God is Justice and Love

To know God, you must learn His heart, His love and His compassion for all of His creation. (This knowledge helps us to understand His justice because He cares for all that He has created.) Often, when reading the Old Testament, we see God's justice in His righteous judgements. Death and the destruction of places can seem harsh to us causing us to believe that God is unreasonable and without mercy. To put it into perspective, when someone causes harm to us, our family or neighbors, we expect there to be justice for the victim and punishment for the one who committed the wrong doing. We believe the punishment should fit the crime. That is our sense of justice. Now, consider Yahweh who is the eternal, uncreated Creator who sees everything and every one. Think for a moment how He must love and care for all that He has created and called "very good". His judgement must come for those who violate His goodness and justice for those who have been violated. This doesn't stop His love and compassion. Rather, His love and compassion is revealed through His righteous judgement. As we all, believers and non-believers alike, stand before a holy and righteous God delight in His goodness; we must also be aware of His justice. God sent Jesus to settle the matter. Yahweh placed upon His only Son the penalty for sin (missing the mark) and the iniquity (lawlessness in the heart) for all of humanity. So, it stands to reason, that when we violate or take advantage of His goodness by causing harm, there will be judgement and justice will be issued.

Psalm 23:4 "Thy rod and Thy staff they comfort me..." The staff of a shepherd is used to guide us into what is right and good. The rod, is the swift nudge to keep us headed in the right direction leading us to safety. Jesus gave Himself so that we could be kept in the love and compassion and goodness of the good God. He paid the price that we all deserve. In the New Testament, we see how the love of God is continuously moving and leading those who have received Christ and have become children of God. Yahweh loves all that He has created. He alone has the authority to deal out justice.

As we seek Him and know Him for who He truly is, we learn more and more of His love and compassion. He is a God who cares for His people.

Written by Sonya Marbutt