms:
• Divinely ordained actions
• Proper Judgement
• Defending and condemning - Shalom
• Reflecting God’s Kingdom
The World’s Justice vs. God’s
Most people today would agree with two out of the three parts of the biblical understanding of justice. The disagreements would be where we get the understanding of justice. Is it from ourselves or from God? Some people will insist that we can form a sense of justice (what is right and wrong) by ourselves. They believe that humans naturally own the ability to come to a consensus on what is just and righteous through reason and experience. The primary issue with this view is that it is difficult to get everyone to agree on things. Does everyone agree that killing a baby is wrong? But what about the unborn? As you see, human reason and potential are not so clearly reliable. So, in the end, popular ideas become the basis of determining what is just and unjust. It is just because "we all agree" it is. But all it takes is some powerful shift in society to change that, and a new set of ethics is born.
The Bible gives us a different view. In the ancient near east, the human king decided what is good and just. And they quickly ran into problems when they had an evil king. But God called Covenant Israel to know that He was their KING. He was their source and origin to understand what was just and righteous. When they followed His ways, they experienced the blessing of true undefiled justice. Therefore, people can not come to know perfect justice and righteousness apart from coming to God. Justice needs God.
We will have conflict .
It is impossible never to have conflict within our human relationships. Any relationship that boasts never having any conflict might need to re-examine the relationship because one person may act hypocritically or avoid being vulnerable. It is impossible to avoid bumping into each other if we are honest in our relationships.
The community of Christ will experience inner conflict that requires resolution. But our solution to those issues is to be characterized by God's justice and free from partiality. The Christian community is supposed to look like this.
Colossians 3:12–15 ESV
12 Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, 13 bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. 14 And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. 15 And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful.
But how well have we as God’s people lived and promoted the the kind of justice that proceeds from God? We too like ancient Judah should receive the same warning against this sin. Ask yourselves the following questions:
• When I have a disagreement with another, do I want to solve the issue through grace, understanding, and empathy, or do I simply want to WIN?
• Do I imagine numerous situations where I get to inflict damage or pain upon another person?
• When I am confronted with an issue, am I truthful or do I twist the truth to make myself look better than the other?
• Am I quick to celebrate the downfall of a person with whom I have conflict?
If you answered these questions honestly, you might discover some areas from which you need to repent. If we refuse to repent, we will end up like the description in verses 8-11. The path of unrepentance of this sin results in God's justice being absent and darkness overtakes life. Justice becomes a pursuit that will never be filled.
Unfortunately, modern notions of social justice are rooted in human wisdom. For example, Marxism considers the root of injustice as the clash between the rich and the poor. Other modern notions see the problem as a lack of education that causes injustice. And most recently, a very dangerous idea is a style of Marxism, except the primary issue is not one's economic state but one's ethnic race. How should Christians respond to these solutions? When we consider the modern notion of social justice, we might be tempted to jump on board this growing notion. You will no doubt encounter this in the workplace, schools, and many other places. You may find churches that are passionate about social justice. But before you assume that social justice is the same as God's justice, you need to recognize that modern social justice either rejects God or places Him as just one of the many possible sources for justice. The Biblical view is that Justice needs God.
God must save us.
Verse 15 is the exciting part of this chapter. Justice and righteousness are absent from the community. And the community is unable to produce anything that comes close to it, so God acts upon their behalf. The verses picture God as a warrior who takes up true righteousness and justice as part of a warrior's armament to bring His truth. God will judge rightly and justly. God will come to redeem his covenant community, and His glory will be revealed to all people. Only when God acts will we see true justice. And we can know today that God has acted through Jesus Christ. In this section, we see God's consistent plan of salvation which is fully revealed in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Separation from God is a result of our sin. And God condemns the destructive and sinful acts. We are all sinners and hopeless, but God has made way for our salvation. And verse 20 reminds us how to receive the Savior. We must repent and turn from our sin to turn to God. We should not be surprised that we see the Gospel stated so beautifully before Jesus came to the earth. All the elements were foretold before Christ came. And now that He has come, we know God's plan. We must now choose to receive it or reject it. Embrace it or ignore it.
We must know God’s word . Live it. Share it.
The final verses are consistent with the Gospel message. God the Holy Spirit to all who repent and entrust themselves to Christ. This makes us positionally right with God. The separation is bridged by the cross. All is blessed for those who are in Christ. But there is more to our salvation than just freedom from sin and God's blessing of justice and righteousness. We have a responsibility that is to be lived out in a specific way. We have to let the Word of Christ dwell within us. Listen to how Paul describes this reality.
Colossians 3:16–17 (ESV)
16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. 17 And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
This is the biblical view of God's community. Righteousness and Justice are present because sinful people have learned that they forgive others because it has forgiven us. This is what our church needs to look like. This is the result of living the Gospel. This is who we can be in Christ if we choose to let the Word of Christ dwell within us. But there is still more that we are called to do. We are to have this Word be lived in our families so that our children and grandchildren, and descendants know the One True God. Our church community needs to be concerned with the Word of God in our lives and passing it to the next generation.
The Christian community needs God. Justice needs God. The world needs God. You need God.