The Justice of God. 5

3. The MANIFESTATION of God's justice.

Let us make it unmistakably clear at the outset, that it is the manifestation of God's justice under the economy which He has instituted, which we shall here treat of. It cannot be insisted upon too strongly, that there is a vast difference between the justice of God when it be viewed absolutely, and when it be viewed relatively—a difference as real and as great as that which exists between His essential independence, and those restrictions which He has voluntarily assumed. The justice of God considered absolutely, consists of His own Divine rights to do whatever He pleases. The justice of God considered relatively, consists of His course of action in relation to those creatures which He has placed under a moral constitution, wherein He has pledged Himself unto a certain order of procedure.

This distinction is far more than a philosophic nicety: it is a basic fact. The great God was absolutely free to create or not create, just as He saw fit. There was no compulsion—either from within or without—for Him to bring creatures into existence. He decided to go forth into acts of creation, solely for His own glory. In like manner, God was entirely free to create whatever kind of creatures He pleased—it was solely for Him to determine whether they should be rational entities or not. So, too, it was for Him to decide whether or not evil should enter His universe and sin mar the works of His hands. Furthermore, it was entirely at His option whether He should promptly annihilate evil-doers or whether their existence should be prolonged; and if prolonged, whether their iniquities should be pardoned or punished; and if punished in what way and for how long. Alas, how ignorant this generation is of Holy Writ!

Absolutely considered, then, the justice of God is one with His sovereignty. That is to say, whatever God decrees and whatever He does is just—simply and solely because it issues from His own imperial will. But relatively considered, the justice of God consists in His administering with strict impartiality, the Law which He was pleased to frame, so that He gives to each under it, his exact due. Above, we made mention of those "restrictions" which God has voluntarily taken upon Himself: lest this be misunderstood or wrested, we hasten to define our meaning. It has pleased God to form a purpose or plan, the broad outlines of which are revealed in His Word, and He is now acting accordingly. It has pleased God to make certain promises and threats, and He has pledged Himself to fulfill the same. We shall, then, now contemplate the Divine justice as it is manifested under that economy which the Lord God has appointed.

First, it is testified to, by our CONSCIENCE. Since it pleased the Creator to constitute man a rational creature and to place him under external law, He also saw fit to afford proof within himself, that he is subject to a Government which is righteous and just. Man is not only endowed with a faculty which enables him to distinguish between right and wrong—but with perceptions that intuitively feel that justice is worthy of approbation, and injustice of condemnation. This is a part of that "work of the law written within their hearts" (Romans 2:15) by the Maker of men. It is in consequence of this moral faculty that the wicked "knowing (within themselves) the judgment of God, that they who commit such things are worthy of death" (Romans 1:32). Hence it is that from earliest times, and all through the centuries—the most benighted even of the heathen have resorted unto all manner of means and devices in seeking to placate Deity.

It is the province of our conscience, to weigh actions in the scales of God's Law (or what we apprehend to be His Law) and pass sentence according to their conformity or lack of conformity with that standard. It has rightly been termed the deputy or viceregent of God within our souls, for it performs not only the work of a monitor by reminding us of our duty and exciting us to attend unto the same—but also of a subordinate judge summoning us before its tribunal and pronouncing us innocent or guilty. Its sentences proceed on the assumption that God's Law is "holy, just and good," with the demands of which we are bound to comply. And as Romans 2 tells us, this moral faculty works as truly in those who do not receive the written Law of God—as in those who do. Thus we see how the creature bears within him—a witness to the attributes of God's justice, for the constitution of his mind is as much His work as is the balancing of the clouds.

The workings of conscience are indeed remarkable, for they often expose the vanity of our most specious pretenses, and convict us of sin at the moment when we are employing all our sophistry in seeking to justify our mad conduct. In this manner the rights of God as the Supreme Governor to place man under law and to enforce its sanctions, are manifested within him even amid his very attempts to repudiate His demands and escape from His yoke. This advocate for God's claims, accompanies us wherever we go and makes its voice heard in solitude and company alike. It upbraids those whom men would never think of reproving, and speaks with such potency as makes kings to tremble upon their thrones. It checks us when we are meditating wicked devices and if unheeded, disturbs our pleasure while we are seeking to enjoy our unlawful spoils.

Second, the dispensations of PROVIDENCE tend to confirm the dictates of conscience, and manifest the justice of Him who is Lord over all.Providence supposes the preservation and the government of creatures, according to their respective natures. Are there, then, any indications of a moral government over men? Both experience and observation inform us, that good and evil are disbursed, and the point we now raise is—do these appear to be allotted unto men in any degree according to their conduct, considered as morally good or evil? Admittedly this is no question which is easy to answer to the satisfaction of many people, especially when they are in a gloomy mood; nevertheless, the Scriptures record so many examples of the justice of God in punishing sin and in rewarding righteousness, that the godly cannot doubt the reality of this principle.

Among the more conspicuous demonstrations of the retributive justice of God, we mention the not sparing of the angels that sinned, for God "cast them down to Hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment" (2 Peter 2:4); the swallowing of the inhabitants of the old world by the flood; the overthrow of the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah; the destruction of the haughty Pharaoh and his armies at the Red Sea; and the calamities which befell the rebellious Jews, particularly their transportation to Babylon and their subsequent dispersion by the Romans. Secular history also records many striking and solemn demonstrations of God taking vengeance on those who oppressed His people. Instances of Divine intervention in the lives of nations may still be observed, and will not be overlooked by those who are attentive unto what is passing around them, and who piously believe that not a sparrow can fall to the ground without the permission of the Most High God.

The like retributive justice of God appears also in the case of individuals. When the Israelites caught the Canaanite Adonibezek and cut off his thumbs and his big toes, he acknowledged, "I once had seventy kings with thumbs and big toes cut off, eating scraps from under my table. Now God has paid me back for what I did to them" (Judg. 1:7). Ahab's blood was lapped up by dogs in the very place where the blood of Naboth had been shed (1 Kings 22:37, 38). Jezebel was more guilty than he: Ahab permitted—but Jezebel contrived. Ahab afterward humbled himself, and therefore received honorable burial; but Jezebel was entombed in the bellies of the dogs. Haman was executed on the very gallows which he had set up for Mordecai (Esther 7:10). Henry the Third of France was killed in the same chamber where the horrible massacre had been planned, and Charles the Ninth died flowing in his own blood in bed.

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