“He will judge the world in righteousness;
He will execute judgment for the peoples with equity” (Ps 9:8).
“Rejoice, young man, during your childhood, and let your heart be pleasant during the days of young manhood. And follow the impulses of your heart and the desire of your eyes. Yet know that God will bring you to judgment for all these things” (Ecclesiastes 11:9).
“For God will bring every act to judgment, everything which is hidden, whether it is good or evil” (Ecclesiastes 12:14).
God’s perfect righteousness and absolute power are the guarantee that justice will ultimately prevail in the universe.
“God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because He has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God” (John 3:17-18).
“But because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God” (Rom 2:5).
“For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and will then repay every man according to his deeds” (Matt 16:27).
The demand of justice is God’s own unyielding cause, and no injustice will go unanswered. This assurance frees God’s people to forgive those who abuse them and wrong them. In fact, this is what is required of us.
“Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, ‘Vengeance is Mine, I will repay, says the Lord’” (Rom 12:19).
Jesus’ own example helps us see that love that forgives is not indifferent to wrong:
“While suffering, He uttered no threats, but kept entrusting Himself to Him Who judges justly” (1 Peter 2:23).
When Jesus hung on the cross and prayed, “Father, forgive them,” He knew that, far from violating justice, He was taking all the sin of the world on Himself to bear what His Father’s wrath required on behalf of all men. But those who do not accept His suffering their punishment in their place must finally bear the punishment themselves forever.
Because God’s judgment is exact, His vindication awaits those who persecuted God’s faithful ones and who have not repented. This repentance is what Jesus and those who belong to Him are praying for their tormenters when they cry out that they will be forgiven.
But, because we have received God’s very nature and His Spirit indwelling us is holy, we not only agree that His justice must finally be completely satisfied, but we will celebrate when He brings vindication in the end.
“For, after all, it is only just for God to repay with affliction those who afflict you, and to give relief to you who are afflicted and to us as well when the Lord Jesus will be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire, dealing out retribution to those who do not know God and to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. These will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord” (2 Thess 1:6-9).
“Then the third angel poured out his bowl into the rivers and the springs of waters; and they became blood. And I heard the angel of the waters saying, ‘Righteous are You, Who are and Who were, O Holy One, because You judged these things; for they poured out the blood of saints and prophets, and You have given them blood to drink. They deserve it.’ And I heard the altar saying, ‘Yes, O Lord God, the Almighty true and righteous are Your judgments.’” (Rev 16:4-7).
“After these things I heard something like a loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, saying, ‘Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God, because His judgments are true and righteous; for He has judged the great harlot who was corrupting the earth with her immorality, and He has avenged the blood of His bond-servants upon her’” (Rev 19:1-2).
(Spotlight 10, Lesson 10 in Doctrine 101: Learning about God)