Below is a dialog between friends I wanted to share with y’all regarding justice. The reason I’m sharing it is two-fold:
- To encourage you in your Christian journey by considering God’s amazing grace.
- To encourage you to share your biblical, theological, and spiritual thoughts with others and experience the blessing of mutual edification.
The dialog is updated for basic grammar but still captures the essence of our text exchanges.
Justice may be expressed in at least two ways:
- Cold and indifferent based on the random/absurdity of a life resigned to condemnation.
- Warm and relational based on the character of the infinite-personal Creator-God.
Regarding the first expression, man is left to himself as the final arbiter of truth, seeking solidarity in the absurdity of life and certainty of death. The only hope is for chance and dying in the company of others.
See examples in Albert Camus’s The Stranger and Jadis, the White Witch of Narnia.
Regarding the second expression, man sees God as the absolute standard of Truth giving both meaning to life and an answer to death. Thus, man’s hope is bound up in a relationship with his Creator made possible at the nexus of justice and sacrifice (the cross), i.e., God is both Just and the Justifier. See an example in Aslan’s sacrifice rooted in a deeper magic outside of the White Witch’s schema. A relational justice based on the infinite-personal God…the sacrificial God who gave His temporal life for ours, so that we would have eternal life in His.
As I have been thinking through the book of Nahum…The concept of justice, explicitly concerning God’s justice, is set over against man’s expectation and expression of justice…
For instance, in the Narnia Chronicles, all Jadis wanted was Edmund’s blood because he was a traitor, and she had a right to the blood of every traitor in Narnia. Aslan knew this, so they convened in the tent, wherein Aslan offered his blood as a substitute for Edmund’s.
Two expressions of justice are at play simultaneously. One form of justice is cold and indifferent (Jadis), yet still right. The other is warm and relational (Aslan) and requires sacrifice (substitution). One form is set within a greater form. Cold within warm. Indifference within relationship. One focused on accusation (and rightly so), and the other focused on redemption (man’s only hope). One is from natural law (man), and the other is from God.
As I consider this more profound justice rooted in a relationship, I think about our Lord…meeting us in our destitution…Satan accuses us before the brethren…demanding justice…our blood. And then, Christ, going to the cross…after a time in the garden with His Father…to give His life (blood)…meeting the demands of justice and yet being the Justifier of our sins. The reason? Relationship. For a sinful humanity to be restored to the Father…to reverse the Genesis 3 original sin…to redeem! To set him right as God’s image-bearer. Glory!
Satan uses the law to rub our sin in God’s face. The irony is found in the fact that he is the ultimate rebel. Who is he to point the finger? He accuses us, but he is guilty of breaking the law at the highest level. That makes Satan the ultimate Pharisee. He uses the law to call for justice, but that’s not because he loves the law. To love the law is to love God. He uses the law because he wants justice for the satisfaction of seeing others suffer.
Contrast Jesus, who loves the law because He loves the Father. He honors the law and then calls justice down on Himself. He loves man and gives forgiveness while upholding the law. He is both just and the justifier.
Grace shields the suffering of others, and Malice relishes in the suffering of others.
Be encouraged!
CLICK HERE for Part 2 of the Image of God series…
— February 1, 2024