They will get theirs

We have always craved justice.  However, in recent years, there has been an increasing emphasis on correcting injustices within society – for wrongs committed today as well as those committed in the recent past.  This desire to right the wrongs is noble; however, there have been many ignoble attempts to carry out retribution or exact payment for injustices.  And then we often end up fighting about the ignoble means of handing out noble justice.  Who is supposed to be responsible for administering this justice and how far the punishment is taken have both been hot topics recently.  Accusations of corruption within the judicial branch of government appears in our news feeds frequently.  Stories and rumors of bad behavior are immediately blown up and judged via social media.  Being an election year always seems to put these issues to the forefront of our attention.

But what is a Christian to do with all this?  How can we proclaim a perfect God to a world that is far less than perfect?  We feel the same tensions that non-Christians do – Why do evil people seem to get away with stuff?  I’m glad when the bad guys finally get caught, but what about all those who do the same things and the authorities aren’t even aware of them?  How do we handle inconsistencies for how justice is administered?  What do we do when it appears that justice has not been served and someone “gets away with it” or receives a much lighter punishment than we would have expected?

These are not new questions.  These are concerns that people have always had, as they realized that their governments full of sinful people are trying to corral the actions of sinful people…this is not a formula to bring about perfect justice.  But that seems to be the best we have.  Even Israel’s King David and God’s prophets recognized this tension, and they asked God why injustice happens:

Psalm 94:3-7
Lord, how long will the wicked – how long will the wicked celebrate?
They pour out arrogant words; all the evildoers boast.
Lord, they crush your people; they oppress your heritage.
They kill the widow and the resident alien and murder the fatherless.
They say, “The Lord doesn’t see it.  The God of Jacob doesn’t pay attention.”

Jeremiah 12:1
You will be righteous, Lord, even if I bring a case against you.  Yet, I wish to contend with you:
Why does the way of the wicked prosper?
Why do all the treacherous live at ease?

Habakkuk 1:2-4
How long, Lord, must I call for help and You do not listen
or cry out to you about violence and you do not save?
Why do you force me to look at injustice?
Why do you tolerate wrongdoing?
Oppression and violence are right in front of me.
Strife is ongoing and conflict escalates.

This is why the law is ineffective and justice never emerges.
For the wicked restrict the righteous; therefore, justice comes out perverted.

Paul also dealt with our unfulfilled desire for justice in this manner:

Romans 12:19
Friends, do not avenge yourselves; instead, leave room for God’s wrath, because it is written, “Vengeance belongs to Me, I will repay”, says the Lord.

Paul’s quote goes back to Deuteronomy 32:35, reminding his readers that despite all they are struggling with, God promised long ago to make things right.

Although Paul goes on in his letter (Romans 13), to say that one of the ways God displays His wrath now through the appointed governments to do the work of justice and punishing those who do wrong…we’re still left with a judicial system that doesn’t always get it right.  Our judicial system does not always get all the evidence; it is not is able to understand all aspects of a situation.  Additionally, and sadly, our judicial system can be corrupted so that in some cases, those responsible are never held accountable. 

That is a lot of tension for us to stand in.  And while God’s statement “I will repay” is comforting, it can still feel a bit hollow.  Just like the Old Testament writers, we want to ask God…When?  When will wrongdoing be properly and fully repaid?

It’s likely not as swift as we would want it to be, but God has set a time and place for justice to be finally and fully served.  The apostle John records this moment as the last actions God takes before creating a new heaven and a new earth:

Revelation 20:11-15
Then I saw a great white throne and One seated on it.  Earth and heaven fled from His presence, and no place was found for them.  I also saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened.  Another book was opened, which is the book of life, and the dead were judged according to their works by what was written in the books.  Then the sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them; each one was judged according to their works.  Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire.  This is the second death, the lake of fire.  And anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire.

Let’s make a significant observation here: there are two sets of books that non-believers will be evaluated by.  The first set is plural – the dead were judged according to their works by what was written in the books – and this the full and just evaluation of their deeds in this life.  The second is singular – anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire.  As the text says, it is whether or not their name is in book of life which sends them to the lake of fire, not their bad deeds and neither do their good deeds rescue them from this outcome.

The purpose of being judged according to their works is to determine the level of torment and anguish each person will suffer in the lake of fire.  A garden-variety pagan, who rejected Jesus’ offer of eternal life, will have a very different experience from someone on the level of Hitler, Stalin, or Mao Zedong.  That is true, full, and final justice.  Everything that someone appears to “get away with” now will come to light, and God will properly handle it.

Although this gives us some more comfort just knowing there is a “when”…I know this still leaves us with some unsettled questions.  Take them to God.  He is big enough to handle your questions.  Ask, just like Jeremiah did: You will be righteous, Lord, even if I bring a case against you.  Yet, I wish to contend with you…

This is how justice will be served for those who do not trust in Jesus for eternal life.  They will get theirs.  But, then, what happens to Christians who do terrible things?  Do they get away with it, just because they became a part of God’s family?  We’ll look at those questions next time.

Keep Pressing,
Ken

A warning, some encouragement, and a choice

Be careful here.  The author of Hebrews has an important warning to give his readers, but if these next 14 verses are taken out of context or read individually…not only would the reader miss the intended point, but it could cause significant confusion about God’s dealing with humanity.  HOWEVER, since we have traveled through the author’s major points of the letter, we are less likely to have a misinterpretation.  But we sill must approach the text with our thinking caps on and with the preceding context in mind…

Remember that the author is writing to eternally secure believers.  Also remember his previous warnings about what happened to the Israelites that disregarded their generation’s messenger:

Hebrews 10:26-31
For if we deliberately go on sinning after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a terrifying expectation of judgment and the fury of a fire about to consume the adversaries.

Anyone who disregarded the law of Moses died without mercy, based on the testimony of two or three witnesses.  How much worse punishment do you think one will deserve who has trampled on the Son of God, who has regarded as profane the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace?  For we know the One who has said,

Vengeance belongs to me; I will repay (Deuteronomy 32:35)
and again,
The Lord will judge His people. (Deuteronomy 32:36)

It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

Like any of us who selfishly choose to go against our parents’ directions, those of us in the “Holy family” who purposely choose to continue a sin-filled life are going to have a very angry Heavenly Father to deal with.  This is the same warning the author gave in Chapters 2 and 3 – the consequences of failing away, of having a sinful and unbelieving heart – but now we know the full ramifications of intentionally making sinful choices since we now understand the Greater Message that Jesus has delivered.

Recognizing the implication of their choices, the author then encourages his readers:

Hebrews 10:32-36
Remember the earlier days when, after you had been enlightened, you endured a hard struggle with sufferings.  Sometimes you were publicly exposed to taunts and afflictions, and at other times you were companions of those who were treated that way.  For you sympathized with the prisoners and accepted with joy the confiscation of your possessions, because you know that you yourselves have a better and enduring possession.

So don’t throw away your confidence, which has a great reward.  For you need endurance, so that after you have done God’s will, you may receive what was promised.

What Jesus has promised is the opportunity to participate in His future kingdom.  Just as they were confident in Christ’s authority to forgive their sin debt and bring them into the family, the author encourages them to put that same level of faith and trust in the future which Jesus has promised is available to them.  To do so, the author relies again on an Old Testament passage:

Hebrews 10:37-39
For yet in a very little while,
the Coming One will come and not delay.
But my righteous one will live by faith;
and if he draws back, I have no pleasure in him. (Habakkuk 2:3-4)

But we are not those who draw back and are destroyed, but those who have faith and are saved.

These three verse require the most care.  Do not read our modern-day assumption that the words “destroyed”, “have faith”, and “saved” always mean “sent to Hell”, “saving faith”, and “eternally secure, going to Heaven”.  A look into the multiple Greek words that go into each of these three words reveals the following:

destroyed = into ruin, waste
have faith = trust, with implications that the one who is trusted will do actions because of that trust placed in them
saved = into gaining, sharing in life

Given that the author includes himself when he says “but we are not those who draw back” and also remembering the context of him encouraging believers, a good paraphrase of verse 39 would read:

But we are not of those who shrink back now into a wasted life, but we are those who trust and act upon the Greater Message now and will therefore gain the rewards in the next life that have been promised.

The same choice is available to us today…will we draw back rom the Greater Message, or will we trust Jesus and act on His word?

Keep Pressing,
Ken