We ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers, as is right, because your faith is growing abundantly, and the love of every one of you for one another is increasing. 4 Therefore we ourselves boast about you in the churches of God for your steadfastness and faith in all your persecutions and in the afflictions that you are enduring. 5 This is evidence of the righteous judgment of God, that you may be considered worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are also suffering— 6 since indeed God considers it just to repay with affliction those who afflict you, 7 and to grant relief to you who are afflicted as well as to us, when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels 8 in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. 9 They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might, 10 when he comes on that day to be glorified in his saints, and to be marveled at among all who have believed, because our testimony to you was believed. 11 To this end we always pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his calling and may fulfill every resolve for good and every work of faith by his power, 12 so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.
2 Thesssalonians 1:3-12
God considers it just to repay with affliction those who afflict you (followers of Jesus) and to grant relief to you (followers of Jesus) who are afflicted. When the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire, he will inflict vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might when he comes on that day to be glorified in his saints. This is evidence of the righteous judgment of God.
I believe that most of the population of the earth would not consider it just that they would be punished with eternal destruction away from the presence of the Lord. I believe they would say it was unfair. After all, they were good people. Should they be judged just because they didn’t believe the gospel? It is only fair that they, too, should be allowed to enjoy the New Heaven and New Earth.
The question is, “Who is God?” Is Jesus God? Or is he a hoax? If he is a hoax, then this judgment would be unfair and unjust. So the question is, “Who is God?” Is it Jesus (actually the Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, not Jesus only)? Is it Allah? Is it the pantheon of Hindu gods? Or is it the everything of pantheism? You see, justice is a religious question answered by who God is.
Justice, and Social Justice, in particular, is a popular and controversial topic in our present day. If we assume the God of the Bible is true, and he is the Creator, Sustainer, Savior, and Judge of all the universe, then he is the standard of what is just. On the other hand, if we take the position that there is no god who is over all, or there are many religions with different gods, then there is no true absolute by which anything or anyone can be judged because there is no universal standard of truth. Justice, then, is arbitrary, which means there is no justice. There is just power.
Ultimately, there are only two religions that Dr. Peter Jones has coined Oneism and Twoism. Twoism is the religion of the Bible in which there is always a separation or distinction between the Creator and the creation. Oneism is all other religions in which all is One. There is no separation between the creator and the creation. In Oneism, we are all gods, and to find truth, we look inside ourselves instead of outside to the eternally separate Creator of all that is. In Twoism, truth is established by the Creator. In Oneism, truth does not exist.
The purpose of the universe is to glorify the Creator Triune God. It is, therefore, just to separate eternally those who reject their Creator and who persecute and afflict those who do follow the Creator/Redeemer God. Those who choose rebellion against God are given the results of their choice eternally to be apart from God.
Throughout human history, the dragon, the beast, and the false prophet have aligned themselves against the people of God. This is not just a future battle in the book of Revelation; it is an ongoing battle that will find finality at the second coming of Christ. Justice is about the historical conflict between the father of lies and the Truth. It is just to punish those who align themselves against the Lord Jesus and his people,
Many followers of Jesus are, like the saints in Revelation, crying out, “How long, Lord.” In the past week or so, there have been a series of attacks against Christian communities in Jaranwala, Pakistan, for no reason but that they are Christian and not Muslim. Just this past Sunday, August 20, 2023, gathered believers in Delhi, India, the venue for the upcoming G20 meeting, were attacked by Hindu Nationalists who oppose anything but Hinduism. Believers in the Sudan are also fleeing for their lives.
When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the witness they had borne. 10 They cried out with a loud voice, “O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” 11 Then they were each given a white robe and told to rest a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brothers should be complete, who were to be killed as they themselves had been.
Revelation 6:9-11
The second coming of Christ and the judgment that follows is usually thought of as judgment, and it is. But I think we need to think of it more as justice. It is just that those who have aligned with the dragon, the beast, and the false prophet and have persecuted and afflicted God’s people should be separated from the righteous Kingdom of God and its King, the Lord Jesus Christ, and his body/bride.
True justice can only be defined by the Creator and Law Giver, not by autonomous human beings. May our minds be renewed by God’s word to think in agreement with the righteous standards of the Giver of standards. Let us not live by the lies of the father of lies.
