God is just if only because it is wrong to hurt another. We know this is true instinctively and all too well,
especially when we are harmed and abused and on the "short end" of being mistreated. The essence of the 10 commandments is treating others as they - and we - ²ought and wish to be treated. Whether that involves God or our fellow humans.
In addition,
treating others in an unloving fashion matters not just to the one
mistreated but to God himself. Why? Because we are his image bearers whom he
greatly loves/values. To
hurt one of us is like a slap in the very face of God. It would be like
someone defacing or destroying the Mona Lisa (valued
at $782 million btw). Leonardo da Vinci (or the present owner) would not
be too happy if they did, would he?
The beauty and wonder of God is He knew we could never repay others for all the damage and marred pictures we caused. His love for us is so great that he took out his anger for our abuse of others upon himself, in and through the death of Christ. He did this to spare us from having to go through this ourselves.
The beauty and wonder of God is He knew we could never repay others for all the damage and marred pictures we caused. His love for us is so great that he took out his anger for our abuse of others upon himself, in and through the death of Christ. He did this to spare us from having to go through this ourselves.
The just consequences of our mistreatment of others fell on Christ. If this isn't love, nothing is. Because of Christ, we are no longer required to pay
for all the pictures we have (or yet may) marred and damaged. God did this
for us.
And as important as all that is, that is only half of it. He also offers to credit us fully with Christ's life of perfect faithfulness of loving God and others in exchange for our life of unfaithfulness... if we will accept his offer.
For a related discussion on the necessity of judgment, click here.
For a further discussion on God assigning his righteousness to us, click here.
__________________________________________________________
¹Evil - רַע (pronounced ra) (948c) in the Old Testament Hebrew; from the same as H7455; evil, distress, misery, injury, calamity:
— adversity (7), calamity (4), disaster (2), evil (94), harm (2), harmful (1), hurt (1), ruin (3), surely (1), trouble (2), unpleasant (1), wickedly (1), wickedness (1).
And as important as all that is, that is only half of it. He also offers to credit us fully with Christ's life of perfect faithfulness of loving God and others in exchange for our life of unfaithfulness... if we will accept his offer.
For a related discussion on the necessity of judgment, click here.
For a further discussion on God assigning his righteousness to us, click here.
__________________________________________________________
¹Evil - רַע (pronounced ra) (948c) in the Old Testament Hebrew; from the same as H7455; evil, distress, misery, injury, calamity:
— adversity (7), calamity (4), disaster (2), evil (94), harm (2), harmful (1), hurt (1), ruin (3), surely (1), trouble (2), unpleasant (1), wickedly (1), wickedness (1).
²By the way, who is the nut job that came up with this notion that there is no right or wrong and morality is a myth? We know in our gut this isn't true. This is why movies like Star Wars are so popular around the world. Instinctively humanity believes there is good vs evil no matter what your world view or religion. This is also why treating others as we wish to be treated resonates with us and is echoed in all religions.
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Grace to you
Jim Deal