We often think of God as loving. We often think of him as all-knowing. We often consider him all-powerful. However, we perhaps don’t put enough thought into God being just or righteous. Let me come out swinging, God would be perfectly just in damning every soul to hell for eternity.
Yes, fellow sinner, that includes you and I. The Bible never shies away from the sin of every human flowing from the disobedience of Adam and Even in the garden. Paul explains this federal headship in Romans 5. He says in verse 12 “Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned—” All sinned. Our sinful nature is passed through our fathers dating all the way back to Adam. And our sinful nature leads to our sinning. We sin because we are sinners. With sin comes death. Physical death and the eternal death of torment in hell.
God is perfectly just in his right judgment of sin. God is perfectly righteous in the damnation of sinners. He is not mean in doing so. He is not heartless or cruel. To consider him heartless or cruel puts us in the fearful position of judging God. Step carefully before you emotionally respond to such lines of thought.
When someone does wrong, they are punished. When my 6 year old is disrespectful or disobedient there are consequences equal to the offense and to the one offended. Our justice system imperfectly mimics this principle as well. Murder can bring the death penalty, for instance. My son lying to me might bring a loss of privileges or a certain toy. If I lie in court I might be convicted of perjury and jailed.
Consider then what sin is and who it is against. There are no insignificant sins. When we sin, what is it we do? We put ourselves in the place of God and disobey the sovereign Ruler of the Universe. We declare, “I am right, and you are wrong, God. I know better what to do and will ignore your Law.”
When we lie, we offend the person we are lying to, yet we ultimately sin against God. He has decreed in the 9th commandment we are not to bear false witness. Don’t lie. When we lie, we sin against God. We offend him. David said in Psalm 51 when confronted with his heinous crime of adultery with Bathsheba and the murder of her husband so that he could “legally” marry her; “Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment.” (Psalm 51:4, ESV)
He certainly had sinned against Bathsheba and Uriah. All Uriah did was loyally serve his king and he was murdered because the king slept with his wife. Yet what David is expressing is that ultimately his sin was against God.
Our sins are ultimately against a perfectly holy God. An eternally holy God. His goodness, righteousness, and holiness cannot be exhausted. Thus, our punishment against such an eternally perfect and holy God cannot be fully paid by us. We pay our penalties commensurate with the crime and the one we have committed the crime against.
When you sin against an eternal God, your punishment is eternal. All sin merits judgment against a holy and righteous God. This is why we cannot earn our salvation. We can’t sufficiently atone for it. We don’t possess the ability, righteousness, or goodness to do so. We can’t pay an infinite sum.
This is why God paid the price for us. His justice demands sufficient atonement. I once read in John Stott’s “The Cross of Christ” something to the effect of; God (the Father) sent God (the Son) to propitiate the wrath of God (the Father) and secure salvation for those who would believe, to the Glory of God and by the regenerating work of God (the Holy Spirit).
Redemption is a work of God as only God could absorb the wrath of God. Your redemption, if you are in Christ, is only possible through the work of the eternally good, just, and holy Christ. The Christ who lived, suffered, died, and rose again and now offers atonement based on his work to all who repent and believe.
God’s justice demands a sufficient sacrifice. Christ is the only sufficient sacrifice to propitiate the wrath of God. Eternally just. Eternal punishment for sin. Yet… praise God!.. eternal life secured through Christ Jesus!
