Thank you for stopping by to view the Weekend Sermon. Usually, I post the sermon on Friday, but this week I had to move it back a day because I couldn't get to the library to post the message before I had to be a work.
Today, we are moving on in our series of messages dealing with some of the attributes of God. I want to focus on the fact that God is just and He will bring about ultimate justice.
There are two things to focus on when we talk about the fact that God is just. First of all, God is just in that He will bring about what is right and what is good. He will always act in a manner that is fair and impartial. Secondly, because it is in His nature to be just, God has to punish sin. When people sin against the Lord, the Lord must fairly and justly bring about the required punishment for sin.
Deuteronomy 32:4 tells us that "The Rock, His work is perfect, for all His ways are justice. A God of faithfulness and without iniquity, just and upright is He. In the book of Job we are told that it is unthinkable that God would not do what is just and right. Zephaniah tells us that God never does anything that is unjust.
There is an important passage of Scripture found in Romans 2:6-8 that details for us that God is just. This passage reads, "God will repay each person for what they have done. To those who by persistence in doing good seek, glory, honor and immortality, He will give eternal life. But for those who are self-seeking and reject the truth and follow evil there will be wrath and anger.
When Adam and Eve fell in the Garden of Eden, God had to punish their sin because He is a just God. He could not let them get away with their sin. All have sinned, and the wages of sin is death. However, as we will see more of in the coming weeks, God is not just a just God. He is a God of love and mercy as well. The Bible makes it clear that God sent His Son the Lord Jesus to take away our sin. Jesus paid the penalty for sin. Paul puts it this way in Romans 3:25-26, "God presented Him as the atoning sacrifice through faith in His blood, In order to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance He had passed over the sins committed beforehand. He did this to demonstrate His righteousness at the present time, so as to be just and to justify the one who has faith in Jesus.
God being a God of justice cannot accept us into His presence in our current sinful state. However, the sacrificial death of Jesus on the cross and what He did for us makes us righteous in the sight of God when we place our faith in the Lord Jesus. II Corinthians 5:21 tells us, "God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God."
When we confess our sins to the Lord, He takes our sin. In place of our sin, the Lord imputes to us His righteousness. When God looks at us He sees us clothed in the righteousness of His dearly beloved Son. Because of this, the wrath of God passes over us, and the demands of God's justice are satisfied in the righteousness of Christ.
Now, I want us to look at the second aspect of the fact that God is just and a God of justice. He will bring about ultimate justice. There is a lot of wrong and a lot of evil in this world. People are oppressed and the have a lot of wrong done to them. People often think that the evil doers and the oppressors are going to get away with what they have done. Nothing could be further from the truth.
When Jesus comes again, He will judge the world and He will bring justice for all of those that were oppressed. Those that have done what is evil will be punished for what they have done to cause pain and hurt to others. In Deuteronomy we find that God cares about the poor, the immigrant, the oppressed the hungry and hurting. He will bring about justice for these people against their oppressors. That day is coming.
Because God is just, He will not leave this world and its abused people and creation in their current state. Jesus will come and with Him will come justice. His judgment will be based on the good or bad that we have done for the least of those among us. Those have done good to the least among us it is as if we have done it unto Him. Those who have opposed and oppressed the least of those among us, it is if they have opposed and oppressed Jesus Christ Himself.
It is important that we as believers in Jesus act justly and speak up for what is just and what is right in this world in the name of Jesus. I wrap this message up with the Word of the Lord from Micah 6:8, "He has told you, O man, what is good, and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God." Amen.
Prayer Requests
We did not have a bad winter storm in my area. It was a little icy, but not bad. I am feeling quite a bit better, and things are going some better at work. I thank you all for your prayers. I thank the Lord for His goodness.
Please keep praying in regard to the situation in Turkey and Syria. There is aid reaching the people of Turkey, and I thank God for that. Syria is not getting as much assistance, so we need to keep praying that everyone in this situation will get the aid and the help that they need in the days and weeks to come.
Let us pray about the situation with the train in Ohio. People there are hurting. Let's pray that this situation will be resolved quickly and correctly.
Continue to pray for peace on earth. Syria, Ukraine, Israel, Yemen, Libya, Congo, Central African Republic and Haiti are just a few of the troubled areas that need our prayers for peace.
Pray that the diseases harming people in this world will abate. China is dealing with Covid. Many places still are. There is Ebola in Uganda, and many parts of the world are dealing with cholera. Pray that the sick will recover, and that people will get the medical care and help that they need regardless of their ability to pay.
For our prayer focus countries this week, let us pray for those in the nations of Bangladesh and Djibouti. Pray that many will come to know Jesus.
Next week, we will continue learning more about the attributes of God. I will post the verses on Monday, and I hope to post something midweek. May God bless you all.
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