I. The Nature of God's Justice is Both Retributive and Remunerative.
Text: 2 Thessalonians 1: 6-12
In the Supreme Court building in
I. The Nature of God's Justice is Both Retributive and Remunerative.
In the New American Standard Bible verse 6 says, ?For after all it is only just for God to repay with affliction those who afflict you.? This introduces us to not only the topic of justice but also to the first aspect of justice?
1. Retribution. Let's first ask a basic question, ?Why must God pay back with affliction?? What about forgiveness, mercy, love? Why does God's justice seem to overrule these things? There is but one answer to this question, He does what He does for His names sake. Remember Psalm 23:3, ?He restores my soul: He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake?, or Luke 6:22, ?Blessed are you when men shall hate you and when they shall separate you from their company and shall reproach you and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of man's sake?. The retributive aspect, and even the remunerative aspect of God's justice, occurs for the sake of His name, an expression that speaks about the truth of Who God is.
a) His merciful sovereignty. He has chosen people according to His purposes, some for mercy and some to be hardened, Romans 9:17-23 right? The sovereignty of God referred to here is meant to point us to His mercy. So part of the reason for why there is judgment is so that there is also an evident mercy shown to those not under judgment. For mercy to be mercy there needs be something that you are spared from.
b) His proclaimed faithfulness. God moves with retribution according to what He said He would do. Read Isaiah 47 that describes the fall of the sensual ones, the powerful ones, the ones wise in knowledge but all apart from God. Retribution is faithfully promised. What He said He would do, from retribution to reward, He will do.
c) His loving warnings. The retributive acts of God are meant to alert people to both fact and faith. The fact of consequence to sins? presence and its? effects, and the faith to see the reality of eternal punishment and the provision of escape from that in Christ Jesus.
d) His lavish Grace. The greatest act of retribution against sin has already occurred. It was the wrath of God against sin being directed to the body and soul of Jesus Christ as a preparatory step for the rescue of mankind. That the love of God for His creation precedes the wrath of God against sin is the heart of the retributive justice of God.
2. Remuneration. In the immediate context the word that is used is relief or rest, in reference to an end to persecution. The timing of this relief speaks more to a change of ages rather than to a specific remedy of trial. Did the Thessalonians die while yet being oppressed, the answer is an obvious yes. The justice of God has a promised remuneration at the end of this age. When Christ comes again in fiery judgment with a great angelic host, the age of suffering for the church, the body of Christ will be complete. This is the first point to recognize, that God has a purpose for suffering and allows it to occur in the body of Christ today.
We need to recognize that there are two pictures of the return of Christ being presented in the Thessalonian letters. One picture is of the church being caught up to meet the Lord in the air, the other picture is that of fiery retribution coming to the face of the earth. One explanation is that the term 'day? can refer to a fairly broad period of time, and so many events are in the 'day of the Lord?. The other explanation is that there is a time when the church is caught up to be with the Lord and then a time subsequent when Christ comes to the earth to judge and rule it. I tend to hold to this latter view especially in light of what Paul is about to say in 2:1. However, the theme of remuneration or relief or rest is an evident component of God's justice. If He will punish the wicked, He will also reward the righteous, that is His justice.
II. The Extent of God's Justice Is Perfectly Beyond Our Comprehension.
In recent days we have been hearing a lot about the extent of justice. Carla Homolka is about to be released on bail, Clifford Olson, though highly unlikely to receive it, comes up for appeal for parole in another year, and on and on. The term of justice seems light in comparison to the crime. What about the term of God's justice, both the retributive term and the remunerative term. Have a look at verses 8, 9, they state that the extent of God's justice is applied to all people who have not known nor obeyed His revealed word. To know God is more than just to know about Him, it requires an introduction, an opportunity for relationship and openness between the two. Jesus Christ is all this to us! He is more than the forgiveness of our sin, He is life with God to us. Apart from Him there is no way to know God, and this was the particular condemnation of the Jews who were persecuting the Thessalonian church. The extent of God's justice is that of eternal separation from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power. There is no criminal activity, no place of atrocity, famine or disease that is away from the presence of God on the face of this earth. When God exercises His justice by removing His presence and glory from them it will be something mankind has never known before. This is the extent of hell that is perfectly beyond our comprehension, how a creature that is made for relationship with God will endure without Him, how an all present God can effectively remove Himself eternally from them, what the absence of the glory of the power of Christ will be like. Like light taken from a dark cave, utter darkness results. It is perfectly beyond our comprehension in that we know enough to be stirred, to call out to those who don't know God, to feel anguish for those who are oblivious to this anguish and yet moving towards it with great speed.
The remunerative extent of God's justice is equally beyond our comprehension. When Christ comes again we will marvel at Who He is, at the presence of His glory. We will particularly marvel at the intensity of joy He has in seeing us. I like what John Piper wrote in a recent book, ?We stand in wonder that the light of Jesus joy makes a rainbow in the tears on His face.? It is perfectly beyond our comprehension how much Christ is looking forward to the moment of His return to this earth to see you, His church. In that moment the fulfillment of God's remunerative justice will begin to take place and will continue from that moment on to all eternity.
So how do we then walk, how are we to respond in light of what we are hearing here this morning? the answer is in the last two verses isn't it? There are several things we are to do, there are many things God does.
We are to pray always for those beside us; we are to desire goodness in attitude and action, we are to do the work of faith, we are to seek to glorify the name of the Lord Jesus in us.
As you do, look at what God does?He accounts your motive and action and weighs their worthiness, are they appropriate for one whom He has made alive in Christ; God chooses by His power to fulfill the desires of the heart that have goodness and faith in them that will glorify His Son; God seeks to reveal Christ in you as an act of His grace.
The justice of God, which is both retributive and remunerative, declares the faithful, loving, omniscience of the Father Who even in this moment is calling you to agree with Him, calling you to life.
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