THE CRY FOR JUSTICE
In 2020 the tragic death of George Floyd flicked a switch in many consciences around the globe which led to protests and headlines like: ‘The world demands justice for George Floyd’.
At the heart of the horror for most was the knowledge that a wrong needed to be righted. That murder needs to be punished.
There is a deep sense inside all of us that knows when something bad happens – especially when humankind commits evil – we demand that the guilty pay the consequences.
We demand justice. Even if sometimes in our hatred it gets confused with vengeance – justice is something we crave.
THE REALITY OF INJUSTICE
But in reality, the horror of this world, the ugliness of humankind and the limitations on our ability to see all and know all and punish all, means often justice is not always served.
Dictators die of old age, war criminals don’t pay for their crimes, slavery continues, abusers and murderers don’t always get caught. Injustice reigns.
And it makes us angry. That feeling of real justice that wants evil punished eats away at our happiness because we know it is not possible in a world of blind chance where we dance to the tune of our genes.
Or is it?
JUSTICE & HAPPINESS
It is a bleak and miserable existence to think that horrible evil from genocide to rape might never be punished. That this world is ultimately indifferent to injustice.
Any search for true happiness needs to deal with this problem.
And it is one that Christianity tackles head on.
The Bible teaches that every evil act will be punished. Nobody will get away with their crimes because God isn’t indifferent to evil. So even if justice is not served this side of the grave – that demand for justice will be satisfied. Tyrants and paedophiles will be served cosmic justice. They won’t get away with it.
We might demand justice, but God demands it more.
And we know this to be true because Jesus will be the one doing the judging. He is the key to real justice.
The Bible says God has ‘set a day when he will judge the world with justice’ and has given proof of this because Jesus has defeated death.[1]
If God has the power to defeat death itself, then he has the power to judge evil.
Lasting happiness cannot be achieved with the lingering dissatisfaction of unpunished evil. Eventually it will rear its ugly head and leave a black stain in our life, no matter how stoic we are.
But if Christianity promises real justice – then why allow the frustration to linger? Why not explore the person of Jesus and find true lasting happiness – because only he is the answer to unchecked, unpunished evil and real justice.
[1] Acts 17:31
