We’ve been studying the attributes of God this winter, and the last two attributes we have looked at have been timely – God’s holiness and His justice. As we approach Good Friday and Easter this week and meditate on what Jesus did for us on the cross, the holiness and justice of God are clearly seen there.
I think that if you asked most Christians which attribute of God was displayed at the cross, the first answer would be “love”. For many of us, including myself, the first Bible verse we learned is John 3:16: “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.” And there is no question that that is true. I heard a speaker say once that if you ever doubt God’s love for you, just look at the cross.
But the cross also displays God’s holiness and justice. The reason that the sacrifice of Christ for our sins was necessary is that God is holy (Exod. 15:11), and we are sinful (Rom. 3:23). Because God is holy and just, the penalty for sin is death (Romans 6:23). The sacrificial system using animals that God set up in the Old Testament with the tabernacle (and later the temple) all pointed to the necessity of a blood sacrifice to cover sin. And yet, as the author of Hebrews reminds us, “it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins” (Heb. 10:4). The good news is that because He is both sinless (because He is God) and a man (because He took on flesh – Phil. 2:6-8), Jesus was the perfect sacrifice for our sins.
The holiness of God is displayed at the cross in that His holiness required a sacrifice for a person to have fellowship with Him. Sinful people cannot come into His presence without one. The veil in the temple that was torn from top to bottom when Christ died on the cross (Matt. 27:51) was a physical reminder of that. It separated the holy place from the holy of holies where the holy presence of God dwelt.
God’s justice is also displayed at the cross. His justice demands a penalty for sin. When Christ bore the wrath of God as He bore our sin, that justice was satisfied.
I love how Peter expresses another way that God’s justice was shown at the cross: “For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit” (1 Peter 3:18). Jesus is just (which is also translated “righteous” in the Bible), and we are unjust. And yet He died to bring us to God. Isn’t it amazing?
The other verse I love about God’s justice at the cross is Romans 3:26: “for the demonstration, I say, of His righteousness at the present time, so that He would be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.” God is just. He is always just. And so the penalty of death for sin was necessary. And yet, in His kindness, He is also the justifier. Since we could not save ourselves, He sent Christ to pay the penalty in our place so that we might be justified before Him. Isn’t it amazing?
So this Good Friday, stand amazed at the cross. Be amazed at His love for sure. But be amazed at His holiness and at His justice. Be amazed that He is just and yet He died for the unjust and justifies all those who trust in His sacrifice for their sins and surrender their lives to His Lordship.
Amazing!