I was playing golf the other day with a guy I'd never met. And about hole number two, he turns to me and says, So you talk about God?
Well, let me ask you this. Why do bad things happen to good people? What I'm going to share today is what I would share with him. Stick around. Welcome to this Edition of Living on the Edge Chip Ingramgram.
We are an international discipleship ministry devoted to helping Christians worldwide live out their faith for the glory of God and the benefit of all people. And boy, Chip's tackling probably one of the most prominent themes in our world today, justice. Because as prejudice, wrongdoing, and evil seem to be running rampant everywhere, the question of where is God gets louder and louder.
So let's learn more about this core attribute of our Heavenly Father. Go in your Bible to Genesis chapter 18 as we join Chip for his message, the justice of God. If this message were in a little wrapper, And it was the justice of God, there would be a little sticker in the corner. And the little sticker would be in that bright yellow, and it would say warning. This message may be hazardous to your health.
We have talked about many of the attributes of God, but the one that we will talk about. on this time together. requires us to think at a level of clarity that is uncommon for most of us, and it requires us to have a a sense of sobriety, of seriousness. a sense of what's at stake if we're going to really hear from God. And so I would encourage you that even as we get started, that you pray and say, Lord.
I'm a human being. And like all human beings, I have practiced and become very good at denial. I have learned how to fool myself. I've learned how to fool other people. I've learned to play all kinds of games, but I've I need you to take the spiritual wax out of my ears, to take any calluses that are on my heart.
I need you to. to help me hear. clearly and to see accurately.
Okay? There are two questions that I find disturb believers and unbelievers alike. I mean, I can go to a mall, I can go to a park, I can go to a church, I can talk with Christian leaders, I can talk to absolute pagans, and I can tell you there are two questions. that they struggle with, we struggle with, and everyone struggles with. Question number one is why do bad things happen to good people?
I was six days after the tsunami hit. I was at a beach where 160 people were out for a daily walk on Sunday morning. And they heard an interesting sound, had no idea what it was, and a huge wave comes in, sweeps them off the beach, takes them out, and they're gone. I walked around the corner and I saw a big shipping area, not like his little fishing boats, but I mean big fishing boats that were the livelihood of this village of a few hundred thousand people. And I saw huge ships just tilted like this.
How does a good God let tsunamis hit? and kill. Tens of thousands of people. How does a good God let a 9-11 terrorist attack occur. Where innocent people, you know, some guy kissed his wife and said, honey, I'll see you later.
I've got a business trip and gets on a plane from Pittsburgh, and it ends up decimated in the ground. Or some gal, you know, puts on her makeup and goes up to about the 62nd floor and She's just there early doing her work. And all of a sudden, she hears all kinds of sirens go off, and a plane has hit the building. And she scurries downstairs that are crowded and packed with screaming people. And her family really doesn't know whether she made it out or not.
All they know is there's no remains. And they ask why. 39-year-old guy, a friend of mine that I know. Great health, good shape, took care of himself. Three kids, massive heart attack.
Why? One of the hardest things my son faced, he had a young man that grew up in our church who was unbelievably musically talented. Literally, I've never seen anyone where he just sort of played around and pretty soon he could play the piano, didn't take any lessons, and he watched someone else and he picked up a mandolin and then he played the guitar and then he saw someone else playing something else and he could just sit down and God gave him these amazing songs and he and my son would make this music in my garage and then travel all over the country and do their thing. And John was always skinny, and we'd really kid him and give him a hard time. I mean, he was like thin, as in all the jokes, you know.
John turns sideways and he disappears and And he always had a little bit of a stomach problem, and no one thought much of it. But I remember the day I got a call. And they finally found out what was wrong and John is 25 years old and he had cancer. And nine months later, I remember sitting around his bed, and one of the worship leaders in our church was with the guitar singing, and his mom, and his dad, and myself, and my son. And we sat around and we prayed as we watched the last parts of life ebb out of John.
And I get in the car with my boy. And he's been raised in a Christian home. I mean, his dad's a pastor to me. And my son looks me in the eye and goes, Dad. Yeah.
I mean That guy has more musical ability in his little finger than I have in my whole body. And he's already written songs that we're singing in our church, and his passion was to do this for God. Bad why? And you could tell me stories of the cancer that hit people that you love and the car wreck and the drunk driver. Everyone struggles with this question, why do bad things happen to good people?
And there's a second question. In fact, I have more problems with this one. I do. My confession is why do good things happen to bad people? I mean, you look at the corporate excesses, and you have people now, after years, you know, getting a little slap on the wrist, and executives who defrauded people of hundreds of millions of dollars going home with a little parachute of 10 or 12 million dollars as they run out the back door.
And then they interview grandmothers who had their life savings in the company, who are absolutely broke, 77 years old, have absolutely nothing, and they have zero. And this guy that hoodwinked everybody walks out the back door with 10 or 12 million dollars. And I don't know about you. I not only get angry, I'm thinking, hey, God. Where is the justice here?
All of us have been in a corporation or a job site or even in high school, and you found someone that you knew, they lied, they cheated on tests, they were anti-God, they were arrogant, they were the kind of people that the word jerk was made for. And it just seems like the blessing of God is on their life. It's like they don't have any struggles, they don't have any problems. They get the pretty girlfriend, they get on the fast track, they have the nice home, they got the nice car, and you're going, hello. Why do you think that's a good thing?
Good things happen. to bad people. And these two questions, there's something underneath of them. See underneath these two questions It's a big issue. The real issue is life's not Fair.
Right? I mean the problem with the bad things happen to good people is that's not fair. And the problem with good things happening to bad people is that's not fair. And you don't have to be a rocket scientist to say, okay, life doesn't seem very fair.
Now, who created life? God. And if God created life, Then the real question is, is God fair? Is God just? Does he judge rightly?
People have a very, very, very difficult time. believers and unbelievers, but one of the things you have going for you is you have the best explanation to this problem. because you have what's called a biblical world. You don't have some sort of wacky dualism of there's a good God and a bad God, and they're in competition, and there's the dark side of the force and the white side of the force, and all this jazz of trying to figure out who's going to win. Your biblical worldview definitely helps you understand.
Because let me give you your biblical worldview. I want you to imagine this is a timeline right here, beginning right here, is eternity past. And there's an arrow. And this arrow goes right to here for eternity future. And what your worldview and my worldview tells you is this, is that before time began, we have Genesis chapter one and Genesis chapter two.
We're right here. And God creates a perfect, fair, just environment where he loves his people that he's created. He gives them all the world. He says, be fruitful and multiply. He has intimate communion with them.
And it is a perfect paradise or environment. And that's the first two chapters. of human existence. Then there's a parentheses. There's a parentheses.
It started right here. And in Genesis chapter 3, there is a coup. There is a rebellion. There is a. Entrance of sin into the world, and with that comes a judgment.
Sin is judged. Mankind is taken out of the garden. The tree of life is now guarded by cherubim, so that this death or separation. will not be permanent. And what we have in the Bible and what we have in our experience, it's called the fall.
You live in a fallen world. What we know is the world that we live in is not the world God intended. The world that we live in is a fallen world. We live in a world that has cancer. We live in a world that has a disease.
We live in a world that does not reflect the goodness and the purity and the holiness of God. But it was allowed by him. For reasons we talked about earlier.
So in this parenthesis, the whole story of mankind's history is Genesis chapter 3. You're inside of a parenthesis, and you have the story of the Old and the New Testament. You get all the way in the entire rest of the Bible, all the way up to Revelation chapter 20. Is God working with people in light of a fallen world and his redemptive plan? And at chapter 20, you have another judgment.
And it's called the Great White Throne Judgment. Where God takes all the injustice and all the pain and all the bad things done to good people and all the good things done to bad people and He takes all the scales and He says a day will come when He will make everything right and He will judge. all men of all time according to their works. And then the parentheses ends and we're in chapter 21 and there's a new heaven. and there's a new earth.
and it's a perfect environment, and there's no pain, and there's no tears, and everything will be as it should be again. But here's what you need to remember. is that you live inside the parentheses. See, God is just. God is fair.
But you live in a fallen world where his justice is not meted out in space-time history in a way that is. corollary to what we think ought to be when it actually happens. And so there are injustices. Life is not fair. I mean, if you haven't figured that one out.
Life is not fair in a world where sin dominates. But it raises a very, very important question. How can we trust God? in a world that has fallen. How can you depend on a God where life doesn't seem fair?
How can we learn to think soberly and clearly about what it means inside the parenthesis of Genesis 3 to Revelation and 20? How do we live this life? And worship God who is just is in the midst of a fallen world. And that's what I want to talk about today. Let's begin by defining the justice of God.
What do we mean when we say justice? The first Preview I see in the scriptures is with Abraham in Genesis 18. Verse 25, you probably know this story. Abraham's a man of God. He's called by God.
God is going to make a great nation out of him. He and his nephew Lot have both grown in their livestock and.
So Lot goes this direction and chooses this area because it looks good. And Abraham continues where he was. And God says, here's all the promises I'm going to fulfill. And Lot ends up in Sodom, Gomorrah, right? And it's called Sodom and Gomorrah for a reason.
And it is sinful and it is evil. And That iniquity rises up to God, and so the triune God determines that they're going to judge it. And he says, Can I keep this from my servant Abraham? And as you know the story, what you find is that there's this very special meeting where God appears to Abraham and he lets him in on his plan. And what you have in Genesis 18, verse 25 is he quickly does the math.
And remember the story: if there were 50 righteous, if there were 45 righteous, if there were 40, and I mean, he literally negotiates with the God of heaven. And the basis of his negotiation is verse 25. He says, far be it from you to do such a thing. To kill the righteous with the wicked. treating the righteous and the wicked alike.
Far be it from you, will not the judge of all the earth do you? Do right.
Now, remember, Abraham does not have the Old Testament written. He certainly doesn't have the New Testament written. He has no written revelation. He's had experiences with God. God has spoken to him, but here's what he knows intrinsically about the character of God: He's fair.
He's just. And he's saying to him, Wait a second. I know you. I know what you're like.
Okay, I know there's all this evil in the city, but there's this pocket of people that I love, they're righteous. It would be unfair and unjust and wrong for you to kill the wicked with the righteous. And on the basis of your just character, I'm going to appeal to you. And then he goes through the negotiation until he gets it down to the number of people of Lot and his family and his life. But what I want you to hear is Abraham, even in a fallen world, appealed to God's justice as the basis.
for dealing with the thing that was best on his heart. Notice what it says in Psalm 97:2. It says, Clouds and thick darkness surround him. Righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne. You could do a little study.
Job 8:3, Job 40, verse 6, Psalm 11:7, Psalm 45:6, Isaiah 51:6, Isaiah 30:18, Zephaniah 3:5. I could go on and on and on. Here's what I want you to hear. Old and New Testament. Proclaim, proclaim, proclaim, proclaim.
God is just, God is righteous. God is just, God is righteous. God is fair. The foundation of his throne, the basis of how God deals with everything. God will never give anyone a raw deal.
So what is justice is all about? You're listening to Living on the Edge. We'll get back to Chip's message in just a minute. You know, we love to hear how you are deepening your relationship with God as you study His Word with us. But another way we want to support you in that is through our free resource called Daily Discipleship with Chip.
Let me encourage you to stick around after this message, as Chip will tell you more about it and how to sign up. But for now, let's get back to the remainder of his talk. Tozer writes, justice embodies the idea of moral equity, and inequity is the exact opposite. It is the inequity. equity, the absence of equality from human thoughts and acts.
Judgment is the application of equity to moral situations and may be favorable or unfavorable according to whether the one under examination has been equitable or inequitable in heart and conduct. Justice is not something God possesses. Justice is not an external standard that says this is right, this is wrong, this is fair. It is in the very essence and the nature of His character. He is justice.
And all moral law, all commands, are merely a reflection of the justice and the character of God. There's something interesting that you need to know about justice, and Packer, I think, describes it well. J.I. Packard in Knowing God writes, It becomes clear that the Bible's proclamation of God's work as judge. is part of his witness to his character.
It shows us also that the heart of justice, which expresses God's nature, is retribution. Will you circle that word in your notes? The heart of the heart. Of justice, which expresses God's nature, is retribution. You know what retribution is?
You do this, therefore you get this for doing it.
Now he goes on to explain. The rendering to men what they have deserved. For this is the essence of a judge's task. to reward good with good. And evil with evil is natural to God.
So when the New Testament speaks of the final judgment, it always represents it in terms of retribution. God will judge all men, it says, according to their works. At the heart of this concept of justice is this, everyone gets what they really deserve. Everyone. Everyone gets what they really deserve.
No one will ever get a raw deal.
Now, inside this parentheses in a fallen world. Everyone is not going to get what they really deserve. Inside the parenthesis at the time in a one-to-one correlation with how events occur. But even though we live in a fallen world where sin mars Our concept and the timing of justice, God wants you to know. that he's just But he's fair.
That as you trust him in the big picture of this all-knowing, sovereign, all-wise God. You will never, ever be treated unfairly. And that means that you can trust him.
Now, how has God revealed? His justice to us. In what ways has God revealed it in a fallen world so that we can trust Him? You always have to remember you're in the parentheses. You never get one-to-one justice 100% unless it's before.
The world begins or until there's a new heaven and a new earth. But inside the fallen world, there's about three or four different ways that God has revealed to us that He is just, so you can trust Him, even when it seems like. In our experience, it's very hard to do. The first way he reveals his justice is through the natural order. Romans chapter 1.
Verses 18 to 20. Let me read it. says the wrath of God is being revealed from heaven. Against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness. Since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them.
For since the creation of the world, God's invisible qualities, that means His attributes, His eternal power and His divine nature have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse. He's saying that the creation and how God has made creation is invisible attributes, not just His goodness and beauty in creation, not just His otherness and holiness and purity, but God's justice. As you look at creation, you will see what there is some cause and effect relationship. You will see that God is just, that we have intrinsically in nature revealed that people know this is right, this is wrong. You can study anthropology and look at every tribe, any place in all the world, and they will have a list of rules.
It's wrong to kill. It's wrong to take another man's wife. The rules will change, but people have this internal sense of ought that they get. That this is right and this is wrong. The only way you have an internal sense of ought of what's right and what's wrong is that the world that you live in is communicating to you.
That there is a sense of accountability. There's a sense that when you do things wrong, we're going to see in just a second, there's a conscience. and even observing the world order. You know, even in pop culture, what's the old saying? When I grew up, You know, when you would diss someone or do something to hurt them, Someone would come up and say, Hey, you know what?
Everything that goes around. Comes around. What is that? That's justice, isn't it? You know what?
You do that to him, this is going to happen to you. You do that over here, this is going to happen to you. Or even multiple Eastern religions who are looking at the world and trying to figure out and they watch the cycles of the earth. The whole concept of karma is what? What's behind the sense of karma?
Justice. In other words, if you jack around with people and you hurt people and if you're cruel and you're this man, you're going to come back as a grasshopper. You know? Right? And you know, if you're a really good person, you're going to come back as a cow.
I'm not sure you gain a whole lot on that thing, tell you the truth. But you have people living their lives with a mindset that they've seen from the created order based on what? There is a sense of justice. There's a sense of you will pay for what you do. It comes around, it goes around.
Cause, cause, effect, effect. God has revealed His justice through the created order. Second, God has revealed it through the human heart. Romans chapter 2 verses 15 and 16. Since they show that the requirements of the law, this idea of a standard, this sense of ought, the sense of there's a moral right and a moral wrong.
Since they show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts now accusing, now even defending them, This will take place on the day when God will judge men's secrets. through Jesus Christ as my gospel declares. God has put on the human heart totally apart from scripture, a sense of Ought or should of right or wrong, of a conscience that bears witness. Long before I became a Christian, And long before the Spirit of God was living in my life, I clearly knew certain things were right and certain things were wrong. And when I either thought or did the things that were wrong, what happened to my conscience?
It condemned me and said, Chip, that's bad, that's wrong. That's how it works. Why? God placed that in me like he placed it in you. Even people without any revelation, people that don't know about Christ, this is in the human heart.
It's one of the reasons we're without excuse. Everybody knows by what they see that there's a day of judgment, and everyone knows by what God has placed inside your heart there's going to be a day of judgment. Let me give you a New Testament example. Flip, if you will, to Acts chapter 28. Acts chapter 28.
It's very interesting. It's a pagan group. As you turn there, Paul is on a missionary journey. And you know, he's got these Roman soldiers, and they have a shipwreck, and they end up on an island. And so they're gathering some wood is the context.
And there's these Tribes. And there's an event that occurs, and it's so interesting.
Now these are not Christians. These are not people that have any idea of the true God. But pick up the story with me in verse 3. Paul is on this island after the shipwreck and Paul gathers a pile of brushwood. And as he put it on the fire, a viper, driven out by the heat, fastened itself on his hand.
When the islanders saw the snake hanging from his hand, they said to each other, This man must be a murderer, for though he escaped from the sea, Here's our word. Justice has not allowed him to live.
Well wh well wait a second. Where where'd they get that idea? All he was doing was gathering a little wood, helping out, put the wood on the fire, the flames come up, and a viper comes up. And what what what's in their thinking? Cause effect.
Bad things happen to who? Bad people. People get punished for doing bad, correct? He must have done something very bad because something very bad is just happening to him. That's their logic.
And notice this invisible concept. It's not like God is going to, what's it say? Justice has not allowed him to live.
There's this idea among these islander tribespeople that there's this thing called justice that operates in life. Notice it goes on. Paul shook the snake off. into the fire, and suffered no ill effects. The people expected him to swell up or suddenly fall dead.
But after waiting for a long time and seeing nothing unusual happen to him, they changed their minds and said he was a god. It's consistent, isn't it? Bad things happen to bad people. Nothing happens, must be a god. He's not only good.
He is so powerful and so good and so amazing that what should have killed him, the consequences, didn't happen.
So he must be, but do you see the logic? The only point I'm trying to make is there's something in our hearts. There's something in our hearts, even apart from Revelation, that tells us. That there is justice, and if there is justice, What C. S.
Lewis's point will be in Mirror Christianity? is there must be a judge. You cannot have a sense of justice. without a judge. This is Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram.
And you've been listening to part one of Chip's message, The Justice of God, from our series, The Real God. Chip will be back shortly to share some helpful application for us to think about. You know, we've all unintentionally projected some of humanity's worst qualities into our Creator. Many view God as moody, weak, unfair, impatient, and merciless, but those ideas couldn't be further from the truth. Through this series, Chip explores key Bible passages to reveal seven fundamental characteristics of our Heavenly Father, attributes that reflect the very essence of His divine nature.
Join Chip on this journey to reshape your perspective toward God, which will deepen your relationship with Him like never before. You won't want to miss a single part of this study.
Well Chip's joined me in studio now to share a quick word. Chip? Thanks, Dave. I'll be right back with some personal application in just a minute. But before I do, there's some things I want to share with you personally.
What I recognize is people are going through some very, very difficult times right now. We live in a broken world full of pain and sorrow and disappointment. In fact, Jesus promised, in the world you will have tribulation, but be of good cheer. I've overcome the world. And He's given us the keys.
He's shown us how to live with joy even in the midst of the most difficult things that you go through and I go through. To learn more about how to do that, let me encourage you to sign up for our daily discipleship series, Growing Deeper with God, based on Philippians chapters 1 and 2. This is a free video resource where you and I, in a one-on-one environment, will dive into the first half of the book of Philippians together. I have a recorded video there that's about 10 minutes, and then I'll challenge you to take 10 more minutes and learn how to study on your own. Yeah.
Let's dive deeper into God's Word and discover how to tap into the joy that God actually can give us in the midst of the most difficult times in your life and mine. I hope you'll check it out. Thanks, Chip. To learn more about our daily discipleship series, Growing Deeper with God, visit livingonthege.org. As you and Chip study Philippians chapters 1 and 2, you'll discover how to get into God's Word for yourself and develop a more genuine connection to your Heavenly Father.
Again, for complete details, go to LivingonTheEdge.org. App Listeners Tap Discipleship.
Well, here again is Chip to share his application. We started today's program by raising two questions. one. Why do bad things happen to good people? And, two, why do good things happen to bad people?
And what we learned is life is not fair. But God is. It's a fallen world, and this world is not what God intended. And so, bad things on occasion do happen to good people, and good things unexplainably happen to people. happen to bad people.
Yet God has clearly revealed His justice through this natural order. And through the end of the broadcast I talked about how we do reap what we sow and how that everything that goes around does come around. And so here's a challenge I have for you as you think about your life in this tiny experiment called time. Are you fair? I mean, I don't know about you, I get really hot when people don't treat me fairly.
But I don't ask the question. Am I fair? Are you? Would people describe you as a fair boss, a fair dad, a fair mom, a fair student, a just person? And then secondly, a word of comfort.
I don't know what you're going through. But I want you to take it to the bank. that God is fair, And that he will balance the scales no matter how difficult, no matter how. unjust life has been to you. either in this life or in the next.
I guarantee on the character of God. He will balance the scales it will be fair. And you can rest in that. Good reminder. Thanks, Chip.
As we close, I want to thank each of you who makes this program possible through your generous giving. 100% of your gifts go directly to the ministry to help Christians live like Christians.
Now, if you found this teaching helpful but aren't yet on the team, consider doing that today. Sending a gift is easy. Go to livingontheedge.org or call 888-333-6003. That's 888-333-6003 or visit livingonthege.org. App Listeners Tap Donate.
And let me thank you in advance for doing whatever the Lord leads you to do. We'll listen to next time as Chip picks up in his series, The Real God. Until then, this is Dave Druy, saying thanks for joining us for this Edition of Living on the Edge.
