There are three words that every two -year -old
and every 72 -year -old will say sometime this
year. That's not fair. Let me ask you, if God
is just, why is life so unfair? Let's tackle
that one together today. Thanks for listening
to this edition of Living on the Edge with Chip
Ingram. We are an international teaching and
discipleship ministry that motivates Christians
to live like Christians. We're in the middle
of our series, The Real God, as we continue studying
the core attributes of God that reveal more of
who He is. Well, today Chip's going to pick up
with a second half of his talk, The Justice of
God. But before Chip gets started, if this is
your first time listening to Living on the Edge,
or you're curious about who we are and what we
do, visit livingontheedge .org. You'll discover
a wealth of valuable tools we've created to equip
you in your walk with Jesus. So check out livingontheedge
.org today. Okay, if you have a Bible, go again
to the book of Genesis chapter 18 for the rest
of Chip's meaningful message. C .S. Lewis, many
of you are very familiar with him, was an agnostic
slash atheist. Brilliant fellow who taught English
literature. Cambridge, Oxford, and later wrote
the Chronicles of Narnia and became one of the
greatest apologists. But when he describes how
he eventually came to believe in God and to embrace
the person of Jesus, what he talks about is the
sense of ought or should that is in the human
heart. that tells the human heart and all people
of all cultures, of all backgrounds, that this
is right and this is wrong. And even though we
know this is right, no matter where we place
the rule, none of us can keep even the rules
that we place. Lewis writes, these are the two
points I want to make. First, that human beings
all over the earth have this curious idea that
they ought to behave in a certain way and cannot
really get rid of it. I mean, we take that for
granted. It's so intrinsic, right? But he just,
you know, he's kind of intellectual looking and
he goes, of all time, all people, people have
this idea that you should behave in a certain
way. And no matter how they try to say, oh, we
can do whatever we want, they can't get rid of
it. Secondly, that they do not, in fact, behave
in that way. So human beings, you know, this
is right, this is good, but no matter what they
do, they can't do it. Then he goes on to say,
they know the law of nature. Yet they break it.
And then this is a classic line in his book.
These two facts are the foundation of all clear
thinking about ourselves and the universe that
we live in. Inside even a fallen world that does
not appear fair, Lewis is saying this idea, this
sense of ought, this idea of justice, therefore
there is a judge. And our inability to do what
we know we ought is the foundation for thinking
rightly about yourself, the universe, and God.
God is the judge of all the earth, even in a
fallen world. But in a fallen world, until eternity
gets on the other side of Revelation 20, I will
guarantee the scales will be balanced perfectly
and justly for every situation. But in this fallen
world, there will be times where someone doing
one thing appears to get only $20 for what we
can see now. And someone who does exactly the
same thing will appear to get only $1. But we
have an all -wise God who is doing what? Producing
perfect ends by... perfect means to do what?
Help the most people for the longest possible
time. And since he's completely in control of
all things actual and possible, he's going to
sovereignly orchestrate that in his goodness
to bless both of these men to accomplish his
purposes for the world and individual purposes
for their lives. And he is the judge and it's
unequivocal. Hebrews 12, 23 says, to the church
of the firstborn whose names are written in heaven,
you have come to God. And how's God described?
The judge of all men to the spirit of righteous
men made perfect. 2 Timothy 4 .8 says, now there
is in store for me, the apostle Paul says, a
crown of righteousness, which the Lord, and who's
the Lord described as? The righteous judge will
award me on that day. And not only me, but also
those who have longed for his appearing. And
then if you want to know the role of Jesus in
judgment, John 5, 22 and following says, God
reveals his justice in a fallen world through
the natural order of the human heart, his role
as judge, and forth and profoundly yet again
at the cross. Romans 3, 25 to 26. If you've got
your pen, I want you to circle a few key words.
For God presented him, Jesus, as a sacrifice
of atonement through faith in his blood. He did
this to demonstrate his justice. The problem
of sin was atoned or covered for, and God did
that to demonstrate or make a picture or make
a point about something, and that something is
his justice. Because in his forbearance, he left
the sins committed beforehand unpunished. He
did it to demonstrate his justice. Circle that.
At the present time, so that he may be just and
the one who justifies those who've put their
faith in Christ. His justice, his justice, that
he might be just and also the one who justifies.
God is consistent in his character, so consistent
in his character that the standard for access
to him to be fair and to be just, what his holiness
demanded, his love provided. And what you need
to understand is what the cross is, is God's
justice in action. God did not wink at your sin
and my sin and say, you know what? Sin, there
are actual consequences to this kind of behavior
and thought that is unrighteous. This is sin,
cause, this is effect. God didn't say, oh, let's
just quit that rule for a while. Michael, Gabriel,
you know, I'm the God of the universe. I can
change whatever I want. Let's just say it's okay.
No. God's standard is even placed upon himself.
And that's why the only solution for a relationship
with a God that is 100 % holy is there needed
to be a sacrifice that was 100 % holy. And the
reason that Jesus was fully God and fully man,
it could only be the death quote of God that
could pay the price, but only man could die.
And so born of a virgin, fully man, fully God,
without confusion, the Messiah comes. And when
he hung upon the cross, he became your payment
and my payment for sin. So that as 1 Peter 3
.18 says, God once and for all has done what?
He's drawn us to himself, the just for the unjust,
that he might bring us to God. And what he did
is he, Christ once died for sin. The just Christ
for the unjust, me and you, that he, Christ,
might bring us to the Father. God's justice is
demonstrated at the cross. And that's why it's
about grace. That's why the Christian life is
not about performance. That's why you cannot
earn God's favor. That's why the justice of God
allows you, when you understand it, to begin
to deeply embrace and appreciate the love of
God. And that's when the cross becomes not just
some mental exercise of, yes, Jesus died for
my sins. What Jesus did... was he absorbed the
just wrath of God. Sin does what? Sin is like
cancer. It destroys. It destroys relationships.
It separates us from God. It makes people make
terrible decisions and kids get abused and suicides
happen. People get hooked on drugs and all this
chaos in this fallen world. Here's a holy, righteous
God and he sees it and he know it's the price
tag of freedom, but he hates it. He hates it.
And what he does is it makes him angry. Anger
is not a wrong or bad emotion. Wrath is a response
to correct something. And so God took his just
wrath. Have you ever seen a child abused? I have.
I came as close to literally hitting a woman
in a laundromat when I saw her pick up an 18
-month -old and slam her into a dryer and then
stick her up on that. I mean, I went over to
that lady and I just said, ma 'am, excuse me,
I'm a pastor and this wouldn't look good in the
paper, but you touched that child again, so help
me. I will knock your chin off your shoulders.
Didn't make a lot of good headlines for the new
pastor in town. But you know what? I'll tell
you what, that's what's called righteous anger.
If I as a little tiny human being can feel that
way about one 18 -month -old, how do you think
God feels about all the sin? that has infiltrated
this planet and has caused all the heartache
and all the suicides and all the broken relationships
and all the diseases that have marred and caused
this cancer to destroy the world that he made
and the world that he loves and the people that
he cares about. The only solution for him to
be both just, to be holy, and yet to be loving
and good was to have his son, the perfect sacrifice,
hang on that cross. And as he hung on the cross,
God the Father turned away and he took his wrath
and poured it on Jesus and all the just wrath
of God was placed on him instead of you. The
sin got paid for. And the Lamb of God took away
the sins of the world. And you were justified.
And the response is by faith to receive that
gift. But if you don't get God's justice, see,
what we think is, we think God grades on the
curve. We think he's like that teacher that,
well, you know, no one did very well on this
test, and the highest grade was an 88. We'll
make that an A. And those of you that got a 55,
you get a C. Here's how God grades. If you get
100, it's pass. 99 .9, it's fail. His character
demands it. And that's why I don't care how many
good deeds you do, how religious you are, how
kind you are, how moral you are, you fall short
of the glory of God. And so that's why we need
a savior. I think we have a generation of people
that don't understand how lost we are. We think
we're basically kind of good people and we don't
understand the holiness of God. Therefore, we
don't grasp the significance of the love of God
and we don't grasp at all that God being just
had to deal with us in a way that would cost
him the life of his son. You're listening to
Living on the Edge. And Chip will be back in
just a minute to finish today's talk. But quickly,
this program is only possible because of the
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livingontheedge .org. And thanks for doing whatever
God leads you to do. Well, let's rejoin Chip
now for the remainder of his message. See, his
justice even in a fallen world is revealed through
the natural order of human hearts, his role as
judge through the cross, and then finally through
the promise of eternal retribution. Please turn
in your Bibles to 1 Corinthians 3. Very important
passage. 1 Corinthians 3. The Apostle Paul is
talking to a group of people, and there's division
in the church, and he's explaining to them. how
spiritual growth occurs. He's explained that
his role was to plant, Apollos was one who watered,
and he wants them to understand that only God
causes the increase, but there are genuine, real
implications that there is going to be a future
judgment for believers, not a judgment for your
sin, not a judgment of whether you'll spend eternity
with Christ or eternity apart from Christ. It
will be a judgment for believers of how they've
lived their life. And at the end of that judgment,
at what's called the bema seat or the judgment
seat of Christ, people will be rewarded for what
they did in this life, and others will suffer
loss for what they did or doing it for the wrong
motives. So notice we pick it up in chapter 3,
verse 10. By the grace of God that he's given
me, I laid a foundation as an expert builder
in someone else's building on it. But each one
should be careful how he builds, for no one can
lay a foundation other than the one which is
already laid, which is Jesus Christ. If any man
builds on the foundation using gold, silver,
precious stones, wood, hay, or straw, his work
will be shown for what it is. Notice it's his
work. It's not a salvation. It's your work as
a believer. Because the day will bring it to
light. It will be revealed with fire, and the
fire will test the quality of each man's work.
If what he built survives, he will receive a
reward. If it is burned up, he will suffer loss
and he himself will be saved, but only as one
escaping the flames. Here's all I want you to
hear about God's justice. There's coming a day
that you will give an account and I will give
an account and I'm going to die or the rapture
is going to occur and I'm going to be ushered
into the presence of God. And not because of
anything good I've done. I will, because of the
substitutionary death and atonement of Jesus,
my sins are forgiven. And because when I was
18 years old in 1972, I by faith received that
free gift. There was a judgment that occurred.
And the judgment was my sins would never be held
against me ever. And I was justified. I was born
again. The Spirit was placed in my life. And
then from this point, I'm living this life as
a believer. And then I die and I meet Christ.
And when I meet Christ, he's going to say, Chip,
got a few questions for you. I gave you X amount
of time on the earth. I gave you these spiritual
gifts. I gave you this ability to make this much
money. I gave you these talents, these experiences.
Now, I would like to do a little inventory. What
did you do with what I gave you? And I will hold
you accountable. You are my steward. It was not
your time. It was my time entrusted to you. You
are my steward. It was not your money. It wasn't
your house. It wasn't your car. Those gifts,
they're called gifts. I gave them to you. I entrusted
this ministry gift to you. Now, Chip, we're going
to have a little evaluation time. And if you
used your time, your talent, and your treasure
with the right motives not to impress people,
not to gain strokes, not to get people to like
you or think better of you while you secretly
had different motives, but to the degree you
used your time, your talent, your treasure to
honor me during this life, I want you to know
that I have some rewards that you will enjoy
with me forever and ever and ever. And those
things that don't quite measure up, you will
have an experience of loss. And we don't hear
a lot of teaching on spiritual rewards. It's
very clear in Scripture. Remember what God's
justice is? Everyone gets exactly what they deserve.
Do you think that people who've lived for Christ
and have a passionate love for Him and been a
great steward of their gifts and their time and
their talent and their treasure are going to
have the same experience in heaven as those who
didn't? Absolutely not. We think heaven's like
a socialistic society. Absolutely not. There
will be multiple levels of heaven. Now, we will
all have no tears, but what you do with your
life, I told you sobriety would be needed. What
you do with your money, what you do with your
gifts and your time will have an eternal impact
on the quality. I mean, certain people will have
levels of service. Heaven is not floating on
clouds and sipping iced tea. There's going to
be a new heaven and a new earth, and there's
going to be real people and real life and real
work, and except what it's going to be is everything
about this fallen, yicky earth is going to be
gone, and we're going to have relationships and
work and joy like we've never known. But what
you do and what it looks like will be determined
by what you do now. And the Bible's very clear
on this. And so we somehow think that, you know,
we're trying to get this little ticket to get
into heaven. I believe in Christ. As though that's
the end of the game. Instead of it's the entrance
ticket into a life of service and stewardship.
And that this whole little thing called time
is about like this. And there's this thing called
eternity because Revelation chapter 21 starts
here. And forever and ever and ever, the implications
of what I do to steward my life will be played
out for all eternity. That's serious stuff. That's
really serious stuff. I mean, that ought to be
one of the highest priority jerks, shakers in
your life. You talk about the fear of the Lord?
The second promise of eternal retribution is
for unbelievers. For it's appointed unto man
once to die and after this the judgment. You
know, so often people are so afraid or like hell
is a bad topic. Hell is not a bad topic to talk
about. God so honors the dignity of people's
choices that he has created a place where those
who don't want to be around him get the opportunity
to not be around him forever. I mean, what is
it in this thinking that thinks that somehow,
somehow God's going to make everything and Idi
Amin and the Stalins of the world and the people
that have murdered and abused and those that
somehow, well, everything just gets okay. Universalism,
people want to play these pseudo -intellectual
games like, well, everyone somehow is going to
be in heaven. Yeah, you know, you and Hitler
just, you know, drinking iced tea, you know,
and everything. You know what Hitler's gonna
get? Exactly what he deserves. And you know what
you're gonna get? Exactly what you deserve unless
you have a sin substitute named Jesus who has
placed his life as a substitute and received
the just wrath of God for you. And by grace,
you have been forgiven. There's only two kind
of people. I love C .S. Lewis's. Two kind of
people in all the world. One group of people
say to God, thy will be done. I wanna be with
you forever. And to another group of people,
God says, thy will be done. You get your way
forever and ever. And I don't know where you're
at. I did not grow up in the church. But if you
have never received Jesus as your Savior, I want
you to know that God's just. He's going to be
fair. And if you don't have a way to cover your
sin, you will get exactly what you deserve, and
you will receive the just, full. You want fair,
right? You want fair? God will give you fair.
But you don't want fair when it comes to this.
What you want and what you need is grace. And
so I'd encourage you, if you've never received
the forgiveness and the work of Christ on your
behalf, I mean, I would just turn me off mentally
right now and in my mind's eye say, Lord Jesus,
I get it. I've never seen it this clearly. Will
you forgive me right now? Will you come into
my life? And then I would tell someone, you know
what? I prayed to receive Christ and I'm not
sure what to do. Let me encourage you to do that.
Let's look at the application. We've covered
it, but let me give it to you in sort of a little
to -go package. Four specific things we do in
light of the justice of God. Number one, choose
to embrace Jesus today as your Savior rather
than meet him as your righteous judge later.
Just choose to meet him today. He will judge
you. He will judge me. So meet him as your Savior
today. instead of your judge later. Second, refuse
to take revenge when treated unjustly, knowing
God and God alone is judge. Just refuse to take
revenge. See, life isn't fair and you live in
a fallen world and what you want to do is you
want to be the judge. And my ex did this to me
and they did this at work and they did that at
work. And this guy at church, I can't believe
he didn't even call himself a Christian. He makes
me so crazy. So I'm going to say really bad things
about him over here. Never pay back evil for
evil. Respect what is right in the sight of all
men. Don't take revenge, my beloved. Leave room
for the wrath of God. Vengeance is mine, says
the Lord. If your enemy is hungry, feed him.
If he's thirsty, give him a drink. In so doing,
you heap burning coals upon his head. It's a
picture in the Middle Eastern culture of someone
who had repented. And they would go through the
village and they would take some rocks out of
the coals and they would put it in a pan and
put a towel and they'd put it on their head and
they would walk through the village and say,
how I used to think has been burned out of my
mind and I was wrong in the way I was living
and I want you to know I've changed. It's the
kindness of God that leads people to repentance.
Well, how does God show kindness today? It's
when his children, his body, treat people who
are evil the way they don't deserve. Never take
your own revenge, beloved. Leave room for the
wrath of God. Do not be overcome with evil, but
what? Overcome evil with good. That's Romans
12, 17 to 21. Don't take your own revenge. Third
is take comfort when you encounter injustice,
knowing God will balance the scales either in
this life or the next. Psalm 73, for those of
you that have had injustice in your life, I mean,
those of you who are saying, you know, buddy,
I have gotten such a raw deal. Read Psalm 73.
Asaph was just about ready to cash it in. He
said, you know, I've been walking with you. I've
been trying to be pure and all I've got is heartache.
And I look at all these proud, arrogant people
and man, they have just got it made. And then
he says, then I went into the temple of the Lord
and God gave me perspective. And I realized that
their life looks good now. And then like a rug,
it could be pulled out from under them. And then
he would say, my flesh and my heart may fail.
Verse 25. But you are the strength of my heart
and you are my portion forever. In a fallen world
where there's injustice, and it's going to happen,
you are going to get a bad deal in a fallen world.
Run to Jesus. Just come to him and say, you know
what? I'm going to trust all these anger fantasies,
all these desires to pay people back, all this
stuff inside my heart that hurts so bad, all
these ways that, I mean, keep me up at night,
that cause that acid in my stomach to churn,
all these times I find myself rehearsing and
telling people on the phone of how I've been
hurt and what they did. Stop it. Forgive them.
The word forgive literally means to loose. Loose
them and say, God, I'll tell you what. I'm a
tiny little judge trying to make this happen
because it makes me feel better, but they seem
like their life is really going pretty well,
and I'm up in the middle of the night with these
stomach cramps and anger fantasies. I'm drinking
Maalox, you know, three or four times a day.
I'm taking all those new pills that get the stomach
acid down. They're not even working. I'll tell
you what, God, I'm going to do. I'm going to
forgive and loose them the same way you forgave
me, and now I'm going to step out of the way.
You're the judge. You judge them. And you can
do it in this life. You can do it the next life.
I trust that you're a righteous, just judge.
And you'll do it. I'm letting go of my internal
demand that they get back what they deserve.
And you know who will be free? You will. See,
that's what God tells us, how to deal with justice
in a fallen world. And finally, this is just
a word of encouragement. Meditate deeply. on
the reality of the judgment seat of Christ and
the promise of spiritual rewards. Are you ready
for this? What would be your sort of spiritual
P &L statement? You know, profits and losses.
And just go through and say, you know, kind of
my devotion, my heart for God, my money, that's
what it reflects, my time, that's what it reflects,
spiritual gifts and ministry, that's what it
reflects, attitudes, and just kind of go through
and do a little P &L and say, if I was going
to get rewarded or suffer loss today, what would
it look like? And then probably get a little
journal out or a sheet of paper and say, what
mid -course changes do I need to make so that
when I meet Jesus at the judgment seat, it'll
be a lot happier occasion, right? He's good.
He's holy. He's just. Life isn't fair, but God
is. I want to pause right now before this program
goes any farther. I don't know where you're at.
But what I want to tell you is that if you're
outside of Christ, you may never hear the gospel
as clearly. Not because I'm saying it more clearly,
but because God has your attention. God loves
you and he cares for you. And he's provided a
way to be both just and the justifier. In other
words, he has said he will take what you deserve.
Jesus dying on the cross in your place. paying
for your sin, and building a bridge from you
to God the Father. And you can receive that free
gift. Would you, wherever you are right now,
even if you're driving, maybe need to pull off,
would you pause and say to the Lord God of heaven,
I have sinned against you greatly. I'm not perfect.
I've fallen short. And today I believe that all
my sin you placed on Christ. And now I turn in
the empty hands of faith and I'm putting my trust
in him. The Bible promises as many as receive
him, Jesus, to them he gives the right to become
children of God, even to those who believe in
his name. If you believe in your heart right
now and then confess with your mouth, the Bible
promises God will save you. He'll forgive you.
He'll come into your life. And so at this moment,
can I encourage you in your own words, tell God,
I'm sorry. Tell him you're putting your faith
in Christ. And right now say, Lord Jesus, come
into my life. Cleanse me. Forgive me. Make me
your son. Make me your daughter. And if you prayed
that. Even if you prayed it in your mind as you
are driving and from your heart, I want you to,
as soon as you can safely, text or call the greatest
Christian you know. Tell them what you did. Then
I want you to find a good Bible teaching church
this weekend. And then maybe before that, go
on to livingontheedge .org. One long word, livingontheedge
.org. We have some things to put in your hands
to help you grow. That's right, Chip. Well, if
you prayed to receive Christ, we do have a free
resource we'd like to put in your hands that
was created specifically for new believers. This
tool will help you understand what it means to
trust in Jesus and what to do next. Let us help
you get started in your faith journey. Well,
thanks for listening to this edition of Living
on the Edge with Chip Ingram. I'm Dave Drewy,
and I hope you'll join us again next time.