Welcome to the One Word At A Time Blog Carnival – this week’s word is: Justice.
Below this, you’ll find a little widget called Simply Linked. All the participants in the carnival add their links to the widget and that way we can all find and read everyone’s entries. You’re welcome to join us, the carnival is open to anyone.
To see all of the upcoming words and their dates, visit http://peterpollock.com/category/faith/carnival/
Justice – or is it?
I find justice to be a very abstract concept and one which I think we fail to fully grasp much of the time.
We are, after all, living in a fallen world.
We are, after all, sinful at heart.
How then can we truly measure out justice when anger and a blood-thirsty desire for revenge threaten to overcome us at any moment?
I am so glad that laws are made through discussion in an environment far away from the cold, hard edge of reality. A place where men and women can discuss dispassionately the moral rights and wrongs of a crime without being tainted a personal desire for vengeance.
However, how can we decide on a just penalty for a crime if we don’t understand the emotional, physical and mental impact of that crime.
It’s a dichotomy I have never quite been able to get my head around and it show how difficult it is to find justice in a world of sin.
I am relieved though that laws are not made on the spot by men and women in the community. If it were up to our law enforcement agencies to make the rules as they went along, then I am sure that ‘justice’ would be found down the barrel of a gun by a men caught up in the adrenaline and emotion of the moment way too often.
What is justice? How can we, who are hurt, find an answer which is truly just?
It amazes me that we have a God who is a God of justice, one who is truly just and at the same time one against whom more sin has been committed than we can ever fathom. Yet he, as just as he is, sent his one and only son to die in our place so that in that moment when we are standing before the judgement seat of the one who is ultimately just, we will simultaneously be standing in front of the mercy seat of the same God, the one who loves us and is ready to lavish forgiveness on us through Jesus Christ.
When we go out seeking justice, are we as merciful and loving as the God who has foregone justice to bring us mercy, forgiveness and ever lasting life?
…. I wonder….
By on .
Perhaps we should seek pure justice for no other reason than in testimony to the perfect justice of God, which finds its richest expression in the mercy offered through Christ’s blood.
(And I’m glad that your post also detracts revenge, Peter.)
Great Quote! “It amazes me that we have a God who is a God of justice, one who is truly just and at the same time one against whom more sin has been committed than we can ever fathom.”
Jesus paid a price that he did not deserve so that we could be free from what we did deserve. He became Justice for all who will receive.
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I love to watch TV shows and movies about legal trials, and the more I watch them, the more I am sure that mankind in incapable of being completely just.
Sometimes, the judges might have the best intention at heart, but they might not have all the information to make a fair call.
But I trust God’s justice, for He knows everything and He is loving and just at the same time. He is the only one that can be a just judge.
Thanks for hosting the blog carnival, Peter!
Thinking about what God thinks justice is—
so much higher than our thoughts!
He defines justice and by sending His son, He established healing, wholeness, and salvation for all who would come to Him. His justice involves the righteousness of His life and Kingdom bringing restoration to all things. It’s incredible to consider and you’re so right, it’s far removed from our seeking of vengeance and petty judgments. Thanks Peter.
Human justice and God’s justice are on two different levels. I am so glad I am in God’s hands and being judged by HIS justice scales and not mans. We often judge each other harshly, even if we don’t mean to. We just don’t like people to be different than us. It makes us uncomfortable.
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What is interesting is that most societies (every society?) have developed systems to mete out justice without just letting the victims take revenge. As you said: “If it were up to our law enforcement agencies to make the rules as they went along, then I am sure that ‘justice’ would be found down the barrel of a gun by a men caught up in the adrenaline and emotion of the moment way too often.”
We think that’s wrong because we believe in a God who values every human life, and who values forgiveness, mercy, second chances, repentance etc, but why would any society outside of God structure a system in order to make those things possible? Could it be that God has put ‘eternity [and its values] into the hearts of men’, and this means they at least attempt to reflect that in their justice systems?
Interesting!
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