The Real God - The Justice Of God, Part 2

There are three words that every two years old and every 72-year-old will say sometimes is are you ready that's not fair.

Let me ask if God is just why is life so let's tackle them together today. Thanks for joining us for this Edition of Living on the Edge with Living on the Edge features the Bible teacher Chip Ingram of his daily discipleship program through this program. Chip continues her series the real God were studying the most attributes of God's character how a clear understanding of the affect everything we think about ourselves greatly to study with Jeff is to do a quick hello to this message. No will find them on the broadcast tab@livingontheedge.org or on the chip and remap okay. If you have a Bible open to the book of Genesis chapter 18. Let's join chip for part two of his message the justice of God CS Lewis. Many of you very familiar with them is agnostic/atheist brilliant fellow who taught English literature. Cambridge, Cambridge, Oxford, and later wrote the Chronicles of Narnia and became one of the greatest apologists, but when he describes how he eventually came to believe in God and to embrace the person of Jesus. What he talks about is is the sense of thought or should that is in the human heart that tells the human heart and all people of all cultures of all backgrounds that this is right and this is wrong.

And even though we know this is right no matter where we place the rule, none of us can keep even the rules we place. Lewis writes these are the two points I want to make. First, the human beings all over the earth, have this curious idea that they ought to behave in a certain way and cannot really get rid of an enemy. We take that for granted so intrinsic right.

He just you know he's kind of intellectual looking, goes of all time. All people people have this idea that you should behave in a certain light and matter how they try to say all we can do whatever we want. They can get rid of it. Secondly, that they do not in fact behave in that way human beings is this is right. This is good, but what they can't do it then he goes on to say they know the law of nature, yet they break it and then this is a classic line in his book. These two facts are the foundation of all clear thinking about ourselves and the universe that we live in.

Inside even a fallen world that does not appear fair, Lewis is saying this idea. This sense of this idea of justice. Therefore, there is a judge and our inability to do what we know we ought is the foundation for thinking rightly about yourself universe and God.

God is the judge of all the earth, even in a fallen world, but in a fallen world, until eternity gets on the other side of Revelation 20. I will guarantee the scales will be balanced perfectly and justly, for every situation, but in this fallen world, there will be times where someone doing one thing appears to get only $20 for what we can see now, and someone who does exactly the same thing will appear to get only one dollar, but we have an all wise God who's doing what producing perfect ends by perfect means to do what help the most people. The longest possible time and succeeds completely in control of all things actual and possible he's going to sovereignly orchestrate that in his goodness to bless both of these men to accomplish his purposes for the world and individual purposes for the life and he is the judge in its unequivocal Hebrews 1223 says to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God and how's God described the judge of all men, to the spirit of righteous men made perfect.

Second Timothy 48 says now there is in store for me. The apostle Paul says a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, and whose Lord described as the righteous judge, will award me on that day and not only me but also those who long for his apparent and then if you want to know the role of Jesus and judgment. John 522 and following says. Moreover, the father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the son God reveals his justice in a fallen world to the natural order. The human heart. His role as judge and forth and profoundly yet again at the cross. Romans 325 to 26 if you got your pan. I want you to circle a few keywords for God presented him Jesus as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice. The problem of sin was atoned or covered for, and God did that to demonstrate or make a picture or make a point about something and that something is his justice, because in his forbearance he left the sins committed beforehand unpunished. He did it to demonstrate his justice circle that at the present time so that he may be just and the one who justifies those who put their faith in Christ, his justice, his justice, that he might be just and also the one who justifies. God is consistent in his character, so consistent in his character that the standard for access to him to be fair and to be just his what his holiness demanded his love provided and what you need understand is what the cross is is God's justice in action.

God did not wink at your sin and my sin and say you know what sin there are actual consequences to this kind of behavior and thought that is unrighteous. This is sin because this is a fact God didn't say thought. Let's just put that role for a while. Michael, Gabriel, you know, I'm the God of the universe. I can change whatever I want. Let's just doesn't like to say it's okay now God's standard is even placed upon himself and that's why the only solution for relationship with the God that is 100% holy is there needed to be a sacrifice that was 100% holy, and the reason that Jesus was fully God and fully man. He could only be the death quote of God, they could pay the price, but only man could die as a born of a virgin, fully man and fully God without confusion. The Messiah comes and when he hung upon the cross, he became your payment and my payment for sin, so that as first Peter 318 says God once and for all, has done what he's drawn us to himself. The just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God and what he did is he Christ once died for sin. The just Christ unjust me in you that he Christ might bring us to the father, God's justice is demonstrated the cross and that's why it's about grace. That's why the Christian life is not about performance. That's why you cannot earn God's favor. That's why the justice of God allows you when you understand it to begin to deeply embrace and appreciate the love of God, and that's when the cross becomes not just some mental exercise of yes Jesus died for my sins. What Jesus did was he absorbed the just wrath of God's sin does what sin is like cancer, it destroys it destroys relationships. It separates us from God. It makes people make terrible decisions and kids get abusing suicides happen if people get hooked on drugs and all this chaos in this fallen world. Here is a holy, righteous God, and he sees it any know it's the price tag of freedom, but he hates it, hates it, and what he does is it makes him angry.

Anger is not a wrong or bad emotion.

Wrath is a response to correct something and so God took his just wrath ever seen a child abuse.

I have, I came as close to literally hitting a woman in a laundromat when I saw her pick up an 18 month old and swam her into a dryer and then sticker up on that.

I mean, I went over that lady and I just said man, excuse me, I'm a pastor and this would look in the paper, but you touch that child again.

So help me I will knock your chin off your shoulders did make a lot of good headlines for the new pastor in town but you know what I tell you what, that's what's called righteous anger how to if I is a little tiny human being can feel that way about 118 month old. How do you think God feels about all the sin that is infiltrated. This planet has caused all the heartache and all the suicides and all the broken relationships and all the diseases that have margin because this cancer destroy the world that he made in the world that he loves the people he cares about the only solution for him to be both just to be holy and yet to be loving and good was to have his son, the perfect sacrifice hang on that cross.

And as he hung on the cross, God the father turned away and he took his wrath and poured it on Jesus and all the just wrath of God was placed on him instead of you. The sin got paid for and the Lamb of God took away the sins of the world and you were justified in the responses by faith to receive that gift. But if you don't get God's justice see what we think is we think God grades on the curve we think is like that teacher that well you know Noah did very well on this test ninth grade was 88 will make that an alien those of you got a 55 you get a C.

Here's how God grades if you get 100 paths 99.9 it's fail his character demands it. And that's why I don't care how many good deed you do how religious you are. How kind you are, how moral you are. You fall short of the glory of God. And so that's why we need a Savior. I think we have a generation of people that don't understand how lost we are. We think were basically kinda good people and we don't understand the holiness of God. Therefore, we don't grasp the significance of the love of God, and we don't grasp it all. But God, being just had to deal with us in a way that would cost in the light of his son to his justice even in a fallen world is revealed to the natural order, human hearts, his role as judge through the cross and then finally to the promise of eternal retribution, please turn in your Bibles to first Corinthians chapter 3 very important passage.

First Corinthians chapter 3. The apostle Paul is talking to a group of people and others division in the church and he's explaining to them how spiritual growth occurs.

He's explained that his role was to plant Apollo's was one who watered and he wants them to understand, only God causes the increase but there are genuine real implications that there is going to be a future judgment for believers, not a judgment for your sin, not a judgment of whether you will spend eternity with Christ returning apart from Christ. It will be a judgment for believers of how they live their life, and at the end of that judgment at the what's called the bema seat or the judgment seat of Christ. People will be rewarded for what they did in this life and others will suffer loss. What they did or doing it for the wrong motives, so notice we pick it up in Chapman chapter 3 verse 10, by the grace of God that he's given me. I lay the foundation as an expert builder in someone else's building on it, but each one should be careful how he builds, for no one can lay a foundation other than the one which is already laid, which is Jesus Christ. If any man builds on the foundation using gold, silver, precious stones would Heyer stop straw his work will be shown for what it is.

Notice of his work is not a salvation it's it's your work as a believer because the day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire and the fire will test the quality of each man's work.

If what he built survives, he will receive a reward. If it is burned up, he will suffer loss and he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping the flames.

Here's all I want you to hear about God's justice. There is coming a day that you will give an account and I will give an account and I'm gonna die or the raptures can occur. And again he ushered into the presence of God and not because of anything good.

I've done I will because of the substitutionary death and atonement of Jesus. My sins are forgiven and because when I was 18 years old in 1972 I by faith receive that free gift.

There is a judgment that occurred in the judgment was my sins would never be held against me ever and I was justified. I was born again.

The spirit was placed in my life and then from this point I'm living this life as a believer and then I die and I meet Christ. And when I meet Christ. He's gonna say Chip got a few questions for you I gave you X amount of time on the earth. I give you the spiritual gifts I gave you this ability to make this much money I gave you these talents. These experiences now. I would like to do little inventory. What did you do with what I gave you and I will hold you accountable.

You are my steward.

It was not your time. It was my time entrusted to you. You are my steward. It was not your money was in your house wasn't your car those gifts. The call gifts. I gave them to you. I entrusted this ministry gift to you not ship you have little evaluation time and if you used your time, your talent and your treasure with the right motives, not to impress people not to gain strokes not to get people to like you, or think better of you while you secretly had different motives, but to the degree you used your time, your talent, your treasure to honor me during this life.

I want you to know that I have some rewards that you will enjoy with me for ever and ever and ever.

And those things that don't quite measure up. You will have an experience of loss and we don't hear a lot of teaching on spiritual wars is very clear in Scripture that member what God's justices.

Everyone gets exactly what they deserve. You think that people who live for Christ.

Have a passionate love for him and been a great steward of the gifts and the time their talent in the treasure you have the same experience in heaven as those who did absolutely not what we think heaven is like a socialistic society, absolutely not. There will be multiple levels of heaven that we will all have no tears, but what you do with your life. I told you sobriety would be needed. What you do with your money. What you do with your gifts and your time will have an eternal impact on the quality and certain people will have levels of service.

Heaven is not float and you know on clouds and sipping iced tea. There's going to be a new heaven and a new earth and is can be real people and real life and real work and accept what it's gonna be is everything about this fallen UK earth is going to be gone and working to have relationships and work and joy like we've never known, but what you do and what it looks like will be determined by what you do now the Bible is very clear on this, so we somehow think that you were trying to get this little ticket to get into heaven.

I believe in Christ as though that's the end of the game instead of it's the entrance ticket into a life of service and stewardship and that this whole little thing called time is about like this. And there's this thing called eternity because Revelation chapter 21 starts here in forever and ever and ever. The implications of what I do to steward my life will be played out for all eternity that serious stuff that's really serious stuff mean that to be one of the highest priority jerks shakers in your life. You talk about the fear of the Lord.

The second promise of eternal retribution is for unbelievers, for its appointed unto man once to die, and after this the judgment. In a so often people are so afraid, or like hell, is a bad topic.

Hell is not a bad topic to talk about God so honors the dignity of people's choices that he has created a place where those who don't want to be around him to get the opportunity to not be around them forever. But that's what it what is it in this thinking, but think that somehow somehow God can make everything and Idi Amin in the silence of the world and the and the people that have murdered and abused and those of but somehow everything just gets okay and universalism. People want to play these pseudo-intellectual games like what everyone somehow said to be and have yet here you and Hitler Justina drinking iced tea you know and and everything you know what Hitler's gonna get exactly what he deserves and you and what you can to get exactly what you deserve, unless you have a sin. Substitute name Jesus who has placed his life as a substitute and receive the just wrath of God for you and by grace you have been forgiven is only two kind of people I love CS Lewis is to kind of people in all the world one Pete one group of people say to God, thy will be done. I want to be with you forever and to another group of people. God says, thy will be done. You get your way forever and ever and I don't know where you're at.

I did not grow up in the church, but if you have never received Jesus as your Savior I want you to know that he God's justice gonna be fair and if you don't have a way to cover your sin, you will get exactly what you deserve and you will receive the just full. It's only you want fair right you want fair and I'll give you fair, but you don't want fair when it comes to this what you want and what you need is grace, and so I'd encourage you if you've never received the forgiveness and the work of Christ on your behalf. I mean I would just turn me off mentally.

Right now in my mind's eyes the Lord Jesus, I get it. I never seen it this clearly will you forgive me right now you come into my life and I would tell someone you know what I prayed to receive Christ and I'm not sure what to do. Let me encourage you to do that. Let's look at the application with covered a bit. Let me give it to you and sortable to go package for specific things we do in light of the justice of God number one. Choose to embrace Jesus today is your Savior rather than meet him as your righteous judge later this. Choose a meeting today.

He will judge you, he will judge me so meeting as your Savior today instead of your judge later second refused to take revenge when treated unjustly, knowing God and God alone.

Judge just refused to take revenge. See, life isn't fair and you live in a fallen world, and what you want to do is you want to be the judge and my ex did this to me and they did this at work and they did that work in the sky at church a Leading cause of crazies on this a really bad things about them over here. Never pay back evil for evil respect what is right in the sight of all men don't take revenge, my beloved leave room for the wrath of God's vengeance is mine says the Lord. If your enemy is hungry and feed him if he is thirsty, given the drink. In so doing you keep burning coals upon his head. It's a picture of it in the Middle Eastern culture of someone who had repented and it would go to the village and it would take some some rocks out of the coals and they would put it in the pan and put a talented put on their head and walked to the village and say how I used to think is been burned out of my mind and I was wrong. The way I was living and I want you know I changed it's the kindness of God that leads people to repentance will how does God show kindness today. It's when his children, his body treat people who are evil. The way they don't deserve. Never take your own rent, revenge, beloved leave room for the wrath of God. Do not be overcome with evil but what overcome evil with good. That's Romans 1217 to 20 want. Don't take your own revenge third is take comfort when you encounter injustice. Knowing God will balance the scales either in this life or the next. Psalm 73. For those of you that it had injustice in your life. Those of you are saying you know buddy, I have gotten such a raw deal. Read Psalm 73. A self was just about ready to cash it and he said you love and walk with you I been trying to be pure and all I got is hard to get a look at all these proud, arrogant people, and then they have just got it made. And he says then I went to the temple of the Lord and God gave me perspective and I realize that their life looks good now, and the like.

A rugby can be pulled out from under them and they would say my flesh and my heart may fail.

Verse 25 but you are the strength of my heart, and you are my portion forever in a fallen world where there's injustice and it's gonna happen. You are going to get a bad deal in a fallen world, run to Jesus.

Just come to him and say you know what I'm going to trust all these anger fantasies. All these desires to pay people back all the stuff inside my heart that hurts so bad. All these ways that I mean keep me up at night because that acid my stomach to churn all these times I find myself rehearsing telling people on the phone, of how I've been hurt and what they did stop it, forgive them the word, forgive literally means to loose loose them and say, God, I'll tell you what, I'm a tiny little judge trying to make this happen because it makes me feel better, but they seem like their life is really going pretty well and I'm up in the middle night of the stomach cramps and anger fantasies. I'm drinking Maalox you know three or four times a day. I'm taking all those new pills or to get the stomach acid down there. Not in working at say what got him to do. I'm going to forgive and loose them the same way you forgave me and I'm gonna step out of the way, you're the judge you judge and you can you can do it in this life you can do the next life. I trust your righteous just judge and you'll do it. I'm letting go of my internal demand that they get back what they deserve and you will be free. You will see, that's what got I got God tells us how to deal with justice in a fallen world, and finally, this is just a word of encouragement.

Meditate deeply on the reality of the judgment seat of Christ and the promise of spiritual rewards. Are you ready for this. What would be your sort of spiritual P&L statement into profits and losses yeah yeah just go through and say, you know, my devotion my heart for God, my money, that's what reflects my time. That's what reflects spiritual gifts in ministry. That's what reflects attitudes and sky go through and will P&L and say if I was gonna get rewarded or suffer loss today, what would it look like and then probably get a little journal outer sheet of paper and say what midcourse changes do I need to make so that when I meet Jesus, the judgment seat you to be a lot happier occasion night he's good is holding just life isn't fair, but God is I want to pause right now. This program is any farther.

I said to very very important things about the justice of God. I've talked to those of you that are outside Christ you not put your faith in him and I've told you that God loves you and he cares for you and he's provided a way to be both just and the justifier. In other words, he's going to give you what you deserve, or he has said he will take what you deserve. Jesus dying on the cross in your place paying for your sin and building a bridge from you to God the father, and you can receive that free gift and then I also talk to second group of people. Those of us that the Spirit of God lives and we put our faith in Christ, we have a new life and there's a different judgment for us. It's not about our sin is not about heaven. It's about rewards.

It's about. Are we going to get a well done, thou good and faithful servant and will we enter into an eternity on this new life that we have that's rich and deep and all that it could be is I don't know where you're at, but what I want to tell you is that if you're outside of Christ. You may never hear the gospel is clearly not because I'm saying it more clearly.

But because God has your attention. Would you where ever you are right now. Even if you're driving maybe need to pull off. Would you pause and say to the Lord God of heaven, I have sinned against you greatly. I'm not perfect.

I've fallen short, and today I believe that all my sin you placed on Christ and now I turned in the empty hands of faith and I'm putting my trust in him. The Bible promises as many as received him, Jesus, to them he gives the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in his name. If you believe in your heart right now and then confess with your mouth the Bible promises God will save you to forgive you to come into your life.

So at this moment can I encourage you in your own words, tell God I'm sorry, tell them you're putting your faith in Christ and right now say Lord Jesus come into my life, cleanse me, forgive me. Make me your son make me your daughter and if you prayed that even if you prayed it in your mind as you are driving in from your heart.

I want you to as soon as you can safely text or call the greatest Christian, you know, tell them what you did that. I want you to find a good Bible teaching church this weekend and then maybe before that go on to LivingontheEdge.org one long word LivingontheEdge.org and you'll see it row clearly for new Christians.

We have some things to put in your hands to help you grow and I would say to my fellow believers. Evaluate your priorities. Ask yourself, giving my life to accounts is God first, my hungering and thirsting for righteousness does my time, my money and my relationships demonstrate that I'm following him with all my heart and if not, go to a kind, loving and just God who wants to forgive you. Cleanse you realign.

You tell someone what you gonna do and asked them to give you some help.

God bless you, keep pressing ahead if you prayed with Chip.

I hope you'll take a minute and call us a 8883336003. We love to talk with you and get a free resource in your hands that will help you understand what you just did and where to go from here if you'd rather go to the new believers tab on our website LivingontheEdge.org or tap special offers only app we'll find that same resource. We just want to help you get started on your new journey of faith as we wrap up today's program. I know that many of you have done business with God and you have said to him, I repent.

I am turning around and moving in a new direction and all I want to say is that commitment as sincere as it is, and is willing, as God is to help you will not be sustained if you try and do it on your own. You need community you need some trusted friends.

One or two, at least you need to be in some kind of small group where you share what you just did with God. Your need for help and get on the pathway to get help now.

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This is the saying thanks for listening to this Edition of Living on the Edge