Do you desire justice? Are you looking for judgment for those who commit crimes? Do you long for crimes to be punished? Do you wish fairness would find its way into our culture? Are you sure you want sins to be punished as they deserve?
We often talk of justice. We scream for justice when a horrible crime is committed. We talk of people receiving closure following a horrendous crime. We wish the crime could be undone, reversed. We cry out for punishment of the wrongdoers.
Far too often, we want immediate retribution. We think we know what happened. We may even convict the accused before a trial has been conducted. This has been the cause of many people to be wrongly convicted.
On the other hand, when we are put on trial, we seek mercy and lenience. It is only when we stand alone at the gallows that we ask for a deep investigation and long to provide our side of the story. It is when we come to grips with our own offenses that we can truly understand the justness of God.
Each of our sins requires punishment. Our disobedience requires payment. In the Old Testament, God required the Jews to bring two goats for the atonement of sin. One was sacrificed. The priests laid their hands on the other to signify putting the nations sins on it and it was turned loose in the wilderness to carry Israel’s sins away. Hence the term scapegoat.
God atoned for our sins in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ and in His resurrection. Christ has carried our sins away, much in the same way the scapegoat did for Israel. God is just. Sin is and has been punished. It is because of His justness that we have been justified in our faith in Jesus.
I pray we all see that God is just. I pray we understand that God’s justness is complete, whole. I pray each one of us put our faith in Jesus and accept God’s justification. God is just. Sin deserves punishment. Your sin has been atoned. Put your faith in Jesus. Accept God’s justification.
Romans 3:25-26 God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith. He did this to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished—he did it to demonstrate his righteousness at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.
Marty Pressey 