When people talk about us, hurt us, belittle us, disregard us, steal from us, and nothing seems to happen to them, we wonder where’s the justice. Why do we suffer while the ones causing the suffering prosper? Why did the person who caused the company to lose its largest customer,and then lied and said I was the reason, get a promotion. Why didn’t my boss see that the growth in the company’s revenues came as the result of my efforts, and then lay me off because the success eliminated my position. Where’s the justice?
I’ve asked God that question more times than I want to admit and I bet you’ve asked it a lot too. There were times when I became discouraged by what I thought was a lack of justice. I believe that David had the same question, “God where’s the justice” when he wrote Psalm 73.
Psalm 73:1-3, 13-14 NIV Surely God is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart. But as for me, my feet had almost slipped; I had nearly lost my foothold. For I envied the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. Surely in vain I have kept my heart pure and have washed my hands in innocence. All day long I have been afflicted, and every morning brings new punishments.
In the end he realized that even though he felt that the prosperity of the wicked was unjust God was with him and that somehow, someday, there would be justice.
Psalm 73:23-26 NIV Yet I am always with you; you hold me by my right hand. You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will take me into glory. Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
If you have, like David and me, ever wanted justice (although if we are honest we're not that great either), this is for you.
I’ve asked God that question more times than I want to admit and I bet you’ve asked it a lot too. There were times when I became discouraged by what I thought was a lack of justice. I believe that David had the same question, “God where’s the justice” when he wrote Psalm 73.
Psalm 73:1-3, 13-14 NIV Surely God is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart. But as for me, my feet had almost slipped; I had nearly lost my foothold. For I envied the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. Surely in vain I have kept my heart pure and have washed my hands in innocence. All day long I have been afflicted, and every morning brings new punishments.
In the end he realized that even though he felt that the prosperity of the wicked was unjust God was with him and that somehow, someday, there would be justice.
Psalm 73:23-26 NIV Yet I am always with you; you hold me by my right hand. You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will take me into glory. Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
If you have, like David and me, ever wanted justice (although if we are honest we're not that great either), this is for you.
Justice Will Prevail
from YouVerson Reading Plan Unshakable Hope: Building Our Lives On The Promises Of God by Max Lucado
“Judgment Day” is an unpopular term today. We dislike the image of a great hour of reckoning. In many ways, this is ironic. We disdain judgment, but we value justice . . . yet the second is impossible without the first. One can’t have justice without judgment. For that reason, “We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad”
2 Corinthians 5:10 NIV For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.
The apostle John was given a unique perspective of the justice of God. While exiled on the island of Patmos, God gave him a vision of the plans He has for our world. John saw that on Judgment Day, Satan and evil will be dealt with—permanently.
Everyone will be judged. All unbelievers will be judged by Christ. All believers will be judged through Christ. Unbelievers will be punished, while believers will be saved by grace and applauded for their works.
Matthew 16:27 NIV For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what they have done.
Revelation 20:11-15 NIV Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. The earth and the heavens fled from his presence, and there was no place for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what they had done. Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. Anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire.
None will be excluded from this judgment. This will be “the day when God judges people’s secrets through Jesus Christ”
Romans 2:16 NIV This will take place on the day when God judges people’s secrets through Jesus Christ, as my gospel declares.
Why will Christ expose every deed and desire of the Christian heart? Because God’s justice demands a detailed accounting. He will not permit the hint of injustice in His new kingdom. Every citizen will know that every sin has been surfaced and pardoned. Heaven can’t be heaven with secrets or buried pasts, so God filters His verdict through Jesus.
But know this: as a believer in Christ, you won’t stand before that bench alone. Jesus will be at your side! You won’t be embarrassed. To the contrary, you will be stunned! Your awe will grow as the list of your forgiven sins lengthens.
And God will walk you through your life day by day, moment by moment, issuing commendation after commendation. The same pen that records impure thoughts makes notes of pure ones. God records and rewards your goodness. It’s only fair that He does. And since He is a just God, He will applaud the service of His servants and honor the wishes of the wicked.
After all, a just God must honor the wishes of God-rejecters. God has offered His Son as an Advocate. And Jesus will stand at the side of every person . . . except those who refuse Him.
This promise matters because it means that what the devil has stolen can be reclaimed! The wicked will not go unpunished. The injustices you’ve suffered will go unaddressed. So let this promise gratify your desire for justice. God will have the final word.
Place your tragedies in the shadow of the cross. Know that God will right all wrongs and heal all wounds. He has prepared a place where life will be finally and forever . . . just.
Acts 17:31 NIV For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to everyone by raising him from the dead.”
Revelation 20:13-14 NIV The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what they had done. Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death.
To my fellow Christian brothers and sisters. Have you ever wondered, although you received your salvation years and years ago, “with all the things I’ve done in my past what’s going to happen on judgement day?” Let me tell you today that your Judgement Day has come and gone. Jesus, although He never sinned, was judged in your place so that you don’t have to be judged.
Jesus’ Death And Resurrection Release Us From Judgement
by Rick Warren from his devotion, Can I Be Sure I’ll Get into Heaven?
“Those who hear my words and believe in him who sent me have eternal life. They will not be judged” (John 5:24 GNT).
Jesus’ death and Resurrection release us from judgment.
You may imagine a day of judgment where you’re standing outside the gates of heaven in a really, really long line, and you’re slowly moving forward, one step at a time. As you get closer, you start to sweat and wonder, “Am I going to get in? Am I going to make it? Is God going to use a giant TV screen to show every dumb or evil thing I’ve ever done? Will my every sin be exposed?”
I have good news for you; it’s a promise of Jesus Christ. The Bible says in John 3:18 that those who believe in Jesus — his death and Resurrection — will not be judged.
Here’s the real picture: You’re standing in line waiting for the judgment. Jesus sees you and says, “I know you. We’ve been friends for years. You put your trust in me one year during Easter. Come with me. Get in the express lane. You get the fast track. You get to bypass the judgment.” Is that good news? Oh, yeah!
I have a friend named Buddy who said that, when he was a little kid, his Sunday school teacher taught him that God was sitting in heaven, writing down every bad thing that Buddy ever did. She actually made the class sing a song every week that went, “My Lord is writing all the time. Writing, writing, writing all the time.” Buddy said, “It scared me. I just thought, ‘I’m never going to make it to heaven. My list is getting longer and longer.’”
Is that the way God treats us when we come and put our faith in Christ? No! In fact, God is erasing, erasing, erasing all the time. Forgiving, forgiving, forgiving all the time. He’s sitting in heaven, hitting the “delete” button.
Why? Because the Bible says “God is love” (1 John 4:8 NIV) and love “keeps no record of wrongs” (1 Corinthians 13:5 NIV). If you put your trust in the love of Jesus Christ, your sins are wiped out. “There is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1 NLT).
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