God Loves Justice

Isaiah 61 (ESV)

1 The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me,

because the Lord has anointed me

to bring good news to the poor;

he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,

to proclaim liberty to the captives,

and the opening of the prison to those who are bound;

2 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor,

and the day of vengeance of our God;

to comfort all who mourn;

3 to grant to those who mourn in Zion—

to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes,

the oil of gladness instead of mourning,

the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit;

that they may be called oaks of righteousness,

the planting of the Lord, that he may be glorified.

4 They shall build up the ancient ruins;

they shall raise up the former devastations;

they shall repair the ruined cities,

the devastations of many generations.

5 Strangers shall stand and tend your flocks;

foreigners shall be your plowmen and vinedressers;

6 but you shall be called the priests of the Lord;

they shall speak of you as the ministers of our God;

you shall eat the wealth of the nations,

and in their glory you shall boast.

7 Instead of your shame there shall be a double portion;

instead of dishonor they shall rejoice in their lot;

therefore in their land they shall possess a double portion;

they shall have everlasting joy.

8 For I the Lord love justice;

I hate robbery and wrong;

I will faithfully give them their recompense,

and I will make an everlasting covenant with them.

9 Their offspring shall be known among the nations,

and their descendants in the midst of the peoples;

all who see them shall acknowledge them,

that they are an offspring the Lord has blessed.

10 I will greatly rejoice in the Lord;

my soul shall exult in my God,

for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation;

he has covered me with the robe of righteousness,

as a bridegroom decks himself like a priest with a beautiful headdress,

and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.

11 For as the earth brings forth its sprouts,

and as a garden causes what is sown in it to sprout up,

so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise

to sprout up before all the nations.

An Overview of Isaiah 61

Chapter 61 contains three sections. The first is an inaugural commission of the prophet to declare a message of God's coming justice. Things may look like they are in a hopeless state, but God will correct all these things.

The second section shows what this blessing of justice will look like. Through His mighty power and salvation, God will reverse the various instances of loss due to the sinful state of humanity. Thus, instead of the double punishment, they will receive a double portion of God's blessing.

The last section shows God's declaration of His love of justice and how he will achieve it in the world through His covenant. Those who choose to follow God and receive it will rejoice in God. He will cover them with His righteousness. God loves justice; therefore, He will ensure that it is established on the earth and in those who choose to receive Him.

God loves justice?

It should be no problem to recognize that we live in a world filled with various levels of injustice, just like the people of Isaiah's day. It is a problem that we should seek to solve. If God loves justice and hates injustice, how should we view justice, and how can we achieve it? Scripture consistently presents us with two options for this: God's Way or the World's Way. We must not assume that they are the same thing or achieve the same goals.

The world's definition of justice will change according to popular opinion or the influence of those in power, but God's definition of justice is rooted in his eternal, unchanging holiness.

The world calls for equality through redistribution of resources, privileges, and rights, but God calls for all people to obey His righteous actions, which in turn will cause justice to abound. God’s law is summarized as: Love God and love your neighbor.

The world calls for the government or dominant power to enforce cooperation through force and penalties for this life, but God calls for all people to submit to Him. His judgment and blessing are the means to call people to obedience and faithfulness for this life and eternity.

Justice belongs to God

One might conclude that we simply need to commit ourselves to do all the good deeds that God wants us to do. So couldn't we just follow the rules and still achieve the same thing? The answer is no. God's justice is not a code of ethics. It is God's personal expression of his holiness, justice, love, and mercy. If you recall our last message, God's vision of justice is:

the divinely ordained actions that promote the well-being and equality of humanity through punishing oppressors and vindicating the oppressed. Justice brings humanity back to shalom in which wrongs are made right and the impoverished restored.

The Old Testament expressed Gods justice with two concepts:

• administering  justice/judgment

making something righteous

Humanity is to obey the divinely ordained actions. God created humanity to govern and administer His justice and display His righteousness. But humanity is stained by sin, and we can never know complete justice or achieve it apart from God. Therefore, God must act as Judge and Savior.

Jesus fulfills Isaiah 61

In Luke 4:16-30, Jesus visited a local synagogue as was his custom. Many had heard about Jesus and were eager to hear him speak as He had done in other places. He read the opening words of Isaiah 61 and proceeded to teach on it. Jesus began to teach, declaring that He was the fulfillment of Isaiah's promises.

As we consider the greater story of the gospels. How do we see Jesus bring about the justice of God promised in Isaiah 61? We know that Jesus did many miracles as evidence that God was reversing things as promised. He ministered to the poor and the outcasts of society. He called out those who oppressed people and used spirituality as a way to become wealthy or make themselves look good. But this is not the complete picture of the mission of Christ concerning justice. Jesus fulfilled the justice of God through the cross. Jesus fulfilled the justice of God by dealing with our sin. Jesus fulfills Gods' judgment and justice through the following:

Jesus affirms God’s holiness. His perfect obedience to God’s righteousness proved that God’s holiness is good. And His perfect life proved that all humanity is sinful and incapable of holiness.

Jesus submits to God’s plan for bringing justice through the punishment of sin. Injustice is just one aspect of the greater issue, which is sin. His death upon the cross was the proper judgment for sinners because God's justice demands that we be judged.

Jesus becomes our righteousness and brings us God’s shalom. But God, in His mercy, places the demands of injustice and sin upon Christ and offers us mercy and grace. Those who respond in faith to God's justice through the cross will receive His righteousness and must now live according to God's way.

Isaiah 61:8-9

God has loved justice by dealing with the demands of justice through Jesus Christ. We are sinners that deserve to be judged by God. Justice demands that we, as sinners receive the proper divine action toward us. But God has also expressed another divine action for us. It is His grace. He showed grace by providing a substitute that we might not experience the wrath of God toward sin. Christ is the Suffering Servant who took upon himself the consequences of sin and injustice so that we might receive the consequences of grace and mercy. We can be saved from our sin, the judgment, and the wrath that justice demands toward us. This is the covenant that Christ fulfilled.

Romans 3:21–26 ESV

21 But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— 22 the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: 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.

We must not miss the reason why Jesus went to the cross. Was it simply because he was hated by the religious leaders? Was it because he was too radical? Or was it something more than all those? It was for our sin. If we miss this reason the cross will never make sense. It will be a senseless act that cut short the ministry of Jesus. But it was not. The cross is the sacrifice that brings us peace.

Sin against God and others.

How does our personal sin a part of the injustice of this world? Consider the story of the prodigal son. His departure from home was scandalous. He demanded his inheritance before his father's time and before his first-born brother. He then went to a far county spending his money on whatever he desired. Ultimately he experienced the failure of his plan and his wealth. He then confessed his sin. He stated this in Luke 15:18.

Luke 15:18 ESV

18 I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you.

His sin was both against his father and God. His injustice toward his family was part of the bigger picture. Modern social justice refuses to acknowledge what the prodigal son came to recognize. His sin was more than an injustice to his family; he also sinned against God. The problem of injustice is not only laid upon those who are rich, in power, or of a particular ethnicity. The problem of injustice is that we have all sinned against God. And we all have sinned toward others in varying degrees. The only solution for restoration is to be reconciled to God and then to others. And if God provides the means to correct this through Christ, we too can correct these things in Him. It begins with us being right with God and continues is us being right with others according to His definition.

Righteous roots sprout a garden

It is here that we see how God's justice begins to grow in the community and fulfill the words of Isaiah 61:11. This is how justice is to sprout up as God causes righteousness and praise to sprout before the nations. This is where we receive the compelling reason to act toward others in God's definition of justice and grace. Those who have received the righteous judgment of God in Christ are called to share the fruitful seeds in the earth by sharing this message of God’s Justice and Righteousness through Christ. Modern pursuits of justice will never succeed until they recognize that we are all sinners, and each one of us is in debt to our Creator because of sin. If God provides the means of justice through Jesus Christ, then we too can share that justice through faithful obedience to God alone.

Does the gospel work? Does it achieve God's justice and righteousness? The answer is yes. And does the Gospel change the unjust heart to a heart of forgiveness, mercy, grace, and justice? The answer is also yes. It works because it is from God. If we remove God, it quickly falls apart. But after 2000 years of Christianity, we might expect our society to be rid of injustice, yet we still see that it remains in our world. It remains because each heart needs to come to God and receive the Gospel. Ultimately, all will be set right in the Day of the Lord, when Christ comes again. But until then, we can see the garden of justice and righteousness grow as the Christian community follows God with our whole hearts. However, we must recognize that we can easily slip into sin even after we know what is right. Therefore, we must be vigilant and constantly refresh our understanding and commitment to the justice of God revealed in the Gospel. If we want to see justice in this world, we must commit ourselves to the justice that God loves. We must commit ourselves to God.

Do I have all the answers?

I have the answer that we need to start with and keep as the center as we consider our present situation.