The current justice movement is focused primarily on confronting things that are wrong. But I think the purest justice is focused on making things right. Of course to make things right we have to confront things that are wrong. But to what end? Without a clear vision, we perish. A fight against evil without a fight for righteousness leads to an endless loop of deconstruction. Cries for justice that are purely critical are toxic and dangerous. Sometimes it feels like we are sawing off the branch while we stand on it.
A Vision For Justice
What does a successful justice movement look like? The Bible actually gives us that vision.
The biblical vision is a kingdom where a perfectly just, loving and merciful King rules those who voluntarily love and obey Him with joy forever. It’s a place where His people live together in perfect unity and peace. No evil. No pain. No sorrow. This is the kingdom of God – the rule and reign of the perfect King. Heaven on earth.
That is a vision of justice that stirs my heart.
This vision is ultimately an eschatoloical (end-times) vision that will be fulfilled when Jesus, the King, returns to the earth to fully manifest and establish His kingdom.
The Roots of Injustice
But what about right now? Glad you asked.
Jesus already came once. He was in heaven, but he humbled Himself to become a baby, who was born supernaturally to a virgin named Mary. He lived a perfect life. He was 100% God and 100% man. This was all a wild miracle!
Jesus came to earth because he had to deal with sin. Sin is the root of all injustice and pain and brokenness and police brutality and racism and sexual immorality and greed and all evil in the earth. God knew that sin wasn’t just a systemic issue (the outside world is broken), but it was also an issue of the heart (you and I are broken inside).
Jesus dealt with sin by taking the punishment of sin upon himself and dying on a Roman cross for us. This was Jesus paying the price of death for our sin. He resurrected three days later and then ascended back to heaven in his body, with many eye witnesses, to prove that He really was God! Crazy.
So now those who put their faith in Christ are able to receive the forgiveness of the sins in their heart and can enter into God’s kingdom now! This doesn’t mean that we leave the earth, but it means that become citizens of heaven who are functioning as ambassadors from God’s heavenly kingdom to the earth.
God’s kingdom now means that we can be restored into a proper relationship with God. We can know His perfect, amazing, unconditional love right now. The truth is, the best thing about the kingdom of God is the KING. The reason the kingdom is so good and satisfying and joyful and just and holy is because that’s what God is like. Knowing God now is like a foretaste of what’s to come when Jesus returns to the earth again and fully establishes His presence and kingdom on the globe.
What does this mean for the justice movement?
Two Weapons Against Injustice
This means that Christians, as ambassadors of God’s kingdom, can begin to manifest glimpses of that ultimate vision of perfect justice by making wrong things right. It also means we have good news to share. Even in the midst of a broken world, anyone can be reconciled to God through Jesus and have a promised inheritance in the kingdom of God. Even if you die before Jesus returns, you will be resurrected, just like Jesus was, so you can live in God’s kingdom forever in a new, perfect body. Wow! Put your faith in God, and you have a free passport to ultimate, eternal justice!
If you or someone you know is suffering, you now have two weapons of justice at your disposal.
First of all, you can show care and compassion right now. You can fight for freedom and work to abolish circumstances that lead to injustice, pain and oppression. We should seek to make the world better, but we also must understand that utopia is not possible until Jesus comes back to earth. So we do our best to see a manifestation of God’s kingdom in the places where we have influence and opportunity. This is not only a loving thing to do, but it points everyone towards the future kingdom of God.
Secondly, Christians have the Gospel (good news) of the kingdom to share. Even if it is hard or impossible to confront the systems of injustice or brokenness that are causing pain or oppression, there is still hope for ultimate justice for those who put their faith in Jesus. Even if circumstances don’t get better, our hearts can get better. We can have hope and peace inside. Why? Because Jesus is coming again, and He will make all the wrong things right. He will establish His kingdom of righteousness, peace and joy. This has been the testimony of the hundreds of thousands of martyrs throughout Christian history who have endured suffering unto death while looking to the future hope of a kingdom that can not be shaken.
Justice is coming!