Here is a devotional that is so spot on- it needs to be shared. Enjoy!
-Chantel
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-Chantel
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Justice and Mercy
Newspaper headlines frequently express outrage at judges who are ‘soft on crime’. They come under attack for being too lenient and failing to impose the appropriate penalty for the offence committed.
When I was practising as a barrister, I noticed that the legal profession did not respect judges who were regarded as too lenient. We expect judges to execute justice. We do not expect them simply to be merciful.
On the other hand, we do expect mercy in our personal relationships. A loving parent will be merciful to their child. We expect friends to be merciful to one another. Justice and mercy do not normally go together. We tend to see them as alternatives. We expect either justice or mercy, but not both at the same time.
Yet God is both a God who judges with justice, and also aGod of mercy. How can he combine these two apparently contradictory characteristics? The answer is that the sacrifice of Jesus has made it possible for God to combine both justice and mercy.
When I first encountered Jesus, this illustration helped me to understand what Jesus achieved for us on the cross: Two people went through school and university together and developed a close friendship. Life went on and they went their separate ways and lost contact. One went on to become a judge, while the other’s life spiralled down and he ended up as a criminal. One day the criminal appeared before the judge. He had committed a crime to which he pleaded guilty. The judge recognised his old friend and faced the dilemma, which, in effect, God faces.
He was a judge so he had to be just; he couldn’t simply let the man off. On the other hand, he wanted to be merciful, because he loved his friend. So he fined him the correct penalty for the offence. That was justice. Then he came down from his position as judge and wrote a cheque for the amount of the fine. He gave it to his friend, saying that he would pay the penalty for him. That was an act of mercy, love and sacrifice.
In his justice, God judges us because we are guilty. Then in his mercy and love he comes down in the person of his Son, Jesus Christ, and pays the penalty for us. Through the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross, God is both just and merciful.
The illustration is not an exact one for three reasons. First, our plight is worse. The penalty we are facing is not just a fine but death. Second, the relationship is closer. This is not just two friends, it is our Father in heaven who loves us more than any earthly parent loves their own child. Third, the cost is greater. It cost God far more than money – he came himself, in the person of Jesus, and paid the penalty of sin.
In our passages for today, we see an example of how these themes of justice and mercy are weaved throughout the Bible.
Psalm 9:13-20
-Nicky
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