Attributes of God (Part 6) He is Just
Could you imagine being put in jail for a heinous crime that you did not commit? That’s what happened to a FL man by the name of James Richardson. He was accuse of killing all seven of his children by feeding them poison, supposedly to collect their life insurance money. But after spending 21 years in prison he was finally declared innocent of that crime and released. Twenty one years earlier his wife had prepared some food for the children the night before and put it in the refrigerator so that their neighbor, Betsy Reese, who was to babysit the kids would have something to feed them while both parents were at work. All those 21 years Richardson was in prison he swore he did not do such a terrible thing. He claimed to be innocent, and he was. It was the baby sitter that killed his 7 kids. She poisoned them all. The following is an article I found relating to the case.
‘James Richardson was sentenced to die by the court and was on death row for five years. He was saved by the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in 1972 that Florida’s death penalty at the time was unconstitutional Richardson was then placed in jail and was eligible for parole in 1993.
There were many clues that were overlooked that would have pointed to Richardson not being involved. The first is the presence of a likelier suspect, Bessie Reece who, as of 1988 had confessed to the murders more than 100 times to her caretakers. These confessions haven’t been taken seriously because she is now mentally incompetent with Alzheimer’s disease and resides in an Arcadia nursing home. Bessie was also on parole at the time of the murders for killing her ex-husband with a poison. The facts regarding Bessie Reece’s murdered husband were never brought up in court and the prosecution tried very hard to keep that fact from coming up in the court proceedings. In fact, little was done to pursue Bessie’s involvement with the murders at all, including the fact that she was the last to see the children alive, fed them the food, and lied when she initially stated that she had not gone into the apartment.’ (Wikipedia)
That poor man was not only falsely accused of killing his own children, he also had to suffer with their loss and spend time 21 years in prison with every one believing he was guilty of killing his children. His life was ruined. Even after he got out of jail his was in poor health because of prison life and prison food, and wife even divorced him after he got out.
Talk about injustice. The system failed him. Justice was not served.
Even tho the justice of man is flawed, God’s justice is ABSOLUTELY perfect and without any flaws. This is another one of His attributes, God is just.
Since God is infinitely and eternally perfect, He must be impartial in His judgments. He is, and will always be absolutely fair, and He will always treat His creatures equally fair. He will always keep His word, and He will render to all His creatures their due.
Supreme Court Justice Horace Gray once informed a man who had appeared before him in a lower court and had escaped conviction on a technicality, “I know that you are guilty and you know it, and I wish you to remember that one day you will stand before a better and wiser Judge, and that there you will be dealt with according to JUSTICE & not according to law.”
In my last lesson I mentioned the fact that:
Grace is getting what we do not deserve.
Mercy is not getting what we do deserve.
But today I say that Justice is getting what we do deserve.
I don’t know about you, but when I think about this, first thought that comes to my mind is “ought oh!” Because I am far from being perfect. Like everyone else, I sin. I think about verses like Romans 2:5-11 which says; “5 But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God’s wrath, when His righteous judgment will be revealed. 6 God “will repay each person according to what they have done.” 7 To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, He will give eternal life. 8 But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger. 9 There will be trouble and distress for every human being who does evil: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile; 10 but glory, honor and peace for everyone who does good: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. 11 For God does not show favoritism.”
I don’t know about you, but I don’t like all this talk about God’s anger and wrath, and our trouble and distress. But I thank God for His mercy and grace and sending us Jesus. Paul goes on to write in the next chapter; “ But now God has shown us a way to be made right with Him without keeping the requirements of the law, as was promised in the writings of Moses and the prophets long ago. 22 We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are. 23 For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. 24 Yet God freely and graciously declares that we are righteous. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins. 25 For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding His blood. This sacrifice shows that God was being fair when He held back and did not punish those who sinned in times past, 26 for He was looking ahead and including them in what He would do in this present time. God did this to demonstrate His righteousness, for He Himself is fair and just, and He declares sinners to be right in his sight when they believe in Jesus.” Romans 3:21-26 (NLT)
Thank God for His mercy and Grace, and thank God for Jesus!
Someone wrote, “Now, when the sinner is brought to the bar, Jesus appears there Himself. He stands to answer the accusation. He points to His side, His hands, His feet, and challenges JUSTICE to bring anything against the sinners whom He represents; He pleads His blood, and pleads so triumphantly, being numbered with them and having a part with them, that the Judge proclaims, “Let them go their way; deliver them from going down into the pit, for He has found a ransom.”
This person was saying that when we stand before our Lord on Judgement day, Jesus will be there at our side, and declare, He’s one of mine, He believed in and accepted the sacrifice I made for him. I’ve have prepared a place for him here in heaven. And the Judge will say, “Enter in.”
As I prepared this lesson, I also realized that there is also another whole side of God being a just and fair. It’s in regards how fair or unfairly we are treated now.
The great preacher Charles Spurgeon wrote in his commentary, “No blood of martyrs shall be shed in vain; no groans of confessors in prison shall be left without inquisition being made concerning them. All wrongs shall be righted, all the oppressed shall be avenged. Justice may at times leave the courts of man, but it abides upon the tribunal of God. For this, every right-minded person will bless God.”
I believe that God will bring justice into our life even now. We all go thru situations that are unfair in the here and now; things you have no control over. It doesn’t seem fair that someone can lie about you and damage your reputation. It doesn’t seem fair that some cannot find a good spouse yet other get married sometimes to 3 or 4 times. It doesn’t seem fair that some cannot have a baby, yet there are others who aren’t married have one kid after another, some don’t even want kid yet they have three or four.
It may not seem fair that you have a special needs child, or that you lost a loved one, or that you have a sickness or a physical problem. Maybe it seems like life has thrown you a curve. It hasn’t worked out the way you’ve hope it would.
But here’s what I’ve learned, Even though life is not always fair, God is fair. And if you will keep trusting Him, and try not get bitter, and do your best to keep moving forward. God has promised you as His child, that He will pay you back for every unfair thing that has happened.
Now don’t let one or even a few bad breaks ruin the rest of your life. Don’t let a foiled interview, the loss of a job, the loss of a loved one, a financial crisis, a bad childhood or anything else keep you from the amazing future that God has in store for you. What happened to you may have been wrong, and felt unfair. What someone else did to you may have put you at a disadvantage, but what they did cannot stop the destiny that our God has planned for you. No one else has the final say, only God does. And God can restore that which was taken from you.
Concerning Israel’s mistreatment by others, God spoke thru Isaiah saying, “Instead of your shame you will receive a double portion, and instead of disgrace you will rejoice in your inheritance. And so you will inherit a double portion in your land, and everlasting joy will be yours. “For I, the Lord, love justice; I hate robbery and wrongdoing. In my faithfulness I will reward my people and make an everlasting covenant with them. 9 Their descendants will be known among the nations and their offspring among the peoples. All who see them will acknowledge that they are a people the Lord has blessed.”
Remember Job, after the devil tormented and took everything away from him? In the end he received back double for his trouble. Nothing that has happened to you is a surprise to God. God already has the restoration, the vindication, the new beginning prepared for you. That setback may simply be a setup for God to take you to higher level. You just have to shake off the self pity, shake off the defeat and get ready for God to do something new. He can pay you back for every injustice.
This is what happened in the Bible over and over again. The Israelites’ spent 400 years in Egypt, much of that as Egyptian slaves. They were terribly mistreated. God heard their cries. God said in Exodus 3:7f “I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. 8 So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey.”
God has seen every wrong that has been done to you. He has seen every person that has hurt you, every tear you have shed, every lonely night you spent, every injustice, and every wrong done to you. And so God told those people, “I have come down to deliver you.”
There comes a point where He says, ‘Enough is enough; I’ve seen it, now I’m going to do something about it. I’m not going to give you just what you deserve, I’m going to make the enemy pay and bring you out better off than you were before.’
God delivered the Israelites out of slavery. Pharaoh finally agreed to let them go. That was worth celebrating in itself, but they did not leave Egypt empty handed. God is a god of justice. He always makes the enemy pay for bringing trouble into His children’s life. On their way out, God told the Israelites to ask their captors for their gold and silver and jewels. God cause their captors to look favorably upon them before they left and they therefore plundered Egypt of much of it wealth as they left. What was God doing? He was paying them back for 400 years of mistreatment.
It may not happen overnight or according to your timetable, but God is a God of justice. He is going to make sure His children are treated fairly. He is keeping the records, He knows exactly what you are owed. God sees every time you do the right things, but the wrong thing happens. He knows every time you make the better choice and forgive, and every time you work hard but don’t get the credit. God is closely watching. You have an account with Him, and He will not only make sure that you get what you deserve, but in His justice He will pay you back with more that you expect. It may not always happen here and now; some even loose their lives unjustly. Some are even martyred for doing the right thing. Jesus told His disciple they would receive back a hundred-fold in heaven.
Maybe you are beginning to lose hope. God is saying to you what He was saying to the Israelites, ‘I am coming down to do something about it.’ You need to get ready… there will be a time for payback. Everything the enemy has taken from you, God is going to restore, maybe in ways you never expected. God will pay you back for the childhood that you may not have had. God is going to pay you back for the person who falsely accused you. He is going to pay you back for years spent in an abusive relationship.
So don’t go around with a defeated mentality; you may have had more than your share of bad breaks, you could easily get discouraged and settle where you are, but I am asking you to shake that off and trust that God will come down and act on your behalf.’ (Parts based on a sermon by Joel Olsteen)
For more lessons click on the following link: http://granvillenychurchofchrist.org/?page_id=566
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