Understanding Justice

"Evil men do not understand justice, but those who seek the Lord understand it fully." (proverbs 28:5) Many times in our lives we felt that things were not fair; in fact, some of us may still be waiting for that one person or institution to "get "theirs". I know that many times I have been frustrated at what seemed to me an "injustice." However, these bouts with injustcie always brought me back to the cross--it always comes back to the cross of Jesus Christ. If we want God to "get that person," we won't have peace until we realize God "got" Jesus Christ. Christ himself bore our sins "once for all." We not only need to bring our sins to Christ and see them nailed to the cross, but we need to bring the sins of those who hurt us to the cross of our Savior. Then, we will experience peace. Justice comes from God, and he has reconciled all things to himself in Christ. "2He is the propitiation for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world. " (1 John 2) The word propitiation means "satisfied"; i.e., God is satisfied-in other words, justice has been served. Notice that Jesus died for the sins of the whole world, including those who have hurt us. To insist that God do something to those who have wronged us is to minimize the cross of Jesus Christ. The demand for justice in this context is a fleshly desire that will only lead to evil, but as we seek the Lord and see the cross, we will have peace...we will understand justice fully...Psalm 36 tells us that it is not on the surface...it is part of the mystery of Christ: "Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains, your justice like the great deep. " Here is a prayer I pray when I am dealing with the fleshly desire for justice.

Lord, in obedience to you and in accordance with the Gospel of Jesus Christ,

I forgive_________ and declare him righteous, holy and blameless in

your sight because of the death, burial and resurrectin of Jesus.