Is God just?
It’s one of the most common questions asked when we’re talking about a loving God. And it’s a fair question as well! After all, why is there so much pain and suffering in this world? Why are people killing each other? Why all the disasters? Many people who are searching for God are wondering why God doesn’t interact in these situations. Many Christians just stare at those people, not knowing what to say when these questions are asked. When you consider all that’s happening around the world, can you still say that God is just then? My answer to that is “Absolutely!”. Now you’re probably wondering how such a God can be a loving God at the same time.
In the first place you need to understand that there is more between heaven and earth. There is a huge spiritual world around us, a world that most of us cannot see. Although we cannot see it, it still is very real. In the western society that’s something many find hard to believe. In other parts of the world, such as Africa, Asia and South America, they do believe that there is a spiritual world because they see the supernatural results all around them. They know it’s real because they see it with their own eyes. They see the results when a curse is being pronounced over someone’s life. They see the results of voodoo and all other kind of occult things.
Before the world was created, there were just a few planets (with planet earth among them) and there was a heaven. Hell didn’t existed in that time and satan wasn’t called satan, but Lucifer, one of the angels and best friends of God. He had such a high position in heaven, that he had only God above him. He was even called the morning star, a title that now belongs to Jesus Christ. That tells us something about the position he had back then and about the love God had for him. But at one point, Lucifer became proud. Proud of his position, proud of his appearance, proud of his power. In fact he became so proud that his position was no longer good enough for him. He wanted more. He wanted to be exalted above God, he wanted to be God. So he decided to organize a revolt and found one third of all angels willing to join him in his revolt. How he did that and what happened exactly isn’t really known, what we do know is that he lost the battle.
How you have fallen from heaven, morning star, son of the dawn! You have been cast down to the earth, you who once laid low the nations! You said in your heart, “I will ascend to the heavens; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of Mount Zaphon. I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.” But you are brought down to the realm of the dead, to the depths of the pit.
Isaiah 14:12-15
This all happened before the world was created. Lucifer, who was called satan from that moment on, was banned from heaven, together with all the angels that joined the revolt. A while after this happened, God created the earth and everything on it in six days. On the sixth day He created man and woman, Adam and Eve, as rulers over the earth and everything on it.
God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”
Genesis 1:28
Adam and Eve lived in total innocence. They had a personal and direct relationship with God. He gave them total dominion over the earth, that’s how much He trusted them. He just gave them one condition: “you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.” He didn’t made it impossible for them to reach the tree and to eat it’s fruits, he gave them the choice of their own free will. God did that, and still does that, because He doesn’t want robots but people with a free will. Having a free will also means that people are able to make bad choices. Although God gave them everything they wanted, with just one condition, Adam and Eve made a very wrong choice.
In Genesis 3 we can read the story, how satan approached Eve and how he tempted her to disobey God and to eat from tree of knowledge of good and evil. Now you probably wonder what the big deal is of all of this. The point is that as long as they were obeying God, they were under His protection. By making the choice to disobey Him, they choose another master, satan. Because they did that, they were no longer under Gods protection and turned away from Him. That was the moment where satan took his chance and gained the dominion over the earth, which he could do because they committed sin against God. That’s how the evil entered the world and how it all started.
Now God has provided a solution for us, so that we can have a relationship with Him again, by offering His Son Jesus Christ. He also promised that He would make all things new. That means that there will be a new heaven and a new earth. A new chance to start over. But that new earth is yet to come and we are here and now. All people still have their free choice and they can choose to do whatever they want. God is not pulling the strings, He just tells us what to do and leaves the decision with us. At the end of every life He will judge everyone, every man and woman, no one excluded, will be judged according to what they did on earth. The verdict of this trial only has two options: heaven or hell. There’s nothing in between. He will judge with a just judgment, but that trial will only take place at the end of someone’s life.
When someone decides to start a war or to kill someone, then that’s a very sad thing in the first place. Although some seem to be getting away with it, they will be judged as well. Yet it is their decision to do evil and to sin against God and the people. I agree that some people did terrible things, but God is not to blame for that. He will allow everyone the time to change and will judge them at the end of their lives. Again, the only two options are heaven or hell. Unless people repent from their sins, and stop doing evil, the verdict will be that they have to spent eternity in hell. It’s the same for every other sin, no matter what it is. He will judge everyone with a just judgment.
At the beginning I told you about the existence of the spiritual world and about the fact that satan gained dominion over the earth at the beginning. That means that satan has the legal right to do whatever he wants on this earth, until the day of his judgment. Satan has his army of fallen angels and demons as well. They are all around us, every day and every moment, waiting for their change to tempt you to do evil. How? By giving you evil thoughts, or in some cases you can even hear the little voice inside your head. You know what I mean, everyone knows those ‘voices’. But everything that has a voice is a person (spiritual being). It might seem that it’s your own thought, that’s the tricky part, but in fact it’s not. Then comes the next phase: what are you going to do with that thought/suggestion? Let me give you an example.
Someone did something very bad to a man. When the man comes home, this thought goes through his mind: “I hate that person”. At that point he can decide what to do with that thought. In this case he decides to let the thought enter his live and the anger start to grow. Then a little voice says: “that person deserves to die, the law won’t give you justice, you have to take your own justice and kill him”. After I while the man hates that person so much, that he decides he wants that person dead and he kills him.
Now that is the worsted case scenario, but it’s an example that points out how it can go. Are these thoughts coming from God? No, they come from the demons of satan. Gods thought are thought of peace and a hopeful feature, not thoughts of destruction and dead. Still we can’t just blame those demons because everyone can decide what to do with those thoughts. If someone decides to listen to that little voice and to act on it’s behalf, then that man is just as guilty as the one who gave him the thought.
Now be honest here, is God to blame for all of that? Yes, it’s happening all around the world. Yes, people are hurting and killing each other. Yes, people are dying from hunger because wealthy people want to hold on to their wealth instead of helping others. No, God can’t be blamed for that, those people make their own decisions and they will be hold accountable for every decision they made in life. God is just, now and forever. He will never change and His thought still are thoughts of peace and a hopeful future. You can decide who you will serve. So who will you serve? Those voices in your mind, telling you to do evil? Or do you serve God, Who wants to use you to bring His peace and joy into this world? The choice is yours.
