Love and Justice

1 John 4:8, Psalm 33:5, Mark 15:34

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When I was living down in Florida, driving along the interstate one day, I remember seeing a sign for a church that used a Bible passage from 1 John Chapter four God is Love. And underneath that passage, it said that we accept all people here. Now, both of those statements are true. I’m certainly not going to argue with the Bible passage that says God is love. He certainly is. And it is also true that God wants all people to come hear his word at his church. And so all, all are welcome to come to God’s church and to hear that word.

However, I did wonder if that sign was a bit misleading and maybe even intentionally misleading. Misleading for people to think that maybe the church was saying that well, you don’t have to give up sinful lifestyle if you’re engaged in one. If the Bible is saying what you’re doing is wrong, that’s okay. Still come to our church and you’ll be accepted as everyone else.

Well, there’s a couple of things for us to think about concerning especially that passage from 1 John, Chapter four, verse eight God is Love. Yes, it is true that God is love, but I think sometimes people get the impression of God that He’s kind of like a kindly old grandfather who sees his grandsons coming in with some candy that they just stole from the local convenience store. And he just laughs it off. Oh, boys will be boys. No punishment, no consequences for their wrongdoing.

But that’s not the case concerning God. The Bible not only says God is love, but the Bible also says the Lord loves righteousness and justice. (Psalm 33:5) And so it shares that reality with us, that God is not just a God of love, but He is also a God of justice. God carries out justice. God punishes sin. Think for yourself. Imagine if there maybe was a courtroom scene and somebody had committed a terrible crime. Let’s say it’s the crime of murder. And the one who is accused, let’s call him Joe. All the evidence was laid out concerning Joe. Fingerprint evidence, DNA evidence, eyewitnesses. The murder weapon was found on his person. It was clear that he had committed the crime. Imagine at the end of that case, though, if the judge assessing it all said, well, it’s clear that Joe committed this crime, but I’m going to let him go. Case dismissed. And he explains to everyone in the room that day, Well, you know, I think Joe had a one off. He’s normally a pretty nice guy. He’s usually kind to his neighbors. He volunteers at the local soup kitchen. So I think I’m just going to let him go in this one.

Now, Joe himself would be very happy, right? But what would everyone else say there in the courtroom? What would the victim’s family say? Well, they would probably say that that judge is unjust. They would probably go even further than that. They would maybe even say that that judge is evil for not punishing that crime of murder.

And so think about it for ourselves, too, that God is the judge of the universe. And there is something that maybe calms our mind when we think about that, especially as we think about the tremendous atrocities that happened in this world murder and rape and child molestation. And it’s comforting to know that even if those crimes aren’t punished in this life, certainly God takes care of the punishment for them and brings about his justice. And God certainly tells us in his word that he does exactly that.

The scary thing for us, though, is that God doesn’t simply punish murder and rape and child molestation. He punishes all sin, all violations against his commandments. God punishes every sin of lying, every sin of stealing, every sin of sexual immorality, every sin of gossip, every sin of coveting, of greed, of jealousy. God punishes all sins of action, of word and deed. And certainly when we think about our guilt, it scares us to think about the punishment that we deserve. And yet, as that passage states, God is love. How can it be? How can God be both a God of justice that punishes sin, but also a God of love?

Well, it all comes together in Christ. You see, God in love gave his Son Jesus Christ to suffer the punishment that our sins deserve. God took every punishment for every sin ever committed by us and every human being in the world, even murderers and adulterers and rapists and child molesters and liars and blasphemers and gossipers. He placed them all on Christ. And on the cross, Jesus was punished there, not merely with crucifixion, but with hell itself, as he declared. My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? (Mark 15:34) God brought about his justice and He poured it out upon Christ. And in him He punished all of our sin. And so we see this truth. Two of these truths, really. God is love and God is just.