The blessing of an impartial judge

Isaiah 66:23-24

The blessing of an impartial judge

  “And it shall be from new moon to new moon and from Sabbath to Sabbath, all mankind will come to bow down before Me,” says the Lord. “Then they shall go forth and look on the corpses of the men who have transgressed against Me. For their worm shall not die, and their fire shall not be quenched; and they shall be an abhorrence to all mankind.”

  Why are we always challenged and seem at a loss when people give us their excuse for why they won’t follow God by citing in the Old Testament how God wiped out nations, and they could never follow a God like that.

  Let us consider what happens when we accidentally do something that causes harm to another person, like spill coffee on their iphone or bump into them on the sidewalk and cause them to drop and break something. Their immediate reaction is that something must be done about what we just did and, “Who’s going to pay for that!”  This was just an accident and doesn’t even include when something has been done on purpose out of a mean spirit. Now who do we go to to get our justice, for we all have some sense of justice that we feel must be accounted for.

  We all have, built into us, the idea that justice must be done for our circumstance. So who is just? And who decides what is fair? We will spend large amounts of money on lawyers to prove our point of who is right and who is wrong and yet we don’t want to hear about a God who created our world and who always stands for justice?

  We are quick to accuse God of being unjust in wiping out tribes of people and yet we would wipe out our neighbors of everything they owned if we felt they had wronged us in any way, even accidentally. Our reactions can be really intense! Think about how many ridiculous lawsuits you hear about these days with everyone so willing to try and get something for themselves. Think about how many accidents that have happened and because it happed in your house or on your property or your office or your job site, it is your fault no matter how absurd the claim may be. Then  there are needs for justice like right now when we have people blowing themselves up to take out men, women, and children and something must be done.
     Jesus, the king of the world and also the creator of it, is coming back soon. Why wouldn’t He bring justice both for those who have worked hard to keep His laws and retribution on those who have continually broken them on purpose. This really is His world. He really did create us and all that we see. Obedience is not optional and whether we like God’s rules or not, we will have to abide by them no matter what, when He returns. Obedience is not optional and is not subject to interpretation. If a person steals something its still stealing no matter what anyone chooses to call it. The world loves it’s gay pride parades but sin is sin. We may as well have thief pride parades or prostitution pride parades. These are all acts of sin. Sin always causes an injury to someone else and God’s laws are always out to support the injured person who has been taken advantage of. Sin always causes pain and anguish to someone else in order to achieve its own desires. Think about how God must come to the defense of babies who have been murdered in the safest place on earth... their mother’s womb. God must defend them and their cause is just! They were murdered. However, God’s justice often comes in ways that only the mother of that child knows about because God’s justice is very personal and tailored to the crime and He always has a way of fixing even the outcome of crimes like this if we turn to Him with repentance and cry out for His help and forgiveness.

  We have an impartial judge which means that He is always fair for all parties concerned and cannot be bribed or enticed to compromise His justice. This is our greatest blessing! This is our great refuge because though we also do things wrong, yet He will do what is right in every situation which makes obedience to His laws, to be our best friend. (This is not in refrence to salvation for salvation and actually keeping God's laws can only be accomplished through Christ and His saving power in our lives, but is speaking about the benefits of keeping the laws of God with Jesus' help) God is a true refuge to all and if we seek His protection He will require repentance and turning from our sin but He will also become our defender.

  To have a real and impartial judge is the best thing that we could ever have! It is the greatest gift to men, for He is truly fair in all things even though, while He accomplishes His justice, our circumstances may seem to be something other than fair. Let us rejoice that we have a judge and take full advantage of this. And remember, obedience is not optional or subject to interpretation (what is good for you may not be what is good for me)  but is part of our new life in Christ. Let us joyfully set ourselves to keeping His good laws through Jesus' grace and help. His laws always govern our hearts, making us a blessing to our neighbors and not just one more selfish person who thinks nothing of harming someone for his own gain.

           God Bless!