Wrestling with the Justice of God

1. Read: Psalm 99:1-5

2. About the Text:

1) God is a just God.

2) “For I, the LORD, love justice….” (Isaiah 61:8).

3) We like to talk about the love, grace, and mercy of God.

4) We need to know why we like to talk about those things.

5) It is because we need salvation from the justice of God.

3. Ref. to S, T, P, O, and A.

1. Every single person will be judged.

1) God is no respecter of persons – “For there is no partiality with God” (Romans 2:11).

2) The great and the small will be judged – “And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books” (Revelation 20:12).

3) You and I will be judged – “because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead” (Acts 17:31).

2. Every word and deed will be judged.

1) We will be called to account for our lives – “So then each of us shall give account of himself to God” (Romans 14:12).

2) Each word and action will be considered – “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad” (2 Corinthians 5:10).

3) God will not miss a single thing – “For God will bring every work into judgment, ??Including every secret thing, ??Whether good or evil” (Ecclesiastes 12:14).

3. The word of Jesus Christ will by the standard of judgment.

1) “He who rejects Me, and does not receive My words, has that which judges him-the word that I have spoken will judge him in the last day” (John 12:48).

2) “In the day when God will judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ, according to my gospel” (Romans 2:16).

1. No matter how big or small it may be.

1) All sins are offenses against God’s eternal holiness – “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).

2) Even the slightest offense demands an eternal punishment – “The eyes of the LORD are in every place, Keeping watch on the evil and the good” (Proverbs 15:3).

3) No one will be punished more than he/she deserves – 2 Corinthians 5:10.

2. Jesus Christ will be the executor of His wrath.

1) “”Then He will also say to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels” (Matthew 25:41).

2) “and to give you who are troubled rest with us when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. These shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power” (2 Thessalonians 1:7-9).

3. There will be no exceptions.

1) “Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.'” (John 14:6).

2) “Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).

3) “And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire” (Revelation 20:15).

1. Justice demands that a price be paid for our transgressions.

1) “But if any harm follows, then you shall give life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, stripe for stripe” (Exodus 21:23-25).

2) The price for sin against God is separation from God – “But your iniquities have separated you from your God; And your sins have hidden His face from you, So that He will not hear” (Isaiah 59:2).

2. God does not desire the death of the sinner.

1) “‘For I have no pleasure in the death of one who dies,’ says the Lord GOD. ‘Therefore turn and live!'” (Ezekiel 18:32).

2) “[God] desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy 2:4).

3) “The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9).

3. God has paid for man’s sins through His sacrifice of His Son, Jesus Christ.

1) “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).

2) “By that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all” (Hebrews 10:10).

3) “who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness-by whose stripes you were healed” (1 Peter 2:24).

4. Why did God do this?

1) “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).

2) “To demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus” (Romans 3:26).

3) “And they sang a new song, saying: ?’You are worthy to take the scroll, ??And to open its seals; ??For You were slain, ??And have redeemed us to God by Your blood ??Out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation, ??And have made us kings and priests to our God; ??And we shall reign on the earth'” (Revelation 5:9-10).

1. Wrestling with the Justice of God means . . .

1) God will judge every word and deed.

2) God will punish every injustice.

3) God paid the price for man’s sins.

2. Invitation