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 Sermon > Cell Bible Study |
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Title |
Lesson 43-[2013 Cell Group Service] Justice |
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Speaker |
Rev. Jaerock Lee |
Bible |
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Date |
2013-11-25 |
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Reading Scripture: Psalm 37:6
Verse to Memorize: Psalm 37:6
Reference: Galatians 6:7
Goal: To help believers understand the law of justice in "reaping what one sows", "to repay according to what one does" and to become the one who can enjoy blessings and answers.
Psalm 37:6
"He will bring forth your righteousness as the light and your judgment as the noonday."
Galatians 6:7
"Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap."
God is the Creator of the entire universe and all things in it. He is omnipotent and omniscient. To experience the power of God, we need to understand the way to receiving answers and act upon it. In other words, we should clearly understand God's justice and practice it. Only then can we resolve any kinds of problems and bring down answers and blessings from above. So then, what is the justice of God specifically?
1. The justice of God
'Justice' is the character of God in executing everything exactly in accordance with the law that He set. It might also be called the 'law of cause and effect' because it is fixed that a certain cause produces or results in a certain effect. That is, a certain cause leads to a fixed or prescribed effect.
For example, there are sayings which tell us, "We reap what we have sown" or "An onion will not produce a rose". In the truth, the law of justice is clearer than that in the world. The Bible says, "Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you" (Matthew 7:7) and "Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap" (Galatians 6:9).
The truth include some laws of justice that can't be understood by the worldly people. For example, the truth teaches us that 'whoever desires to serve shall be great' and also that 'he who has found his life will lose it, and he who has lost his life will find it.' These laws don't seem to agree with the worldly people's ideas.
However, the Word of God has no error and it is the absolute truth, so every word recorded in the Bible is necessarily fulfilled. If anyone understands God's justice and does according to His law, they can find causes of any kinds of problems and receive answers to their prayers and hearts' desires.
2. God Himself keeps the justice without exception
Even though God is the Creator and the Ruler of all things, He Himself never violates the Law of Justice. He does not say, "It is the law that I made, so it is OK for Me not to keep it." But He has worked all the time exactly according to justice without the slightest error. When Jesus, the Son of God came to the earth and was crucified, it was done precisely in accordance with the Law of Justice and it was complete in order for us to be redeemed from our sins.
Some people may ask, "God could have destroyed the enemy devil and Satan and saved all people, couldn't He?" However, God established the law of justice when He planned human cultivation before the beginning of time and He Himself abides by the law without exception. That is why He sacrificed His only begotten Son to open the way to salvation for us.
Thus, leading a lenient Christian life and saying "I believe in You, Lord" does not necessarily lead to salvation and going to Heaven. We need to enter within the boundaries of salvation defined by God. The law of God says that when we believe in the Lord Jesus as our Savior and obey the Word of God, we can completely reach salvation.
3. The double-sided character of justice
People usually think that justice is something fearful and scary and that it is accompanied by punishment or penalty. But in fact the justice teaches us that sin and evil are followed by fearful and dreadful punishment, while obedience to the justice is the key to bringing down answers and blessings. 'Justice' is like a double-sided coin. For those who live in darkness, it sounds dreadful. But for those who dwell in the Light, it is the key to blessing. It is like the knife of a robber is a weapon while the knife of a mother is a tool for making good food.
If we understand the double-sided character of justice, we will be able to realize that justice is perfected with love and love can be made perfect with justice. So, the love of God can be made perfect only with justice. Love lacking in justice is not true love, and the justice without love is not true justice.
Suppose a child did something wrong and his parents unconditionally punished him or forgave him. It may result in misleading him. According to justice, sometimes they should strictly punish him and other times they should embrace him with forgiveness and love.
In Matthew 18:22 Jesus talks about boundless forgiveness, saying, "I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven." But Hebrews 12:6 reads, "For those whom the Lord loves He disciplines, and He scourges every son whom He receives." It tells us that true love is accompanied with punishment. Justice is made perfect in love, and as we contemplate justice more we can realize there is deep love in it.
4. The different levels of justice
There are a few different levels of justice according to different dimensions of heaven. From the first, to the second, third, and fourth heavens, the higher the dimension is the deeper and broader the level of justice. The difference in justice among heavens results from the different levels of love in each heaven. Love and justice are inseparable. The deeper the level of love becomes, the deeper the level of justice becomes.
For example, in the Old Testament times, the principle of revenge was applied, such as 'an eye for an eye, and tooth for tooth.' But in the New Testament times, Jesus told us to love even our enemies. The principle of revenge was broken and the principle of forgiveness and love is applied.
This shows that the level of justice applied is different according to how much love is applied to the situation. Before Jesus fulfilled the Law with love, the level of love people could understand was very low. If the very high level of justice뾲o love even their enemies뾥ad been applied, they could not understand it. That is why God applied and established the justice that belongs to the low level like 'eye for eye, tooth for tooth' in the Old Testament times based on their level of love.
However, after Jesus came to the earth and fulfilled the Law with love by sacrificing His life for us sinners, the level of justice that God began asking of people became higher. Because they saw the level of Jesus loving even those people who acted like His enemies, God began to require the level of justice that includes forgiveness and mercy. Therefore, to the extent that we fill our hearts with love and cultivate the heart of spirit, we will feel a different level of justice.
5. The fundamental rules of justice are 'faith' and 'obedience'
There are many rules in receiving answers from God, including those of goodness and humbleness. But the two fundamental rules are 'faith' and 'obedience'. This is because it is the law of justice says that we can receive answers when we believe the Word of God and obey it.
A centurion in Matthew chapter 8 acted in accordance with the rules of justice. He was humble such that he came before Jesus for his servant though he was a centurion of the Roman Empire that ruled over Israel. Such was also his goodness that he came to Jesus himself on behalf of his servant. The most important reason he could receive answers was that he had faith.
When he heard that people had been healed of every kind of disease when they came to Jesus he believed it. He trusted Jesus. So, he could profess faith to Jesus, saying, "Lord, I am not worthy for You to come under my roof, but just say the word, and my servant will be healed" (Matthew 8:8).
To possess such faith, we should repent first that we haven't obeyed the Word of God: including having hurt God's heart; having not kept promises with God; having not kept the whole Sabbath; having not given whole tithe; having loved the world; having broken peace with people; and having harbored and acted upon hatred, frustration, ill-feeling, jealousy, enviousness, argument, and falsehood. When we repent them and destroy the walls of sin before God and then obey His Word, we will be given God-given faith and receive answers according to our faith in the law of justice.
In order to receive complete answers, we should show the actions of keeping the laws of justice such as attending the worship services without skipping; praying unceasingly; and giving offerings to God. To make our actions of obedience to the Word of God, we need to 'break ourselves completely' and 'put ourselves to death.' In other words, we have to demolish and throw away arrogance, pride, self-framework, thought, speculations, boastful pride of this life, and reliance on the world. Thus, I hope you will realize God's justice and law one by one and practice it so that you can receive answers and abundant blessings from God who allows us to reap what we have sown and repays according to what we have done.
* Evaluation and Application
Fill in the blanks.
1. ( ) is the character of God뾢xecuting everything exactly according to the law that He set.
2. ( ) is perfected with love and the ( ) of God can be made perfect due to justice. The love lacking ( ) is not true love, and the justice without ( ) is not true justice.
3. In the following verses, choose and circle the Bible verse that is not related to justice.
1) Galatians 6:7
2) 2 Corinthians 9:6
3) Matthew 10:39
4) Matthew 18:20
* Weekly Assignment
Read the pages 101 to 116 of Thunder the Original Voice and highlight the important sentences.
* Let's Learn about It!
'The Heavens'
First heaven refers to the fleshly world where we live.
Second heaven includes the space of light in which there is Eden and the space of darkness.
Third heaven refers to the kingdom of heaven where God's saved children will live forever.
Fourth heaven is the space of God the Origin, and for God the Trinity. |
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