In the wake of the devastating earthquake that destroyed much of Haiti in 2010, one philosopher wrote, “For those who believe in an all-good, all-powerful God, we’ve seen that they face a question that remains pressing after all these centuries, and which is now horribly underscored by the horrors in Haiti. If a deity exists, why didn’t he prevent this?”
Most people have an innate desire for justice and empathize when something unjust happens to the innocent. They also desire for mercy to be shown when adversity strikes. When we perceive that either of these two things is missing, the human response is often anger and blaming God for not doing what we think He should have done.
The scene at the cross is the ultimate convergence of justice and mercy, and if viewed dispassionately, it’s the end of any arguments about God’s justice and His mercy: Both are fulfilled there. But here we also have human nature on full display when confronted by the face of God. One “criminal” hurls insults and denies Jesus (Luke 23:39). It appears that the other owns his own shame and asks that the Savior remember him (Luke 23:42). Did he think he would inherit “paradise”? (Luke 23:43). Hardly. He simply wanted some token of mercy.
Sometimes, especially amidst personal adversity or when learning of great human tragedy, we can become the scoffing thief—hurling insults and embracing disbelief because it looks as if God has no power or is unwilling to step in and save the day. The humble thief responded in the only acceptable way, however, as should we all: He was aware of his well-deserved condemnation and asked in humility for Jesus to respond to his need—seeking mercy rather than reward. By God’s grace he received both!
NLT 365-day reading plan passage for today: 2 Timothy 1:1-18
More:
Read the parable of the workers in Matthew 20:1-16 and consider how Jesus shows mercy to all who come to Him.
Next:
How can you show your gratitude for the mercy and grace God has shown to you? Why is it vital that you seek to live out both God’s justice and mercy?
Gary Shultz on December 13, 2016 at 6:07 am
Hi Russell: If my memory serves me correctly, you wrote before about bad things happening to “good” people. A case against God? Why, why do things like that happen. As we usually we are always looking for someone to blame when bad things happen, in nature, “mother nature” God is behind it. Well we know human eyes tend not to take a very long view. And to be truthful bad and good things have been happening since the sentence of sin was pronounced. Who councils God? because God did break through all of this, and did, by Himself, give all, His Son, to this twisted world that kicks against Him. Such an amazing gift to a hopeless world, such grace, as Christ Himself paid off the justice and allowed mercy to be our gift. It is still very difficult to answer the question to an ungodly mind, but God also left all of nature to declare to us who He is. He reached for us at Christmas to the cross and continues to extend love toward a world that needs Him. Thanks Russell, “Oh come let us adore Him”, blessings to you & yours.
gagirllive on December 13, 2016 at 7:03 am
Has anyone written about “why good things happen to bad people”? Now that is the question worth pondering, don’t you think? 🙂
hsnpoor on December 13, 2016 at 8:25 am
It is indeed. And, it appears to me that good things happening to bad people outweighs bad things happening to good people, if weighed on the scale of worldly good; i.e., goods. Makes sense if we recognize who the god of this world is. Hmmm.
gagirllive on December 13, 2016 at 8:43 am
Amen, Kim. But you know, I was thinking about the good and perfect gifts the Father sends to all mankind—His common grace to the unsaved and His special grace to the saved. Considering the devastating consequences of sin, it’s a wonderment that we don’t see more calamity in our lives than we do. Praise God for His merciful, restraining hand!
hsnpoor on December 13, 2016 at 4:31 pm
This is true, GG. When I wrote what I wrote this morning, I was having a “poor (financially) is me moment”. Thanks for reminding me of what’s REALLY important. However, gotta tell you that I got to work today to find out I’ve got a nice, tidy Christmas bonus coming in my 12/15/16 check. God is good to his children any way you look at it! Blessed be the Name of The Lord!
gagirllive on December 13, 2016 at 4:53 pm
Amen! Glory to His Name! Rejoicing with you, Kim, over His provision! (Phil 4: 19) You need to hurry up and move down South where the cost of living is better…and become a bamagirl. 🙂
minkjh on December 13, 2016 at 10:16 pm
‘His common grace to the unsaved and His special grace to the saved’…I love your sound Reformed theology, gagirllive!
godlove on December 13, 2016 at 10:49 am
So true, gagirl, I was thinking the same thing myself!
rick sonnier on December 14, 2016 at 1:17 am
Psalm 73 is a great resource when it comes to this question of why the wicked prosper. Our job is to trust God and his timing. He is always faithful. Thanks for an inspiring message, Russell.
gagirllive on December 13, 2016 at 6:56 am
It’s always interesting to me, Russell, that those like the philosopher—who question the existence of a good and sovereign God in the midst of great tragedy—actually bear witness to His existence by their struggle. Their very desire to see justice and mercy meted out—where does that come from? Even in our broken fallen state, we still bear a semblance of the image of the God who created us. Something within us cries out for it, doesn’t it? When we are wrong, we want mercy. And when we are wronged, we want justice. You are correct about the human response of anger—and further unbelief, I might add, for those who don’t know Jesus—when calamity strikes. But followers of Christ can also get tripped up on this too. I did for a short season some years ago. The only way out for me was found in the two words you wrote about here today—humility and gratitude. I know from experience that the stage of anger in the process of grief and loss of any kind can be bypassed if those two responses are put into practice. It’s very hard to be mad at God when you’re thanking Him and humbling yourself under His mighty hand. His dealings with us is nothing but mercy and grace. We are entitled to nothing before Him except justice—getting what we deserve—and that is eternal damnation. He’s the Remedy, not the cause of all this sin-sickness. The picture of Calvary is still being played out today in the hearts of men. Two different thieves, two different responses. One Man in the middle ready to save the day. Thanks for this encouragement, Russell. Merry Christmas to you!
hsnpoor on December 13, 2016 at 8:27 am
Beautiful! Especially the last few sentences. So very true! Blessings, GG!
yhsh on December 13, 2016 at 10:11 am
I hope that I am to post my comment on the questions of How can you show your gratitude for the mercy and grace YAHWEH (GOD) has shown to you? Why is it vital that you seek to live out both YAHWEH’S (GOD’S) justice and mercy? I believe in treating everyone the same and showing everyone that no one is better than the next person. In other words treating everyone equal. It’s not easy, but I think of how Yahweh (GOD) treats me in all of my decision. So I treat others the way I would like to be treated. Yahweh (GOD) is the first one to come into my life and show me unconditional love and being that He sent his only begotten son that I may not perish, but have Eternal Life. I am no better than anyone else, we all are made in the resembles or likeness of Yahweh (GOD). Being that He show me unconditional love the least I can do is show everyone that enters my journey unconditional love and tell them with showing them the Word that states that they must confess with there mouth and believe in there heart that Yhsh (Jesus) died upon the tree (cross) so that we may receive Salvation.
And when you’ve seen me you’ve seen the Father. Yahweh (GOD) is the Father. I am created in His Image and His likeness. Justice and mercy is my Father’s characters and they are mined also, You see as a adopted son of Yahweh (GOD), I to must adopt His characters justice and mercy . Treating all equal no matter what, whether they are saved are unsaved, enemy or not.
We blame the Father because we do not understand His ways, and because we have a lack of knowledge, but the word says ” if you lack anything,let him ask” we have to make quality decision to ask and search for the knowledge so that we may receive understanding and stop blaming Yahweh (GOD) for our lack of knowledge
godlove on December 13, 2016 at 10:47 am
Thank you Russell. One strange thing about those who question the justice in GOD’s ways, is that they rarely ever question His infinite mercy. It is so much easier to question why He allows certain not nice things to happen than to question why He doesn’t prevent the nice things from happening even when we don’t deserve it. Both the “good” and the bad criminal crucified besides our Saviour deserved their punishment, yet in His infinite love He showed mercy to the one who admitted and confessed his wrong-doing. God’s grace and mercy are just the opposite of justice: by His grace we get what we don’t deserve and through His mercy we are spared from what we would deserve. Our God’s Love defeats every human sense of justice. In gratitude for His grace and mercy towards us, may we live out this same grace and mercy as well instead of seeking for justice at all costs. Blessings to all in this Christmas season.
hsnpoor on December 13, 2016 at 6:29 pm
NLT
But Job replied, “You talk like a foolish woman. Should we accept only good things from the hand of God and never anything bad?” So in all this, Job said nothing wrong. (Job 2:10)
Well said, godlove! Joyous Wonder of Christmas to You!
minkjh on December 13, 2016 at 9:57 pm
God always acts justly, never punishing us more than we deserve and never failing to reward us when we deserve that. The Bible provides countless examples of God’s justice displayed through the righteousness of His holy character. All His judgements are linked to that righteousness so that He never responds to us unjustly. That can be confusing to many in light of mercy and grace, which differ from justice. Mercy and grace are not something that God ‘owes’ us, but we don’t always buy into that concept depending on the circumstances. Micah 6:8 relates a different requirement for us to emulate, however. It’s easy to broad brush the Old Testament in terms of justice and wrath, and paint the New Testament in hues of mercy and grace until we look to the cross, where the ultimate example of justice and wrath were leveled on the Son. But because our punishment was received by another, we can realize the Father’s grace and mercy in light of the atonement.