WHERE IS JUSTICE?
Part 1
Micah 6:8, “What does the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?”
One of the primary attributes of God is that He is a God of Justice. Oh yes, He is a God of mercy and compassion too. But, if He were not just, He would not be God. The Bible says that…
He is called the God of justice. (Isaiah 30:18)
He is known by His justice. (Psalm 9:16; Exodus 7:5; Ezekiel 5:8)
All His ways are justice. (Deuteronomy 32:4; Proverbs 8:20)
He loves justice. (Psalm 33:5; 37:28)
His throne is established on justice and judgment. (Psalm 89:14; 97:2;
He guards the paths of justice. (Proverbs 2:8)
He is exalted in justice. (Isaiah 5:16)
He lives in justice. (Jeremiah 4:2)
He exercises justice in the earth. (Jeremiah 9:24; Ezekiel 5:8, 15)
He is filled with justice. (Micah 3:8)
He delights in justice. (Jeremiah 9:24)
Because we are created in His likeness, He wants us to be just people too. Micah 6:8 says, “What does the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?” If justice is to be part of our lives, where should it start? God wants it to start in the home.
In the story of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, God said that he would not hide from Abraham what He was going to do. Why? Because of the way he parented his children. Genesis 18:17-19 says, “For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the Lord to do justice and judgment…” Abraham ordered his household and trained his family in the ways of justice. Justice is close to God’s heart. It is the foundation of family life. It is the primary principle of parenting.
Justice is the use of authority to uphold what is right and fair. It is acting as a judge and rendering the proper verdict—God’s verdict. Because justice is missing from many homes today, it is missing in the nation. Often people do not understand justice because they have not experienced it. They have not experienced godly discipline in the home that teaches them right from wrong. They may have been spanked, but out of frustration and anger, and therefore have not understood righteous judgment.
Children need to know true justice growing up or they will never understand who God is. Many people have a god of their own imagination. He is whoever they want Him to be. He is tolerant of whatever they want to do. He has to fit into their ideas. We can all be guilty of falling into this trap. But God is God. He is who He is. We must understand this and give this understanding to our children. We do this by teaching them to have a clear demarcation of what is right and wrong in the sight of God.
In the book, Surveying the Evidence, the authors state, “If atheism is not normal, why do certain people become unbelievers? First of all, it is well known that the seeds of atheism can be planted early in life. One of the most dangerous contributions a parent can make toward the spiritual delinquency of his child is a failure to instill within him a wholesome respect for authority. If the parent neglects to set the proper example as an authority figure, or refuses to exercise discipline with love, he might well be rejected as an authority-figure by his child, and thus, by transference, the child ultimately may come to disdain all authority, including the Supreme Authority, God.” *
The Bible tells us that if we do not discipline our children, we honor them above God. Read 1 Samuel 2:29 and 3:13.
More next week.
Love from NANCY CAMPBELL, Above Rubies
PRAYER:
“Oh God, please teach me to know who you are. I want to know you and to be like you. Teach me the balance of justice and mercy. Amen.”
AFFIRMATION:
“The place of justice is a hallowed place.”
~ Francis Bacon, Sr.
* Surveying the Evidence by Wayne Jackson, Eric Lyons and Kyle Butt (Apologetics Press, Inc.)
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