Justified
One of the most commonly uttered phrases in our house right now are three words every parent knows so well: “That’s not fair.” It has been shocking to me in my inexperience with parenting (believe it or not, this is the first time I have parented four children) the way my children’s rebellious hearts are geared towards defining fairness in their own terms.
In my rebellious heart, it’s not fair that they whine or complain when I feel like I am graciously responding to “Mom, can I get another cheese stick?!” from across the house while they lounge in front of the TV. Or perhaps when a short-tempered response comes out of their frustration after I have just shown mercy after an argument between them. It just doesn’t “feel fair.” Sometimes that can lead to an unjust punishment, or one that “doesn’t fit the crime.” In His graciousness, one of the greatest blessings of parenting are the opportunities that God gives us to grow in Him as we grow with our kids.
Being honest with ourselves as we let the Light shine in on our inner darkness, the truth is that we all crave justice – what is right or what should be. As creatures made in the image of a Holy God, we are intricately woven to come to know Him and want what He wants, craving the very nature of who He is. One of His attributes is His justice, or also spoken of in Scripture, as His righteousness.
While our kids are limited in their understanding of what is “right” – and also what seems “fair” or “equitable” – we too are limited in the scope of our view that misses the mark of what God says is truly right in His sight. This is the essence of sin, the very way we rebel in our thoughts, words, and actions against all the goodness and holiness that God is in Himself.
The Apostle Paul declares the charges against all of us and the just punishment for it, “for the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). So as we walk in the valley of the shadow of death, we not only walk through the physical act of dying but more profoundly the spiritual death that comes with our sin and the impact that it has on us and those around us. The reality then becomes that what is truly “fair” is that we have earned the punishment for our rebellion and our hearts of stone.
Yet, in His grace and mercy, God pours out His steadfast love for us in the person and work of Jesus so we may not be condemned. Romans 5:8-11 speaks of God’s righteousness imparted to us:
“But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! Not only is this so, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.”
In an act of radical grace that defies the limit of the human mind, the God of the universe made us right with Him in our rebellion through an act of sheer love through the death of His Son. We are justified through our faith in Jesus, who He is and what He did. This means we are declared to be innocent in the eyes of God when we accept His free gift and walk into newness of life in Christ. It’s a gift that changes everything for us who confess Jesus Christ as our Savior! We did not earn it. We did not deserve it. It was given to us by God.
And it is a gracious gift that keeps on giving as we meditate on this incredible truth. That God would love you and me so much that He would clothe us in the righteousness of Christ through the atoning sacrifice of His life on the cross is what changes everything for us who believe. It lights up the areas of sin that we come to mortify and repent of. It is the humbling reality that brings the proud to their knees. It frees the captive from their chains. It turns adults into little children. It satisfies the thirst with Living Water. And as we allow ourselves to truly delight in it, we desire to follow Jesus and slowly grow into maturity in Christ.
You are justified, friends. Let it change everything.
KB