Summer Weekly Devotional: Wednesday, July 11

In Genesis, we see that human beings were made "in the image of God". This means to say that humans were created to be God's representatives on earth and carry out His plan, abiding by the morals and concepts of justice that God himself abides by. According to the Biblical justice that God sets forth, all humans are equal, all humans are created in His image, and all humans deserve to be treated with fairness and justice.

Of course, as we all know, human beings do not always behave this way. Instead, even in the earliest parts of the Bible, we see humans rejecting God's principles of Biblical justice and instead begin defining good and evil for themselves in a way that gives them advantages over others. The strong take advantage of the vulnerable, both at an individual level and at a societal level. Throughout all of this, the justice that God intended for people to exhibit is nowhere to be found.

Out of this mess, though, God raises up a man named Abraham and positions him to start a new line of people with his family - one that is ruled by both righteousness and justice. So what does God mean when he tells Abraham and his people to live their lives with righteousness and justice? In the Bible, righteousness refers to a state of moral good in which you treat those around you with decency and fairness, recognizing that all of them are made in the image of God just like you.

While justice can be used to talk about retributive justice in which a person is punished for their wrongdoings, most of the time the Bible uses the word justice to refer to restorative justice, in which those who are unrightfully hurt or wronged are restored and given back what was taken from them. Taken this way, the combination of righteousness and justice that God dictates means a selfless way of life in which people do everything they can to ensure that others are treated well and injustices are fixed.

This is a theme that continues throughout the Bible, and when God's people were shown injustice, such as when the Israelites were under Egyptian oppression, God stepped in and showed them restorative justice just like He commanded them to show to others. Of course, the sad irony is that the Israelites would later go on to oppress others even after being oppressed themselves, ignoring these very important concepts of righteousness and justice that God decreed that they should live by.

Today, we as human beings continue to demonstrate injustice, benefiting from the oppression of those around us and making ourselves guilty in the eyes of God. Thankfully, God had a solution to the injustice of humanity. By sending Christ, who was deemed to be fully righteous and just, to take the punishment for the sins of the guilty, God has made it so that all people can stand righteous before Him. Having been given this gift, it is now our commission to go out into the world and give this same gift to others by showing them the righteousness and justice that God has shown us all.

3. Reflects on Questions

i. What did you think of the "Justice" video? Did the video help you understand justice more?

ii. When you hear the word "justice," what comes to mind? How would you define "justice"?

iii. When is a time when you have experienced either justice or injustice? What did that feel like?

iv. Can you think of verses / stories in the Bible that speak about justice?

v. How does Jesus lead us into real and true justice? Where do we see Jesus accomplishing justice for others and for us?

NOTE: for more devotionals check the right side bar of the church's web site for upcoming devotionals and videos or contact the church office or Pastor Jo (jschouten@nacchurch.org)