WEBVTT 00:00:01.320 --> 00:00:03.180 I was playing golf the other day with a guy I'd 00:00:03.180 --> 00:00:05.960 never met, and about hole number two, he turns 00:00:05.960 --> 00:00:08.880 to me and says, so you talk about God? Well, 00:00:08.900 --> 00:00:12.279 let me ask you this. Why do bad things happen 00:00:12.279 --> 00:00:15.019 to good people? What I'm going to share today 00:00:15.019 --> 00:00:17.399 is what I would share with him. Stick around. 00:00:22.039 --> 00:00:24.739 Welcome to this edition of Living on the Edge 00:00:24.739 --> 00:00:28.280 with Chip Ingram. We are an international discipleship 00:00:28.280 --> 00:00:30.719 ministry devoted to helping Christians worldwide 00:00:30.719 --> 00:00:33.520 live out their faith for the glory of God and 00:00:33.520 --> 00:00:36.359 the benefit of all people. And boy, Chip's tackling 00:00:36.359 --> 00:00:38.840 probably one of the most prominent themes in 00:00:38.840 --> 00:00:41.979 our world today, justice. Because as prejudice, 00:00:42.259 --> 00:00:45.079 wrongdoing, and evil seem to be running rampant 00:00:45.079 --> 00:00:47.700 everywhere, the question of where is God gets 00:00:47.700 --> 00:00:50.520 louder and louder. So let's learn more about 00:00:50.520 --> 00:00:53.460 this core attribute of our Heavenly Father. Go 00:00:53.460 --> 00:00:56.799 in your Bible to Genesis chapter 18 as we join 00:00:56.799 --> 00:01:01.060 Chip for his message, The Justice of God. If 00:01:01.060 --> 00:01:05.739 this message were in a little wrapper and it 00:01:05.739 --> 00:01:07.900 was The Justice of God, there would be a little 00:01:07.900 --> 00:01:11.640 sticker in the corner. And the little sticker 00:01:11.640 --> 00:01:14.200 would be in that bright yellow and it would say, 00:01:14.280 --> 00:01:19.819 Warning. This message may be hazardous to your 00:01:19.819 --> 00:01:25.180 health. We have talked about many of the attributes 00:01:25.180 --> 00:01:29.260 of God, but the one that we will talk about on 00:01:29.260 --> 00:01:33.560 this time together requires us to think at a 00:01:33.560 --> 00:01:36.920 level of clarity that is uncommon for most of 00:01:36.920 --> 00:01:40.859 us, and it requires us to have a sense of sobriety, 00:01:40.859 --> 00:01:45.420 of seriousness, a sense of what's at stake if 00:01:45.420 --> 00:01:48.200 we're going to really hear from God. And so I 00:01:48.200 --> 00:01:50.099 would encourage you that even as we get started, 00:01:50.159 --> 00:01:53.579 that you pray and say, Lord, I'm a human being, 00:01:53.680 --> 00:01:57.000 and like all human beings, I have practiced and 00:01:57.000 --> 00:01:59.920 become very good at denial. I have learned how 00:01:59.920 --> 00:02:02.120 to fool myself. I've learned how to fool other 00:02:02.120 --> 00:02:05.099 people. I've learned to play all kind of games, 00:02:05.200 --> 00:02:08.879 but I need you to take the spiritual wax out 00:02:08.879 --> 00:02:12.159 of my ears, to take any calluses that are on 00:02:12.159 --> 00:02:17.650 my heart. I need you to help me hear. clearly, 00:02:17.669 --> 00:02:23.169 and to see accurately, okay? There are two questions 00:02:23.169 --> 00:02:26.349 that I find disturb believers and unbelievers 00:02:26.349 --> 00:02:29.810 alike. I mean, I can go to a mall, I can go to 00:02:29.810 --> 00:02:32.270 a park, I can go to a church, I can talk with 00:02:32.270 --> 00:02:35.469 Christian leaders, I can talk to absolute pagans, 00:02:35.490 --> 00:02:38.729 and I can tell you there are two questions that 00:02:38.729 --> 00:02:41.229 they struggle with, we struggle with, and everyone 00:02:41.229 --> 00:02:44.689 struggles with. Question number one is why do 00:02:44.689 --> 00:02:49.050 bad things happen to good people? I was six days 00:02:49.050 --> 00:02:52.849 after the tsunami hit. I was at a beach where 00:02:52.849 --> 00:02:56.569 160 people were out for a daily walk on Sunday 00:02:56.569 --> 00:02:59.469 morning, and they heard an interesting sound, 00:02:59.550 --> 00:03:02.550 had no idea what it was, and a huge wave comes 00:03:02.550 --> 00:03:05.069 in, sweeps them off the beach, takes them out, 00:03:05.150 --> 00:03:08.490 and they are gone. I walked around the corner 00:03:08.490 --> 00:03:10.849 and I saw a big shipping area, not like his little 00:03:10.849 --> 00:03:13.949 fishing boats, but I mean big fishing boats that 00:03:13.949 --> 00:03:16.189 were the livelihood of this village of a few 00:03:16.189 --> 00:03:18.849 hundred thousand people. And I saw huge ships 00:03:18.849 --> 00:03:23.909 just tilted like this. How does a good God let 00:03:23.909 --> 00:03:27.729 tsunamis hit and kill tens of thousands of people? 00:03:28.969 --> 00:03:33.250 How does a good God let a 9 -11 terrorist attack 00:03:33.250 --> 00:03:36.479 occur? Where innocent people, you know, some 00:03:36.479 --> 00:03:38.460 guy kissed his wife and said, honey, I'll see 00:03:38.460 --> 00:03:40.379 you later. I've got a business trip and gets 00:03:40.379 --> 00:03:43.479 on a plane from Pittsburgh and it ends up decimated 00:03:43.479 --> 00:03:49.159 in the ground. Or some gal, you know, puts on 00:03:49.159 --> 00:03:52.240 her makeup and goes up to about the 62nd floor 00:03:52.240 --> 00:03:57.479 and she's just there early doing her work. And 00:03:57.479 --> 00:03:59.319 all of a sudden she hears all kind of sirens 00:03:59.319 --> 00:04:03.310 go off and a plane has hit the building. And 00:04:03.310 --> 00:04:06.069 she scurries downstairs that are crowded and 00:04:06.069 --> 00:04:10.229 packed with screaming people. And her family 00:04:10.229 --> 00:04:12.229 really doesn't know whether she made it out or 00:04:12.229 --> 00:04:15.449 not. All they know is there's no remains. And 00:04:15.449 --> 00:04:20.410 they ask why. 39 -year -old guy, a friend of 00:04:20.410 --> 00:04:23.470 mine that I know, great health, good shape, took 00:04:23.470 --> 00:04:26.750 care of himself, three kids, massive heart attack. 00:04:27.589 --> 00:04:32.160 Why? One of the hardest things my son faced, 00:04:32.240 --> 00:04:34.279 he had a young man that grew up in our church 00:04:34.279 --> 00:04:38.860 who was unbelievably musically talented. Literally, 00:04:39.060 --> 00:04:41.399 I've never seen anyone where he just sort of 00:04:41.399 --> 00:04:42.920 played around and pretty soon he could play the 00:04:42.920 --> 00:04:45.240 piano. It didn't take any lessons. And he watched 00:04:45.240 --> 00:04:47.199 someone else and he picked up a mandolin and 00:04:47.199 --> 00:04:49.480 then he played the guitar. And then he saw someone 00:04:49.480 --> 00:04:51.019 else playing something else and he could just 00:04:51.019 --> 00:04:53.680 sit down and God gave him these amazing songs. 00:04:53.920 --> 00:04:56.279 And he and my son would make this music in my 00:04:56.279 --> 00:04:58.939 garage and then travel all over the country and 00:04:58.939 --> 00:05:01.759 do their thing. And John was always skinny, and 00:05:01.759 --> 00:05:03.899 we'd really kid him and give him a hard time. 00:05:03.980 --> 00:05:06.680 I mean, he was like thin, as in all the jokes. 00:05:07.480 --> 00:05:11.160 John turned sideways, and he disappears. And 00:05:11.160 --> 00:05:13.300 he always had a little bit of a stomach problem, 00:05:13.459 --> 00:05:15.839 and no one thought much of it. But I remember 00:05:15.839 --> 00:05:18.519 the day I got a call, and they finally found 00:05:18.519 --> 00:05:20.660 out what was wrong, and John was 25 years old, 00:05:20.699 --> 00:05:23.959 and he had cancer. And nine months later, I remember 00:05:23.959 --> 00:05:26.500 sitting around his bed and one of the worship 00:05:26.500 --> 00:05:28.699 leaders in our church was with the guitar singing 00:05:28.699 --> 00:05:31.220 and his mom and his dad and myself and my son. 00:05:31.759 --> 00:05:34.220 And we sat around and we prayed as we watched 00:05:34.220 --> 00:05:39.040 the last parts of life ebb out of John. And I 00:05:39.040 --> 00:05:42.540 get in the car with my boy. And he's been raised 00:05:42.540 --> 00:05:44.360 in a Christian home. I mean, his dad's a pastor. 00:05:44.399 --> 00:05:47.699 It's me. And my son looks me in the eye and goes, 00:05:47.779 --> 00:05:55.209 Dad. I mean, that guy has more musical ability 00:05:55.209 --> 00:05:58.089 in his little finger than I have in my whole 00:05:58.089 --> 00:06:00.970 body. And he's already written songs that we're 00:06:00.970 --> 00:06:03.629 singing in our church and his passion was to 00:06:03.629 --> 00:06:08.069 do this for God. Dad, why? And you could tell 00:06:08.069 --> 00:06:11.589 me stories of the cancer that hit people that 00:06:11.589 --> 00:06:13.689 you love and the car wreck and the drunk driver. 00:06:14.310 --> 00:06:17.290 Everyone struggles with this question, why do 00:06:17.290 --> 00:06:20.129 bad things happen to good people? And there's 00:06:20.129 --> 00:06:22.550 a second question. In fact, I have more problems 00:06:22.550 --> 00:06:27.490 with this one. I do. My confession is why do 00:06:27.490 --> 00:06:31.339 good things happen to bad people? I mean, you 00:06:31.339 --> 00:06:34.000 look at the corporate excesses and you have people 00:06:34.000 --> 00:06:36.459 now after years, you know, getting a little slap 00:06:36.459 --> 00:06:40.019 on the wrist and executives who defrauded people 00:06:40.019 --> 00:06:42.699 of hundreds of millions of dollars going home 00:06:42.699 --> 00:06:45.360 with a little parachute of 10 or 12 million dollars 00:06:45.360 --> 00:06:47.680 as they run out the back door. And then they 00:06:47.680 --> 00:06:50.160 interview grandmothers who had their life savings 00:06:50.160 --> 00:06:53.980 in the company who are absolutely broke, 77 years 00:06:53.980 --> 00:06:57.319 old, have absolutely nothing, and they have zero. 00:06:57.339 --> 00:06:59.980 And this guy that hoodwinked everybody walks 00:06:59.980 --> 00:07:02.420 out. the back door with 10 or 12 million dollars. 00:07:02.920 --> 00:07:05.279 And I don't know about you, I not only get angry, 00:07:05.360 --> 00:07:08.079 I'm thinking, hey God, where's the justice here? 00:07:09.420 --> 00:07:12.000 All of us have been in a corporation or a job 00:07:12.000 --> 00:07:15.040 site or even in high school and you found someone 00:07:15.040 --> 00:07:17.079 that you knew, they lied, they cheated on tests, 00:07:17.300 --> 00:07:19.439 they were anti -God, they were arrogant, they 00:07:19.439 --> 00:07:21.459 were the kind of people that the word jerk was 00:07:21.459 --> 00:07:26.189 made for. And it just seems like the blessing 00:07:26.189 --> 00:07:28.209 of God is on their life. It's like they don't 00:07:28.209 --> 00:07:29.569 have any struggles. They don't have any problems. 00:07:29.689 --> 00:07:31.009 They get the pretty girlfriend. They get on the 00:07:31.009 --> 00:07:32.889 fast track. They have the nice home. They got 00:07:32.889 --> 00:07:37.790 the nice car. And you're going, hello. Why do 00:07:37.790 --> 00:07:42.670 good things happen to bad people? And these two 00:07:42.670 --> 00:07:44.449 questions, there's something underneath of them. 00:07:44.850 --> 00:07:47.850 See, underneath these two questions is a big 00:07:47.850 --> 00:07:53.189 issue. The real issue is life's not fair, right? 00:07:54.509 --> 00:07:56.430 I mean, the problem with the bad things happen 00:07:56.430 --> 00:07:58.569 to good people is that's not fair. And the problem 00:07:58.569 --> 00:08:00.689 with good things happen to bad people is that's 00:08:00.689 --> 00:08:03.350 not fair. And you don't have to be a rocket scientist 00:08:03.350 --> 00:08:06.529 to say, okay, life doesn't seem very fair. Now, 00:08:06.529 --> 00:08:12.350 who created life? God. And if God created life, 00:08:12.589 --> 00:08:17.110 then the real question is, is God fair? Is God 00:08:17.110 --> 00:08:22.980 just? Does he judge rightly? People have a very, 00:08:23.019 --> 00:08:26.120 very, very difficult time, believers and unbelievers, 00:08:26.220 --> 00:08:28.379 but one of the things you have going for you 00:08:28.379 --> 00:08:31.500 is you have the best explanation to this problem 00:08:31.500 --> 00:08:34.639 because you have what's called a biblical world. 00:08:35.070 --> 00:08:38.870 You don't have some sort of a wacky dualism of 00:08:38.870 --> 00:08:41.149 there's a good God and a bad God and they're 00:08:41.149 --> 00:08:43.929 in competition and there's the dark side of the 00:08:43.929 --> 00:08:46.149 force and the white side of the force and all 00:08:46.149 --> 00:08:48.370 this jazz of trying to figure out who's going 00:08:48.370 --> 00:08:51.690 to win. Your biblical worldview definitely helps 00:08:51.690 --> 00:08:55.149 you understand. Because let me give you your 00:08:55.149 --> 00:08:57.470 biblical worldview. I want you to imagine this 00:08:57.470 --> 00:08:59.950 is a timeline right here, beginning right here 00:08:59.950 --> 00:09:04.320 is eternity past and there's an arrow. And this 00:09:04.320 --> 00:09:06.519 arrow goes right to here for eternity future. 00:09:06.960 --> 00:09:09.740 And what your worldview and my worldview tells 00:09:09.740 --> 00:09:12.940 you is this, is that before time began, we have 00:09:12.940 --> 00:09:15.340 Genesis chapter one and Genesis chapter two. 00:09:15.399 --> 00:09:18.700 We're right here. And God creates a perfect, 00:09:18.779 --> 00:09:22.960 fair, just environment where he loves his people 00:09:22.960 --> 00:09:25.500 that he's created. He gives them all the world. 00:09:25.620 --> 00:09:28.340 He says, be fruitful and multiply. He has intimate 00:09:28.340 --> 00:09:31.240 communion with them. And it is a perfect paradise 00:09:31.240 --> 00:09:34.330 or environment. And that's the first two chapters 00:09:34.330 --> 00:09:40.289 of human existence. Then there's a parentheses. 00:09:40.490 --> 00:09:42.649 There's a parentheses that started right here. 00:09:42.789 --> 00:09:46.070 And in Genesis chapter 3, there is a coup. There 00:09:46.070 --> 00:09:49.740 is a rebellion. There is a... entrance of sin 00:09:49.740 --> 00:09:52.740 into the world, and with that comes a judgment. 00:09:53.019 --> 00:09:57.700 Sin is judged. Mankind is taken out of the garden. 00:09:57.840 --> 00:10:01.159 The tree of life is now guarded by cherubim so 00:10:01.159 --> 00:10:05.320 that this death or separation will not be permanent. 00:10:05.980 --> 00:10:08.620 And what we have in the Bible and what we have 00:10:08.620 --> 00:10:10.879 in our experience, it's called the fall. You 00:10:10.879 --> 00:10:14.159 live in a fallen world. What we know is the world 00:10:14.159 --> 00:10:16.240 that we live in is not the world God intended. 00:10:17.110 --> 00:10:19.370 The world that we live in is a fallen world. 00:10:19.450 --> 00:10:22.570 We live in a world that has cancer. We live in 00:10:22.570 --> 00:10:25.049 a world that has a disease. We live in a world 00:10:25.049 --> 00:10:27.090 that does not reflect the goodness and the purity 00:10:27.090 --> 00:10:31.110 and the holiness of God. But it was allowed by 00:10:31.110 --> 00:10:33.809 him for reasons we talked about earlier. So in 00:10:33.809 --> 00:10:36.269 this parenthesis, the whole story of mankind's 00:10:36.269 --> 00:10:38.529 history is Genesis chapter three. You're inside 00:10:38.529 --> 00:10:40.990 of a parenthesis and you have the story of the 00:10:40.990 --> 00:10:42.750 Old and the New Testament. You get all the way 00:10:42.750 --> 00:10:44.809 in the entire rest of the Bible, all the way 00:10:44.809 --> 00:10:49.539 up to Revelation chapter 20. Is God working with 00:10:49.539 --> 00:10:53.480 people in light of a fallen world and his redemptive 00:10:53.480 --> 00:10:56.320 plan? And at chapter 20, you have another judgment 00:10:56.320 --> 00:10:59.559 and it's called the great white throne judgment 00:10:59.559 --> 00:11:03.200 where God takes all the injustice and all the 00:11:03.200 --> 00:11:05.820 pain and all the bad things done to good people 00:11:05.820 --> 00:11:08.220 and all the good things done to bad people and 00:11:08.220 --> 00:11:10.600 he takes all the scales and he says a day will 00:11:10.600 --> 00:11:13.039 come when he will make everything right and he 00:11:13.039 --> 00:11:16.279 will judge. All men of all time according to 00:11:16.279 --> 00:11:19.039 their works. And then the parentheses ends and 00:11:19.039 --> 00:11:21.480 we're in chapter 21 and there's a new heaven 00:11:21.480 --> 00:11:24.639 and there's a new earth and it's a perfect environment 00:11:24.639 --> 00:11:27.799 and there's no pain and there's no tears and 00:11:27.799 --> 00:11:30.940 everything will be as it should be again. But 00:11:30.940 --> 00:11:33.500 here's what you need to remember is that you 00:11:33.500 --> 00:11:38.899 live inside the parentheses. See, God is just. 00:11:38.940 --> 00:11:43.980 God is fair. But you live in a fallen world where 00:11:43.980 --> 00:11:47.700 his justice is not meted out in space -time history 00:11:47.700 --> 00:11:52.399 in a way that is corollary to what we think ought 00:11:52.399 --> 00:11:54.820 to be when it actually happens. And so there 00:11:54.820 --> 00:11:57.580 are injustices. Life is not fair. I mean, if 00:11:57.580 --> 00:12:00.679 you haven't figured that one out, life is not 00:12:00.679 --> 00:12:04.600 fair in a world where sin dominates. But it raises 00:12:04.600 --> 00:12:08.279 a very, very important question. How can we... 00:12:08.830 --> 00:12:15.110 trust God in a world that has fallen? How can 00:12:15.110 --> 00:12:19.169 you depend on a God where life doesn't seem fair? 00:12:19.409 --> 00:12:22.409 How can we learn to think soberly and clearly 00:12:22.409 --> 00:12:26.389 about what it means inside the parenthesis of 00:12:26.389 --> 00:12:29.710 Genesis 3 to Revelation 20? How do we live this 00:12:29.710 --> 00:12:35.029 life and worship God who is just in the midst 00:12:35.029 --> 00:12:37.700 of a fallen world? And that's what I want to 00:12:37.700 --> 00:12:42.360 talk about today. Let's begin by defining the 00:12:42.360 --> 00:12:44.940 justice of God. What do we mean when we say justice? 00:12:46.620 --> 00:12:50.039 The first preview I see in the scriptures is 00:12:50.039 --> 00:12:53.379 with Abraham in Genesis 18, verse 25. You probably 00:12:53.379 --> 00:12:56.600 know this story. Abraham's a man of God. He's 00:12:56.600 --> 00:12:59.559 called by God. God is going to make a great nation 00:12:59.559 --> 00:13:04.070 out of him. He and his nephew Lot have both grown 00:13:04.070 --> 00:13:08.029 in their livestock. And so Lot goes this direction 00:13:08.029 --> 00:13:10.370 and chooses this area because it looks good. 00:13:10.509 --> 00:13:13.330 And Abraham continues where he was. And God says, 00:13:13.490 --> 00:13:15.490 here's all the promises I'm going to fulfill. 00:13:16.389 --> 00:13:18.549 And Lot ends up in Sodom and Gomorrah, right? 00:13:19.549 --> 00:13:22.090 And it's called Sodom and Gomorrah for a reason. 00:13:23.090 --> 00:13:29.149 And it is sinful and it is evil. That iniquity 00:13:29.149 --> 00:13:32.509 rises up to God, and so the triune God determines 00:13:32.509 --> 00:13:34.149 that they're going to judge it. And he says, 00:13:34.210 --> 00:13:37.230 can I keep this from my servant Abraham? And 00:13:37.230 --> 00:13:39.250 as you know the story, what you find is that 00:13:39.250 --> 00:13:41.970 there's this very special meeting where God appears 00:13:41.970 --> 00:13:46.080 to Abraham, and he lets him in on his plan. And 00:13:46.080 --> 00:13:49.899 what you have in Genesis 18 verse 25 is he quickly 00:13:49.899 --> 00:13:52.139 does the math. And remember the story? If there 00:13:52.139 --> 00:13:54.179 were 50 righteous, if there were 45 righteous, 00:13:54.279 --> 00:13:56.899 if there were 40. And I mean, he literally negotiates 00:13:56.899 --> 00:14:00.440 with the God of heaven. And the basis of his 00:14:00.440 --> 00:14:06.080 negotiation is verse 25. He says, far be it from 00:14:06.080 --> 00:14:09.139 you to do such a thing, to kill the righteous 00:14:09.139 --> 00:14:11.639 with the wicked. treating the righteous and the 00:14:11.639 --> 00:14:15.279 wicked alike. Far be it from you, will not the 00:14:15.279 --> 00:14:19.919 judge of all the earth do right? Now, remember, 00:14:20.080 --> 00:14:22.139 Abraham does not have the Old Testament written. 00:14:22.200 --> 00:14:24.340 He certainly doesn't have the New Testament written. 00:14:24.440 --> 00:14:27.700 He has no written revelation. He's had experiences 00:14:27.700 --> 00:14:31.139 with God. God has spoken to him. But here's what 00:14:31.139 --> 00:14:33.700 he knows intrinsically about the character of 00:14:33.700 --> 00:14:37.240 God. He's fair. He's just. And he's saying to 00:14:37.240 --> 00:14:40.340 him, wait a second. I know you. I know what you're 00:14:40.340 --> 00:14:43.460 like. Okay, I know there's all this evil in the 00:14:43.460 --> 00:14:46.120 city, but there's this pocket of people that 00:14:46.120 --> 00:14:49.360 I love. They're righteous. It would be unfair 00:14:49.360 --> 00:14:52.720 and unjust and wrong for you to kill the wicked 00:14:52.720 --> 00:14:55.279 with the righteous. And on the basis of your 00:14:55.279 --> 00:14:58.159 just character, I'm going to appeal to you. And 00:14:58.159 --> 00:15:00.259 then he goes through the negotiation until he 00:15:00.259 --> 00:15:02.700 gets it down to the number of people, of Lot 00:15:02.700 --> 00:15:06.039 and his family and his life. But what I want 00:15:06.039 --> 00:15:09.299 you to hear is, Abraham, even in a fallen world, 00:15:09.419 --> 00:15:14.960 appealed to God's justice as the basis for dealing 00:15:14.960 --> 00:15:18.600 with the thing that was best on his heart. Notice 00:15:18.600 --> 00:15:21.620 what it says in Psalm 97 too. It says, clouds 00:15:21.620 --> 00:15:24.379 and thick darkness surround him. Righteousness 00:15:24.379 --> 00:15:26.340 and justice are the foundation of his throne. 00:15:27.199 --> 00:15:30.379 You could do a little study, Job 8 .3, Job 40, 00:15:30.500 --> 00:15:34.360 verse 6, Psalm 11 .7, Psalm 45 .6, Isaiah 51 00:15:34.360 --> 00:15:37.919 .6, Isaiah 30 .18, Zephaniah 3 .5. I could go 00:15:37.919 --> 00:15:39.700 on and on and on. Here's what I want you to hear. 00:15:40.379 --> 00:15:43.240 Old and New Testament, proclaim, proclaim, proclaim, 00:15:43.480 --> 00:15:47.159 proclaim. God is just. God is righteous. God 00:15:47.159 --> 00:15:51.259 is just. God is righteous. God is fair. The foundation 00:15:51.259 --> 00:15:54.279 of his throne, the basis of how God deals with 00:15:54.279 --> 00:15:56.879 everything. God will never give anyone a raw 00:15:56.879 --> 00:16:01.679 deal. It's what his justice is all about. You're 00:16:01.679 --> 00:16:03.980 listening to Living on the Edge, and we'll get 00:16:03.980 --> 00:16:06.460 back to Chip's message in just a minute. You 00:16:06.460 --> 00:16:08.639 know, we love to hear how you are deepening your 00:16:08.639 --> 00:16:11.080 relationship with God as you study his word with 00:16:11.080 --> 00:16:13.389 us. But another way we want to support you in 00:16:13.389 --> 00:16:15.870 that is through our free resource called Daily 00:16:15.870 --> 00:16:18.789 Discipleship with Chip. Let me encourage you 00:16:18.789 --> 00:16:21.350 to stick around after this message as Chip will 00:16:21.350 --> 00:16:24.029 tell you more about it and how to sign up. But 00:16:24.029 --> 00:16:26.210 for now, let's get back to the remainder of his 00:16:26.210 --> 00:16:29.809 talk. Tozer writes, justice embodies the idea 00:16:29.809 --> 00:16:33.230 of moral equity and inequity is the exact opposite. 00:16:33.389 --> 00:16:37.169 It is the inequity, the absence of equality from 00:16:37.169 --> 00:16:40.519 human thoughts and acts. judgment is the application 00:16:40.519 --> 00:16:44.539 of equity to moral situations and may be favorable 00:16:44.539 --> 00:16:47.340 or unfavorable according to whether the one under 00:16:47.340 --> 00:16:50.740 examination has been equitable or inequitable 00:16:50.740 --> 00:16:54.799 in heart and conduct. Justice is not something 00:16:54.799 --> 00:16:58.379 God possesses. Justice is not an external standard 00:16:58.379 --> 00:17:00.679 that says this is right, this is wrong, this 00:17:00.679 --> 00:17:03.759 is fair. It is in the very essence and the nature 00:17:03.759 --> 00:17:07.599 of his character. He is justice and all moral 00:17:07.599 --> 00:17:11.000 law, all commands are merely a reflection of 00:17:11.000 --> 00:17:15.000 the justice and the character of God. There's 00:17:15.000 --> 00:17:16.640 something interesting that you need to know about 00:17:16.640 --> 00:17:18.940 justice and Packer, I think, describes it well. 00:17:19.630 --> 00:17:22.150 J .I. Packard in Knowing God writes, it becomes 00:17:22.150 --> 00:17:25.450 clear that the Bible's proclamation of God's 00:17:25.450 --> 00:17:29.869 work as judge is part of his witness to his character. 00:17:30.630 --> 00:17:33.990 It shows us also that the heart of justice which 00:17:33.990 --> 00:17:37.329 expresses God's nature is retribution. Will you 00:17:37.329 --> 00:17:41.170 circle that word in your notes? The heart of 00:17:41.170 --> 00:17:44.910 justice which expresses God's nature is retribution. 00:17:44.950 --> 00:17:48.400 You know what retribution is? You do this, therefore 00:17:48.400 --> 00:17:51.299 you get this for doing it. Now he goes on to 00:17:51.299 --> 00:17:54.180 explain. The rendering to men what they have 00:17:54.180 --> 00:17:57.339 deserved, for this is the essence of a judge's 00:17:57.339 --> 00:18:01.579 task. To reward good with good and evil with 00:18:01.579 --> 00:18:05.700 evil is natural to God. So when the New Testament 00:18:05.700 --> 00:18:08.420 speaks of the final judgment, it always represents 00:18:08.420 --> 00:18:12.420 it in terms of retribution. God will judge all 00:18:12.420 --> 00:18:16.680 men, it says, according to their works. At the 00:18:16.680 --> 00:18:20.319 heart of this concept of justice is this. Everyone 00:18:20.319 --> 00:18:25.960 gets what they really deserve. Everyone. Everyone 00:18:25.960 --> 00:18:31.559 gets what they really deserve. No one will ever 00:18:31.559 --> 00:18:34.180 get a raw deal. Now, inside this parentheses 00:18:34.180 --> 00:18:37.960 in a fallen world, everyone is not going to get 00:18:37.960 --> 00:18:41.039 what they really deserve inside the parentheses 00:18:41.039 --> 00:18:44.059 at the time in a one -to -one correlation with 00:18:44.059 --> 00:18:47.190 how events occur. But even though we live in 00:18:47.190 --> 00:18:51.289 a fallen world where sin mars our concept and 00:18:51.289 --> 00:18:53.609 the timing of justice, God wants you to know 00:18:53.609 --> 00:18:58.250 that he's just, that he's fair, that as you trust 00:18:58.250 --> 00:19:01.089 him in the big picture of this all -knowing, 00:19:01.089 --> 00:19:05.430 sovereign, all -wise God, you will never, ever 00:19:05.430 --> 00:19:08.869 be treated unfairly. And that means that you 00:19:08.869 --> 00:19:12.309 can trust him. Now, how has God revealed his 00:19:12.309 --> 00:19:15.599 justice to us? In what ways has God revealed 00:19:15.599 --> 00:19:18.940 it in a fallen world so that we can trust him? 00:19:19.539 --> 00:19:21.819 You always have to remember you're in the parentheses. 00:19:21.960 --> 00:19:25.559 You never get one -to -one justice 100 % unless 00:19:25.559 --> 00:19:28.759 it's before the world begins or until there's 00:19:28.759 --> 00:19:31.259 a new heaven and a new earth. But inside the 00:19:31.259 --> 00:19:34.180 fallen world, there's about three or four different 00:19:34.180 --> 00:19:37.480 ways that God has revealed to us that he is just 00:19:37.480 --> 00:19:40.420 so you can trust him, even when it seems like, 00:19:40.480 --> 00:19:43.140 in our experience, it's very hard to do. The 00:19:43.140 --> 00:19:45.579 first way he reveals his justice is through the 00:19:45.579 --> 00:19:50.059 natural order. Romans 1, verses 18 to 20, let 00:19:50.059 --> 00:19:52.700 me read it. It says, the wrath of God is being 00:19:52.700 --> 00:19:56.339 revealed from heaven against all the godlessness 00:19:56.339 --> 00:19:59.440 and wickedness of men who suppress the truth 00:19:59.440 --> 00:20:13.349 by their wickedness. That means his attributes. 00:20:14.000 --> 00:20:16.799 His eternal power and his divine nature have 00:20:16.799 --> 00:20:19.400 been clearly seen, being understood from what 00:20:19.400 --> 00:20:22.039 has been made so that men are without excuse. 00:20:22.319 --> 00:20:25.079 He's saying that the creation and how God has 00:20:25.079 --> 00:20:28.420 made creation is invisible attributes, not just 00:20:28.420 --> 00:20:30.920 his goodness and beauty in creation, not just 00:20:30.920 --> 00:20:33.940 his otherness and holiness and purity, but God's 00:20:33.940 --> 00:20:37.039 justice. As you look at creation, you will see 00:20:37.039 --> 00:20:39.259 what? There is some cause and effect relationship. 00:20:40.589 --> 00:20:44.809 You will see that God is just, that we have intrinsically 00:20:44.809 --> 00:20:49.589 in nature revealed that people know this is right, 00:20:49.650 --> 00:20:52.509 this is wrong. You can study anthropology and 00:20:52.509 --> 00:20:54.910 look at every tribe, any place in all the world, 00:20:54.990 --> 00:20:57.829 and they will have a list of rules. It's wrong 00:20:57.829 --> 00:21:00.450 to kill. It's wrong to take another man's wife. 00:21:00.650 --> 00:21:03.829 The rules will change, but people have this internal 00:21:03.829 --> 00:21:07.240 sense of ought that they get. That this is right 00:21:07.240 --> 00:21:10.240 and this is wrong. The only way you have a internal 00:21:10.240 --> 00:21:12.660 sense of ought, of what's right and what's wrong, 00:21:12.799 --> 00:21:15.539 is that the world that you live in is communicating 00:21:15.539 --> 00:21:18.640 to you that there is a sense of accountability. 00:21:19.460 --> 00:21:21.759 There's a sense that when you do things wrong, 00:21:21.940 --> 00:21:23.900 we're gonna see in just a second, there's a conscience. 00:21:24.359 --> 00:21:27.900 And even observing the world order. Even in pop 00:21:27.900 --> 00:21:30.099 culture, what's the old saying? When I grew up, 00:21:30.200 --> 00:21:32.740 when you would diss someone or do something to 00:21:32.740 --> 00:21:35.160 hurt him, someone would come up and say, you 00:21:35.160 --> 00:21:38.569 know what? Everything that goes around comes 00:21:38.569 --> 00:21:41.930 around. What is that? That's justice, isn't it? 00:21:42.190 --> 00:21:44.049 You know what? You do that to him, this is going 00:21:44.049 --> 00:21:46.049 to happen to you. You do that over here, this 00:21:46.049 --> 00:21:49.269 is going to happen to you. Or even multiple Eastern 00:21:49.269 --> 00:21:51.990 religions who are looking at the world and trying 00:21:51.990 --> 00:21:54.250 to figure out and they watch the cycles of the 00:21:54.250 --> 00:21:57.049 earth. The whole concept of karma is what? What's 00:21:57.049 --> 00:22:00.140 behind the sense of karma? Justice. In other 00:22:00.140 --> 00:22:02.660 words, if you jack around with people and you 00:22:02.660 --> 00:22:04.559 hurt people and if you're cruel and you're this 00:22:04.559 --> 00:22:06.220 man, you're going to come back as a grasshopper. 00:22:07.539 --> 00:22:11.059 You know? Right? And you know, if you're a really 00:22:11.059 --> 00:22:12.660 good person, you're going to come back as a cow. 00:22:13.700 --> 00:22:15.759 I'm not sure you gain a whole lot on that thing, 00:22:15.839 --> 00:22:19.279 tell you the truth. But you have people living 00:22:19.279 --> 00:22:22.299 their lives with a mindset that they've seen 00:22:22.299 --> 00:22:24.900 from the created order based on what? There is 00:22:24.900 --> 00:22:28.200 a sense of justice. There's a sense of you will 00:22:28.200 --> 00:22:31.559 pay for what you do. It comes around, it goes 00:22:31.559 --> 00:22:34.960 around. Cause, cause, effect, effect. God has 00:22:34.960 --> 00:22:38.079 revealed his justice through the created order. 00:22:38.220 --> 00:22:40.559 Second, God has revealed it through the human 00:22:40.559 --> 00:22:45.359 heart. Romans 2, verses 15 and 16. Since they 00:22:45.359 --> 00:22:47.799 show that the requirements of the law, this idea 00:22:47.799 --> 00:22:49.880 of a standard, this sense of ought, the sense 00:22:49.880 --> 00:22:52.799 of there's a moral right and a moral wrong. Since 00:22:52.799 --> 00:22:54.740 they show that the requirements of the law are 00:22:54.740 --> 00:22:57.640 written on their hearts, their consciences also 00:22:57.640 --> 00:23:00.380 bearing witness and their thoughts now accusing, 00:23:00.519 --> 00:23:03.519 now even defending them. This will take place 00:23:03.519 --> 00:23:06.519 on the day when God will judge men's secrets 00:23:06.519 --> 00:23:11.559 through Jesus Christ as my gospel declares. God 00:23:11.559 --> 00:23:15.150 has put on the human heart. Totally apart from 00:23:15.150 --> 00:23:20.349 Scripture, a sense of ought or should, of right 00:23:20.349 --> 00:23:23.490 or wrong, of a conscience that bears witness. 00:23:23.650 --> 00:23:27.029 Long before I became a Christian, and long before 00:23:27.029 --> 00:23:29.930 the Spirit of God was living in my life, I clearly 00:23:29.930 --> 00:23:32.369 knew certain things were right and certain things 00:23:32.369 --> 00:23:34.670 were wrong. And when I either thought or did 00:23:34.670 --> 00:23:36.089 the things that were wrong, what happened to 00:23:36.089 --> 00:23:38.910 my conscience? It condemned me and said, Chip, 00:23:39.009 --> 00:23:41.809 that's bad, that's wrong. That's how it works. 00:23:41.890 --> 00:23:44.980 Why? God placed that in me like he placed it 00:23:44.980 --> 00:23:48.420 in you. Even people without any revelation, people 00:23:48.420 --> 00:23:50.579 that don't know about Christ, this is in the 00:23:50.579 --> 00:23:52.240 human heart. It's one of the reasons we're without 00:23:52.240 --> 00:23:56.319 excuse. Everybody knows by what they see that 00:23:56.319 --> 00:23:58.400 there's a day of judgment, and everyone knows 00:23:58.400 --> 00:24:00.640 by what God has placed inside your heart there's 00:24:00.640 --> 00:24:02.339 going to be a day of judgment. Let me give you 00:24:02.339 --> 00:24:04.539 a New Testament example. Flip, if you will, to 00:24:04.539 --> 00:24:09.119 Acts chapter 28. Acts chapter 28. It's very interesting. 00:24:09.599 --> 00:24:12.940 It's a pagan group. As you turn there, Paul is 00:24:12.940 --> 00:24:15.420 on a missionary journey. And, you know, he's 00:24:15.420 --> 00:24:17.920 got these Roman soldiers and they have a shipwreck 00:24:17.920 --> 00:24:21.099 and they end up on an island. And so they're 00:24:21.099 --> 00:24:24.700 gathering some wood is the context. And there's 00:24:24.700 --> 00:24:28.500 these tribes. And there's an event that occurs 00:24:28.500 --> 00:24:32.039 and it's so interesting. Now, these are not Christians. 00:24:32.460 --> 00:24:34.579 These are not people that have any idea of the 00:24:34.579 --> 00:24:37.920 true God. But pick up the story with me in verse 00:24:37.920 --> 00:25:06.019 3. Wait a second. Where'd they get that idea? 00:25:08.079 --> 00:25:09.859 All he was doing was gathering a little wood, 00:25:09.940 --> 00:25:11.720 helping out, put the wood on the fire, the flames 00:25:11.720 --> 00:25:15.500 come up, and a viper comes up. And what's in 00:25:15.500 --> 00:25:19.119 their thinking? Cause effect. Bad things happen 00:25:19.119 --> 00:25:22.759 to who? Bad people. People get punished for doing 00:25:22.759 --> 00:25:26.000 bad, correct? He must have done something very 00:25:26.000 --> 00:25:28.660 bad because something very bad is just happening 00:25:28.660 --> 00:25:32.000 to him. That's their logic. And notice this invisible 00:25:32.000 --> 00:25:34.519 concept. It's not like God is going to, what's 00:25:34.519 --> 00:25:36.900 it say? Justice has not allowed him to live. 00:25:37.440 --> 00:25:40.180 There's this idea among these islander tribespeople 00:25:40.180 --> 00:25:43.660 that there's this thing called justice that operates 00:25:43.660 --> 00:25:48.140 in life. Notice it goes on. Paul shook the snake 00:25:48.140 --> 00:25:51.019 off into the fire and suffered no ill effects. 00:25:51.359 --> 00:25:53.740 The people expected him to swell up or suddenly 00:25:53.740 --> 00:25:56.359 fall dead. But after waiting for a long time 00:25:56.359 --> 00:25:58.460 and seeing nothing unusual happen to him, they 00:25:58.460 --> 00:26:02.539 changed their minds and said he was a god. It's 00:26:02.539 --> 00:26:05.220 consistent, isn't it? Bad things happen to bad 00:26:05.220 --> 00:26:09.160 people. Nothing happens, must be a God. He's 00:26:09.160 --> 00:26:12.819 not only good, he is so powerful and so good 00:26:12.819 --> 00:26:15.420 and so amazing that what should have killed him, 00:26:15.460 --> 00:26:18.119 the consequences, didn't happen, so he must be. 00:26:18.180 --> 00:26:20.740 But do you see the logic? The only point I'm 00:26:20.740 --> 00:26:22.759 trying to make is there's something in our hearts, 00:26:22.900 --> 00:26:25.539 there's something in our hearts, even apart from 00:26:25.539 --> 00:26:30.740 Revelation, that tells us that there is justice, 00:26:30.839 --> 00:26:34.279 and if there is justice, What C .S. Lewis' point 00:26:34.279 --> 00:26:37.140 will be in Mere Christianity is there must be 00:26:37.140 --> 00:26:41.880 a judge. You cannot have a sense of justice without 00:26:41.880 --> 00:26:48.420 a judge. This is Living on the Edge with Chip 00:26:48.420 --> 00:26:50.519 Ingram, and you've been listening to Part 1 of 00:26:50.519 --> 00:26:53.039 Chip's message, The Justice of God, from our 00:26:53.039 --> 00:26:56.099 series, The Real God. Chip will be back shortly 00:26:56.099 --> 00:26:58.519 to share some helpful application for us to think 00:26:58.519 --> 00:27:01.579 about. You know, we've all unintentionally projected 00:27:01.579 --> 00:27:04.799 some of humanity's worst qualities into our Creator. 00:27:05.079 --> 00:27:08.859 Many view God as moody, weak, unfair, impatient, 00:27:09.240 --> 00:27:12.240 and merciless. But those ideas couldn't be further 00:27:12.240 --> 00:27:15.380 from the truth. Through this series, Chip explores 00:27:15.380 --> 00:27:18.180 key Bible passages to reveal seven fundamental 00:27:18.180 --> 00:27:21.119 characteristics of our Heavenly Father, attributes 00:27:21.119 --> 00:27:24.059 that reflect the very essence of His divine nature. 00:27:24.539 --> 00:27:27.259 Join Chip on this journey to reshape your perspective 00:27:27.259 --> 00:27:29.859 toward God, which will deepen your relationship 00:27:29.859 --> 00:27:32.700 with Him like never before. You won't want to 00:27:32.700 --> 00:27:35.660 miss a single part of this study. Well, Chip's 00:27:35.660 --> 00:27:37.859 joined me in studio now to share a quick word. 00:27:38.039 --> 00:27:40.920 Chip? Thanks, Dave. I'll be right back with some 00:27:40.920 --> 00:27:43.900 personal application in just a minute. But before 00:27:43.900 --> 00:27:46.339 I do, there's some things I want to share with 00:27:46.339 --> 00:27:49.140 you personally. What I recognize is people are 00:27:49.140 --> 00:27:51.640 going through some very, very difficult times 00:27:51.640 --> 00:27:54.400 right now. We live in a broken world full of 00:27:54.400 --> 00:27:57.380 pain and sorrow and disappointment. In fact, 00:27:57.400 --> 00:28:00.460 Jesus promised, in the world you will have tribulation, 00:28:00.619 --> 00:28:04.009 but be of good cheer. I've overcome the world. 00:28:04.230 --> 00:28:07.410 And he's given us the keys. He's shown us how 00:28:07.410 --> 00:28:09.950 to live with joy, even in the midst of the most 00:28:09.950 --> 00:28:12.769 difficult things that you go through and I go 00:28:12.769 --> 00:28:15.509 through. To learn more about how to do that, 00:28:15.609 --> 00:28:17.730 let me encourage you to sign up for our daily 00:28:17.730 --> 00:28:20.430 discipleship series, Growing Deeper with God, 00:28:20.609 --> 00:28:23.609 based on Philippians chapters one and two. This 00:28:23.609 --> 00:28:26.549 is a free video resource where you and I, in 00:28:26.549 --> 00:28:29.309 a one -on -one environment, will dive into the 00:28:29.309 --> 00:28:31.089 first half of the book of Philippians together. 00:28:31.769 --> 00:28:34.049 I have a recorded video there that's about 10 00:28:34.049 --> 00:28:36.190 minutes, and then I'll challenge you to take 00:28:36.190 --> 00:28:38.829 10 more minutes and learn how to study on your 00:28:38.829 --> 00:28:42.849 own. Let's dive deeper into God's Word and discover 00:28:42.849 --> 00:28:45.710 how to tap into the joy that God actually can 00:28:45.710 --> 00:28:48.150 give us in the midst of the most difficult times 00:28:48.150 --> 00:28:50.549 in your life and mine. I hope you'll check it 00:28:50.549 --> 00:28:53.529 out. Thanks, Chip. To learn more about our daily 00:28:53.529 --> 00:28:56.190 discipleship series, Growing Deeper with God, 00:28:56.369 --> 00:29:00.809 visit livingontheedge .org. As you and Chip study 00:29:00.809 --> 00:29:03.430 Philippians chapters 1 and 2, you'll discover 00:29:03.430 --> 00:29:06.390 how to get into God's Word for yourself and develop 00:29:06.390 --> 00:29:08.990 a more genuine connection to your Heavenly Father. 00:29:09.450 --> 00:29:12.710 Again, for complete details, go to livingontheedge 00:29:12.710 --> 00:29:17.569 .org. App listeners, tap Discipleship. We'll 00:29:17.569 --> 00:29:19.230 hear again as Chip to share his application. 00:29:20.009 --> 00:29:23.710 We started today's program by raising two questions. 00:29:24.289 --> 00:29:27.329 One, why do bad things happen to good people? 00:29:27.589 --> 00:29:31.119 And two, Why do good things happen to bad people? 00:29:31.420 --> 00:29:35.859 And what we learned is life is not fair, but 00:29:35.859 --> 00:29:39.539 God is. It's a fallen world, and this world is 00:29:39.539 --> 00:29:42.880 not what God intended. And so bad things on occasion 00:29:42.880 --> 00:29:46.779 do happen to good people, and good things unexplainably 00:29:46.779 --> 00:29:51.339 happen to bad people. Yet God has clearly revealed 00:29:51.339 --> 00:29:54.900 his justice through this natural order. And through 00:29:54.900 --> 00:29:56.519 the end of the broadcast, I talked about how 00:29:56.519 --> 00:29:59.099 we do reap what we sow and how that everything 00:29:59.099 --> 00:30:02.480 that goes around does come around. And so here's 00:30:02.480 --> 00:30:04.960 a challenge I have for you as you think about 00:30:04.960 --> 00:30:08.740 your life in this tiny experiment called time. 00:30:09.559 --> 00:30:12.559 Are you fair? I mean, I don't know about you. 00:30:12.599 --> 00:30:14.859 I get really hot when people don't treat me fairly. 00:30:15.319 --> 00:30:19.519 But I don't ask the question, am I fair? Are 00:30:19.519 --> 00:30:22.480 you? Would people describe you as a fair boss, 00:30:22.680 --> 00:30:26.460 a fair dad, a fair mom, a fair student, a just 00:30:26.460 --> 00:30:31.180 person? And then secondly, a word of comfort. 00:30:31.779 --> 00:30:34.779 I don't know what you're going through, but I 00:30:34.779 --> 00:30:38.660 want you to take it to the bank that God is fair 00:30:38.660 --> 00:30:42.140 and that he will balance the scales no matter 00:30:42.140 --> 00:30:46.299 how difficult, no matter how unjust life has 00:30:46.299 --> 00:30:49.740 been to you. either in this life or in the next, 00:30:49.859 --> 00:30:53.599 I guarantee on the character of God, He will 00:30:53.599 --> 00:30:56.799 balance the scales. It will be fair. And you 00:30:56.799 --> 00:30:59.740 can rest in that. Good reminder. Thanks, Chip. 00:30:59.960 --> 00:31:02.579 As we close, I want to thank each of you who 00:31:02.579 --> 00:31:04.980 makes this program possible through your generous 00:31:04.980 --> 00:31:08.480 giving. 100 % of your gifts go directly to the 00:31:08.480 --> 00:31:11.000 ministry to help Christians live like Christians. 00:31:11.259 --> 00:31:13.579 Now, if you found this teaching helpful but aren't 00:31:13.579 --> 00:31:16.700 yet on the team, Consider doing that today. Sending 00:31:16.700 --> 00:31:20.720 a gift is easy. Go to livingontheedge .org or 00:31:20.720 --> 00:31:28.480 call 888 -333 -6003. That's 888 -333 -6003 or 00:31:28.480 --> 00:31:32.859 visit livingontheedge .org. App listeners tap 00:31:32.859 --> 00:31:35.829 donate. And let me thank you in advance for doing 00:31:35.829 --> 00:31:38.789 whatever the Lord leads you to do. We'll listen 00:31:38.789 --> 00:31:40.670 to next time as Chip picks up in his series, 00:31:40.809 --> 00:31:43.730 The Real God. Until then, this is Dave Drewy 00:31:43.730 --> 00:31:45.930 saying thanks for joining us for this edition 00:31:45.930 --> 00:31:47.650 of Living on the Edge.