The Bible talks about Justice. 預覽

Let’s do a quick recap. Humanity was created in the image of God—meant to physically and symbolically represent God on earth. But humanity failed to do this, choosing instead to rule over one another. In response, God gives just laws and calls us to reflect His restorative and retributive justice. This is especially true among the disadvantaged of our world. In Jesus, we find the perfect image of God, and we see how He modeled restoration among the marginalized. In the death of Jesus, we see the culmination of these themes as Jesus reconciles all humanity to God and one another.

As we look out at our world today, we see a lot of tension and unrest. We see the devastating results of human sin on society, and we see injustice, especially among the marginalized. In our day, we have an opportunity to reflect God by carrying a message of reconciliation through our words and actions.

Jesus brought true justice and reconciliation through His life, death, and resurrection. Yet people like the apostle Paul can describe his entire life’s work in 2 Corinthians 5 as a ministry of reconciliation. In the same way, we see through the book of Acts that restorative justice didn’t end with Jesus—the Church continues to practice love for the disadvantaged, just as Jesus did.

For those who follow Jesus, our lives should reflect the perfect image of God—marked by words and actions of reconciliation that lift up the marginalized, call out sin in our lives and culture, and share the message of reconciliation that Jesus brought on the cross to bring peace in our relationship with God and with one another.