Is God Really Fair?

So often in life we complain about life not being fair. We think that people should get what they deserve don't we? That person hurt me so they should get hurt in return. That person said something bad about me behind my back so now I'm going to blow them up on social media. That person stabbed me in the back so now I'm going to turn everyone against them. It seems justified doesn't it? I mean, an eye for an eye right? People should be punished for their wrongs.

We want God to be that way too. We want to believe that if someone hurts us that God will take care of them. That He will send something their way to punish them. Maybe He will make their tire go flat so they're late for work or that He will send a wicked stomach virus upon them. It sounds harsh when you read it in black and white, but this is how we really think. This is what we feel, whether we say it or not.

But what if I told you that God is not actually fair. What if He doesn't give people what they really deserve. Because He's not fair, and He doesn't give what we deserve.

God is just. The Bible says that He is just and also the One who justifies (Romans 3:26). His justice may not make any sense to us, but still it is just. God's justice is this, that "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" but that we are "justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus." (Romans 3:23&24). That kind of justice makes no sense to us. We fall short, yet are still justified. We don't even have to make an excuse, we just come to Him and give Him our lives and we are justified of all the darkness and junk we walked in before, and all the sins we will still commit. That doesn't happen in the world.

This is why God is not fair. Fair means you get what you deserve or you get what you earn. But we neither deserve nor can we earn the love and grace of God. Yet, we get it. We can accept it. We can take the free gift God gives us even though we could never be good enough to deserve it. That isn't fair at all.

Take it a step farther, Jesus was killed for us to have that gift. Romans 6:23 says that the payment that sin deserves is death. We sinned and fell short. Jesus was perfect, completely void of sin. Yet, Jesus died, and we get life. Jesus, the only One who actually didn't deserve to die, died. And we get to live.

Think about this, Jesus got what we deserved so that we could get what He deserved. He walked a perfect, sinless life so that He could go to the cross, bear the weight of our sin, and sacrifice Himself for our freedom. On that cross, He felt the full guilt and condemnation of what we did. He let that sin and darkness be placed on Him and took the full wrath of God on Himself, letting it be poured out on Him, so that we could be free from experiencing that wrath. Even more, on the cross God had to turn away from His Son because of the sin, our sin, that was placed on Him. Jesus took the rejection of God so that we could be accepted. Jesus was rejected so we could be chosen. So that we could be adopted. So that we could be in the full presence of the Lord.

What about that is fair? None of it. But you know what, I'm grateful that it's not. I don't want God to be fair according to the world's standards. I don't want to receive what I deserve. I am so thankful for grace.

However, it doesn't stop there. God actually calls us to live unfairly too. Take this scripture, "Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you." (Matthew 5:44). That is one of those Scriptures I like to just pretend I didn't read. But still, it's in there. Jesus charged us to pray for our haters. Those people that hurt us or gossip about us or betray us, we are supposed to lift them up before the Lord. And it's not "Lord I pray that you would let their car break down on the way to work." It's not even, "Just open their eyes so that they will apologize to me so I can forgive them." Luke 6:28 says to "bless those who curse you." God wants you to pray blessings on those who are jerks to you. He wants you to forgive them and pray for good things to happen to them.

It's not that you just let people walk all over you and hurt you all the time on purpose. You know that people are going to hurt you, but you have the choice of being offended or not. People are offensive and hurtful, but it is your choice to forgive them and let it go. In fact, that is what forgiveness really is, you letting that offense go and giving it to the Lord. Then when you bless that person, it heals your heart. It allows you to begin to see people as God sees them and love them like He loves them.

God says in Ezekiel 33:11 that He actually gets not pleasure or enjoyment out of the punishment or death of the wicked, but He wants everyone to repent and turn to Him and walk away from their wicked ways. He wants everyone to walk in the way of light and not darkness. He doesn't enjoy watching people die and go to hell. So, if we want to love like He loves, then our prayers should be, "God I pray for them to be drawn to repentance. I pray blessings over them that they could not deny are coming from You. I pray that they would see You and turn to You." Pray for the condition of their heart. God does not want them to walk in darkness, and we shouldn't either.

And it's not about praying for their redemption for our benefit. Often we can get caught up in wanting them to repent so that they will apologize and then be nice to us. We should pray for their repentance for their good. If we have realized the grace and forgiveness God has given to us, then we should want them to know that too. We should want them to feel the love of God as we feel it. When we learn to love others as Jesus loved us (John 13:34) then we can learn to forgive as He has forgiven us.

Moses did this in the old testament. His brother and sister were making fun of him and complaining about him to the Lord. They questioned his authority which was given by God. Then God struck Miriam with leprosy. But Moses humbled himself and cried out to God not to kill his sister. He asked God to forgive her, even though she deserved what was happening to her. But because Moses prayed for her healing instead of finding joy in it for his vindication, God relented His anger and let her live.

Stephen in the book of Acts was being stoned for spreading the Gospel. The leader of the mob was Saul. As they threw those rocks at Stephen, he prayed that God would not hold those sins against them. He prayed for their forgiveness for the very act they were committing at that moment. Although Stephen died, his prayer lingered. Later, Saul would be met by the Lord and would give his life to following the Way. His name would be changed to Paul and he would end up being the father of the gentile church and would author half of the New Testament.

Jesus, as He was betrayed, denied, and crucified, looked up to Heaven and asked that God would forgive them all because they had no idea what they were doing (Luke 23:34). He felt the loneliness of His friends abandoning Him in His greatest time of need. One of His followers sold Him out and stabbed Him in the back. His best friend denied ever knowing Him. Yet, He forgave. He chose not to hold their sins against them, and begged for their forgiveness before God.

We have no excuse not to forgive. In fact, it is a commandment in Scripture. It won't be fair. It never will be according to this world's standard. But we forgive according to God's justice, because we were forgiven according to His justice. We give grace because we were first given grace.

I wish I could say that I am perfect at this, but I'm not yet. There are times I still want to be fair instead of gracious. I want those who hurt me to get what they deserve. But God reminds me, I didn't get what I deserved.

It's not to say that there aren't consequences for our wrongs. Of course there are. But I pray for grace to fall on those who are in darkness. I don't want them to die without God and experience His wrath. I want them to repent and find that God's love was always with them. I want them to find out that God is not fair, but is just according to His grace. I want everyone to receive grace. It is the cry of my heart and I pray it is the cry of yours too.