God’s Justice and Mercy

Last night was the final night of the FC Lecture–”Come, Let Us Return To The Lord: The Preaching of the Minor Prophets for Today.”

Andy Diestelkamp closed it out speaking on “After the Judgment, There is Hope of Resurrection. Andy’s lesson focused on both the justice and mercy of the Lord, which he observed are “not incomparable opposites.

Quoting Nathan Ward, Andy wrote in the lecture book, “The God to whom we pray is a God of both justice and mercy. These concepts, however paradoxical the pairing may seem, run throughout the Bible as two fundamental certain truths about God.”

In fact, Andy opined that “the ultimate message of Scripture is not that we are all sinners condemned to face God’s wrath. The Bible is not a book of doom. Its overarching theme is ultimately good news that, despite the prevalence of sin and the prospect of wrath it deserves, there yet remains hope of restoration with God and eventual rest because God is so good.”

Andy further reminded us that “our preaching of the gospel in the style of the prophets must not be limited to complaints, woes, and diatribes against our present worldly culture, the proliferation of false teachers, or the failure of the many religious to be faithful.”

The greater motivation of both the ancient prophets and present day preachers is to call people to repentance. To challenge them to change. To offer an alternative to the world’s allure, lusts, and lifestyle. To realize we can receive forgiveness, experience a spiritual reformation, and live with renewed purpose and the prospects of hope that transcends this life. Why? Because of God’s love, mercy and grace found in Jesus Christ (Eph. 2:1-10).

For those who’ve wandered away from the fold of safety and returned to the world, restoration and reformation is possible. Our God, as Paul put it, is “a God of hope.” Over 30 times the Bible connects hope with the purpose and character of God for His creation in general , and for His people specifically.

That hope, of course, today is centered around and realized through Jesus Christ. The apostle Peter expressed our eternal expectation with these encouraging words.

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time” (1 Pet. 1:3-5).

Yes, the God of justice and judgment is also the God of mercy and hope. Thus, Jesus, who came to show us the Father, is called “the merciful and faithful high priest” (Heb. 2:17). The Old Testament prophets who point to the Messiah, preached that restoration could be found fulfilled in Jesus Christ. As Andy wrote, “Restoration is the work of God accomplished and fulfilled in Jesus Christ according to His mercy and in keeping with His justice.”

Sinful men and women can be redeemed and reconciled to God. Our lives are not futile. Our sins don’t have to be fatal. And our death is not final. There is a better land awaiting. A better home prepared. A better body to anticipate.

“Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God” (Rom. 5:1-2).

–Ken Weliever, The Preacherman