Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne; love and faithfulness go before you.
I love justice. I love justice because God loves justice. If your not sure how much God loves justice, go on bible gateway.com and type in justice. It will take you a whole day to go through how much the Bible has to say about justice.
You don’t really see much justice in the world today, at least not the justice that God longs to deliver. People say that you have to be careful with justice, because God calls us to have mercy and show grace. While this is true of course, THERE CAN BE NO LOVE WITHOUT JUSTICE.
There are consequences for sin, and while God still loves you, you have to face the consequences of your sin. And that’s actually the most loving thing, only an uncaring God would let you do whatever you want with no consequences for your actions.
The phrase I hear all the time that just breaks my heart is, “I cant believe in a God who gets angry, punishes people and doesn’t let everyone into heaven.”
What I wouldn’t be able to live with, is a God who DID just sweep sin under the rug and shrug his shoulders.
Because this world is unfair, this world is corrupt and full to the brim with injustice.
When we sin, we hurt others and we hurt ourselves. And that makes God angry, because we are His children! If you’re a parent you know how angry you get when someone hurts your child, think how much MORE God is angry when someone hurts his children.
I wouldn’t want to serve a god who saw evil happening and just didn’t care. If I love my brothers and sisters around the world how much more does their father in heaven love them? The god who knit them together in their mothers womb, shrug his shoulders at injustice? Never. His anger is righteous.
Executing justice is one way in which God shows his love for us. He loves us too much to let us continue down a path of sin and destruction. He loves ENOUGH to rebuke and correct us.
We see how God punished the children of Israel when they continually kept turning away and worshipping false Gods and idols. But God loved them too much to watch them destroy themselves and so he punished them and after seeing His mighty power they would turn back to Him and destroy their idols.
God does not execute justice unrelentingly though. Throughout the consequences of sin, God’s love reigns.
Hosea 11 is God speaking to Israel, “When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son. But the more I called Israel, the further they went from me. “Will they not return to Egypt and will not Assyria rule over them because they refuse to repent? “How can I give you up, Ephraim? How can I hand you over, Israel? My heart is changed within me; all my compassion is aroused. I will not carry out my fierce anger.”
“How can I give you up?” I love these words. Although God’s punishment comes first, He will never give us up and His compassion will never end.
It is also God’s desire that His people follow His commands and show His love by passionately pursing justice.
Matthew 12:18
“Here is my servant whom I have chosen, the one I love, in whom I delight; I will put my Spirit on him, and he will proclaim justice to the nations.
Jesus says this about US. It is our JOB to proclaim justice, our God given command.
If you don’t have a heart for justice, get down on your knees and beg that god will break your heart for what breaks his. I know that’s a really catchy song that most people know, but have you actually done it? Plead for an unrelenting love for his people.
You should love your brothers and sisters around the world so much that when you hear statistics of sex trafficking, it makes you want to cry. Because of Gods love, you have the compassion and the ability to rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep.
But not just to weep, but to be moved to action. To say to the orphan, the widow, the oppressed, “God loves you so much that He sent me to procure justice for you.”
Justice also makes forgiveness possible. We are able to forgive and love because god is angry on our behalf. However upset you are at a wrong committed against you, God is even more upset. More upset than you could ever comprehend.
The ‘justice’ that you think your securing by holding onto unforgiveness, could never measure up to the righteous justice that God administers. We can let go of hurt and love others freely, because our God is one who loves justice.
Song recommendation: A song written AND performed (on my bed, dont worry, Zach's not into zebra stripes =]) by my awesome musician brother in Christ, Zach Bragg
Song is called, "Your Worth"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4A7UaUlRK8k&feature=youtu.be
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