Live Justified

Looking up into the dome of the California State Capitol Museum building


Last week I wrote about injustice and anger that boils within. Today, I share a story about justification that was framed from injustice. It’s a story that many of us have heard in some fashion – a story that I believe we can all relate to if we will pause to hear it.

It’s a story about a person who lived a life many of us would applaud, yet whom was killed by people of power. He fell victim to a system that may have been born of good intentions, but somehow ambled into a gait of arrogance and superiority. The perpetrators, in the form of an organized aristocracy and as individuals, didn’t like him messing with the good thing they had going.

So, they plotted to slap a death penalty on a man who did no wrong. And they carried out their plot to the bitter end.

May I tell you about this victim of injustice?

 

His name is Jesus.

In many ways, we can say there are people in America and in other countries, throughout the generations, with the same story. Jesus was a victim of injustice, and it was a painful time when He was arrested, shamed, beaten, and killed. We live in painful times today and it should never have been this way. Under the authority of a flawed justice system and the fuming of an oppressed society, we are sometimes robbed of the peace and assurance that come with simply living an honest life. Many of us are robbed of even more.

I wish I had a solution for that. I can’t fix the lack of civility we find at many levels in this world. But Jesus has prepared an eternal home for us, and He offers hope that we can experience today. We can live with a promising future, for the injustice toward Jesus opened the door to our own justification. It opened the door for God to see us as righteous and to accept us into His Heavenly home. The unjust death of Jesus satisfied God as payment for our sins.

This is how God showed His love among us:
He sent His one and only Son into the world
that we might live through Him.
This is love: not that we loved God,
but that He loved us and sent His Son
as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.
 

1 John 4:9-10

 

Jesus came to earth by choice. The Son of God, perfect in character and compassion, left His Heavenly home to die for our benefit. He came to unite all humankind with God, His Father.

 

Silhouette of an old style scale representing the justice system

Jesus’ birth was anticipated for generations. He represented life and freedom and relief. He was the Son of God and King of kings. Jesus should have been adored, applauded, worshiped, and served by all, but His story played out differently. He was despised, betrayed, abandoned, accused, bullied, beaten, sentenced, and executed. He died a cruel death on the cross. He died a criminal’s death, yet He committed no crime.

But amidst the injustice, rising from the pit of oppression, God’s plan to restore privileged life to all was carried out. Those who hated Jesus, and those who were too afraid to stand against the fury of the crowd, thought they could forever rid themselves of the threat to their superiority when they sealed His grave.


But they did not succeed because God planned life.

Jesus shook the earth. He rose up in victory! He walked away from death.

We can’t do what He did, but we can rise with Him. We can walk through life with Him. We can live with the hope of Heaven and the confidence that we have His favor…even if we are mistreated, disrespected, devalued, or worse.

We join Jesus by owning up to this:

  1. While people in this world fail to meet God's holy standards (sin), we fail as well (Romans 3:23).
  2. Sin is punishable by eternal death (Romans 6:23).
  3. Jesus paid the penalty for our sins (Romans 5:8).
  4. Jesus rose from His grave and death has no power over Him (John 11:25).
  5. Jesus is Lord of all and we need to allow Him to be Lord of our lives (Romans 14:8-9).

Tell God you understand. Tell Him you own up to and believe wholeheartedly each of these 5 truths. Make it about you and Him, not anyone else. Just like your response to injustice and crushing emotions, this is a personal step that needs to happen deep in your own heart. Tell God, then tell someone who believes the same truth. Walk hand in hand. Walk with sure hope. Walk with Jesus. This is what He said: 

I will not leave you as orphans,
I will come to you.
Before long, the world will not see me anymore,
but you will see me.
Because I live, you also will live.
On that day you will realize that I am in my Father,
and you are in me, and I am in you.

 John 14:18-20

 

  

If you want to know more about Jesus and how to have a relationship with Him and His Father who values people, please email me at authordlv@att.net. He understands injustice and He helps us rise above it.

Read more blog posts here.

THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.




Comments

  1. I am thankful to be His child. I am thankful for His forgiveness and all He has done for me.

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    Replies
    1. Yes, in God's family is the best place to call home. Thank you.

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  2. Not an orphan. Thank you. God bless!

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    Replies
    1. Yes, we can be in God's family: chosen, cared for, favored, hopeful.

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  3. You are so right: "We can rise with Him. We can walk through life with Him." Jesus laid the groundwork and paid the price. Now we must do our work and spread His story and salvation.

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    1. In these days of anger and hate, this is the message we need to hear and share. Jesus came to save us. He came to set us free and give us eternal life. In Jesus, we have hope.

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  4. Amen. Jesus experienced injustice so we could be justified. God's love for us is overwhelming!

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    1. Yes, and He had it all planned out before creation. He knew we would disobey and betray Him, so He designed our redemption. He wrote the story of justification before there was injustice.

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  5. Stephen, thank you for sharing the story of Jesus and the gospel. I'm so grateful Jesus was willing to be falsely accused and endure great injustice to accomplish our spiritual justification.

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    Replies
    1. Glad to share this life-giving story during a time when life doesn't have as much meaning as it should. Jesus is the name that turns a bad story good. Thank you for reading.

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  6. Such a beautiful and powerful reminder of the gospel of Jesus Christ in the midst of injustice, pain, hurt and sorrow. Thank you for framing the saving power of Jesus Christ through the lens of earthly injustice and justice before God. Truly only Jesus can save us before a just God and then help us rise above hatred and injustice in this world. No efforts of man will ever be enough.

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    1. There is much hatred and injustice in this world. There will always be. It's so good to know that Jesus not only has our backs, but He has our hearts. And, while our hearts ache in the midst of turmoil, God gives us peace, joy, hope, purpose, favor, and life. Thank you for reading and commenting.

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  7. The concept of this information, I meant the call for salvation, resonates with me.

    Thanks for sharing. God bless you real good.

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    1. This is good to hear, Fredrick. When you answer the call for salvation you gain the freedom to live in a way to pleases God, and, most importantly, you gain the hope of eternal life with God and a host of other believers in Heaven after leaving this earth. It's a sure hope, not a wish. We rise with Jesus.

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  8. Thank you for couching Jesus' story in the racial turmoil we all face right now. It's easy to forget that he was a despised minority, that he was an innocent victim of police brutality, and that he was unjustly killed like a criminal. He purposefully put himself into that position, so that he could die for the sins of the world. He could have chosen to come into a comfortable rich family of a majority ethnic group, but that wouldn't have allowed him to fulfill his mission. He was despised and rejected. His race, his ethnicity, and his treatment was all impacted by those genetic truths he chose to wear in his human body. And thus, anyone of any marginalized group can see their situation in Jesus. His death and resurrection were not only salvific, but brought to us a Savior who is a Friend, a Companion, a Man who was also misunderstood, and the Beloved One.

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    1. Jesus' story is so plainly parallel to much of what is going on right now in this nation and world. And it was all planned before we even committed the first sin in the Garden of Eden. That is love and sacrifice. That is an earnest desire to be with us in harmony. And how much patience God displays right now as He waits for more dear people to come to Him. We will not find an equal to Jesus in this world. How marvelous He is. Thank you for your comment and fellow heart.

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  9. I am His and He is mine. Thank you Jesus. The gospel changes everything for all those who will listen. Thanks

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    1. Yes. That's the plain and simple truth. The gospel is powerful beyond imagination. Thank you, Yvonne.

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  10. A great reminder that Jesus understands suffering and injustice because he experienced it first hand. His willingness to leave paradise and come to earth, be both God and human, live, suffer, die and rise again all to show us the divine and grand vision of an eternal world where justice reigns, love abounds, and there is no suffering is the greatest gift imaginable.

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    1. Yes, thank you, Anne. Such good points. Jesus understands the injustice in this world. And how amazing that He came here by choice and planned before even the first sin in the garden. Heaven will be such a relief!

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  11. It is personal for each of us. The way we feel. The reactions we have. All personal. But the universal hope is Jesus. Only Jesus. I pray for a sweep of the Holy Spirit across our country. And just as the flame of racial injustice has been fanned across the world, my the flame of repentance and salvation fan across the world!

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    1. Oh, how we need the Holy Spirit to touch lives. I love the image of a flame being fanned. I am joining you in prayer for the Holy Spirit's work across our country. Thank you for your comment.

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