“Of course the Scriptures clearly teach that justice is. Our Lord made a covenant of works, a covenant of nature, a covenant of life conditioned upon obedience to his law. He said that we might eat from any of the trees in the garden but one. They day we ate from that tree “You shall surely die” (Gen 2:17). We ate and true to his Word the Lord exacted the promised punishment. That is the nature of justice.”

In the first part we considered the death of Christ in light of his three offices, prophet, priest, and king. We saw that those who view Jesus’ merely as a teacher (a reduced sort of prophet) cannot account for his death except as a tragedy. Christians, however, confess that it was much more than a tragedy. We say that it was a satisfaction for sin owed to the justice of God. The very notion of justice is something with our age has some difficulty. We talk (and sometimes shout) about justice but one has the sense that people think that justice is an arbitrary thing. To be sure there is a much injustice in the world and it may be that much injustice shall never be made right in this life. Nevertheless, we do all have some notion of justice or righteousness. In the sentence above I used the phrase “made right” with the expectation that you, the reader, would understand that. Lawyers talk often use the striking expression “to make whole” as a justification for a lawsuit seeking to recover (financial) “damages.” We do sometimes see genuine acts of justice, even when that justice is delayed. Law enforcement pursue “cold cases” for years, even decades until they find a murderer. It took more than a decade to track down and kill Osama Bin Laden but civil-military justice was served. So, we do see approximations of justice so that we know what it is.

Of course the Scriptures clearly teach that justice is. Our Lord made a covenant of works, a covenant of nature, a covenant of life conditioned upon obedience to his law. He said that we might eat from any of the trees in the garden but one. They day we ate from that tree “You shall surely die” (Gen 2:17). We ate and true to his Word the Lord exacted the promised punishment. That is the nature of justice. We see it too under Noah:

And for your lifeblood I will require a reckoning: from every beast I will require it and from man. From his fellow man I will require a reckoning for the life of man.

“Whoever sheds the blood of man,
by man shall his blood be shed,
for God made man in his own image (Gen 9:5–6; ESV)

Justice is built into the nature of creation before the fall and after. It is reflected in the 613 laws of Moses:

“Whoever takes a human life shall surely be put to death. Whoever takes an animal’s life shall make it good, life for life. If anyone injures his neighbor, as he has done it shall be done to him, fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth; whatever injury he has given a person shall be given to him (Lev 24:17–20; ESV).

To be sure the exact application of the justice may vary through the history of redemption. The same principle has different applications. Under Moses the Israelites were commanded to reflect justice by animal sacrifices and by prosecuting a holy war against the Canaanites. Those requirements have been abrogated and have expired. The creational law, however, given under Noah (before Moses, before the “old covenant” strictly defined) is permanent. Thus, this is one reason why the death penalty is not temporary like the animal sacrifices and holy war. It is a part of natural justice. Justice is not arbitrary because it is grounded not only in the nature of creation but more fundamentally and importantly it is grounded in the nature of God. He is justice.

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