Getting To Know God --- God is Fair

Getting To Know God

THE CREATOR CLOCK

 

Pastor Rory Clark

Barah Ministries

www.barahministires.com

 

Hi there!

 

My name is Rory Clark and I am the Pastor of Barah Ministries…a worldwide Christian Church based in Mesa, AZ

 

I have a question for you…

 

What Do You Know About God?

 

These ten-minute lessons will introduce you to God and will make you aware of some of His attributes.  To help you remember the Lord’s attributes, we’ll use The Creator Clock to help you recognize a few of the many things that are unique and special about your CREATOR.  Tick Tock…what time is it on the Creator Clock?

 

<CREATOR CLOCK SLIDE>

It’s Four O’clock…

 

TODAY’S LESSON

God is Fair

 

Kids are always saying it…NO FAIR!

 

I used to laugh when my kids would say it…UNH UH!  NO FAIR!  I told them all unfairness begins at home, and the perpetrator of most unfairness is parents.  I wanted to prepare them for the world they were about to enter.  Many things are unfair in the world we live in, but God is ALWAYS fair.  Isaiah, Chapter 30, Verse 18 says…

 

Isaiah 30:18

Therefore the Lord Jesus Christ longs to be gracious to you, and therefore He waits on high to have compassion on you. For the Lord is a God of justice...how blessed are all those who depend on Him.

 

From the human perspective, people tend to think they are being treated fairly when they get exactly what they think they deserve.  I thank God that He doesn’t treat me in the way I deserve to be treated!  In Ezekiel, Chapter 18, Verse 4, the Lord says…

 

Ezekiel 18:4

Behold, all souls are Mine; the soul of the father as well as the soul of the son is Mine. The soul who sins will die.

 

If God were being completely fair, all of us would be dead.  Justice demands that sin is punishable by death…Romans, Chapter 3, Verse 23…

 

Romans 3:23

…for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God…

 

If God were really being fair, He would kill everyone who sins.  That would be bad for us.

 

What does it mean that God is fair?  To many, it doesn’t always seem that God is fair.  It doesn’t seem fair that some children die at birth, while some don’t.  It doesn’t seem fair that some people have crippling diseases through no fault of their own, while others don’t.  It doesn’t seem fair that some people come from abusive homes, while some don’t.  It doesn’t seem fair that some were born in poverty stricken areas of the world, while some weren’t.  It doesn’t seem fair that some people live with people who rebel against God and against faith, while some don’t.  It doesn’t seem fair that some people live dysfunctional lives, while some don’t.  It doesn’t seem fair that some around the world are being severely persecuted for their faith…tortured…killed…ruined financially…even sold into slavery…while some aren’t.  It especially seems unfair when we see people in the world, or in our periphery, who are experiencing the exact opposite of the unfair things we encounter.  It could lead us to believe that God is out to get us.

 

But Romans, Chapter 2, Verse 11 says…

 

Romans 2:11

For there is no partiality with God.

 

Acts, Chapter 10, Verse 34 says…

 

Acts 10:34

Opening his mouth, Peter said: “I most certainly understand now that God is not one to show partiality…”

 

In God’s eyes, all creatures are created equal…all creatures are treated as equals…but clearly all creatures don’t have the same circumstances.

 

I can remember when I was a kid…to say I came from humble means would be an understatement…I grew up in abject poverty.  I never really said it out loud, but I always thought that it was a bit unfair that I had to work hard for everything I got while others around me, especially the rich kids I went to high school with, seemed to have everything handed to them.

 

I didn't learn until graduate school how fortunate it was that I had to develop work ethic.  In my first year of graduate school, I earned a fellowship.  My tuition was paid for and I got a monthly stipend of 5.   The only condition of the fellowship is that, for the first time in my life, I could not hold a job.  I hated it!  I took a pay cut!  I learned that the freedom to do whatever I wanted, the freedom to earn as much as I wanted, was much more fun…and much more profitable.  So it seemed that working for everything was a curse.  It was actually a blessing.

 

God is fair because He is judicial in all His dealings with us.  No one gets away with anything…Galatians, Chapter 6, Verse 7 says…

 

Galatians 6:7

Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap.

 

While we don't control the universe, nor do we always control our circumstances, an omnipotent God always makes sure we get a fair shake.  Just like when you go before a judge in a court case, God is always weighing both sides of an issue, and is always making sure that you are treated in a fair manner.  Deuteronomy, Chapter 32, Verse 4…

 

Deuteronomy 32:4

“The Rock! His work is perfect, for all His ways are just; a God of faithfulness and without injustice, Righteous and upright is He.”

 

Better than simply being fair, however, God is always looking to give you an advantage.  In addition to being fair, God is merciful.  Romans, Chapter 9, Verses 14 to 16…

 

Romans 9:14

What shall we say then? There is no injustice with God, is there? May it never be!

 

Romans 9:15

For the Lord says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.”

 

Romans 9:16

So then it does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy.

 

When we fail, God always gives us another chance.  Not only does God have mercy, but also God forgives.  Psalm 32, Verse 1…

 

Psalm 32:1

How blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven…whose sin is covered!

 

God the Father, in what could easily be seen as the ultimate showing of unfairness to His own Son, sent the Lord Jesus Christ to die on a Cross…poured out the sins of all mankind onto His back…directed His wrath toward those sins…and in so doing made it possible for the Father to be a little more fair to us…to give us grace when we make mistakes.

 

If we are to be fair to the Lord Jesus Christ, in return for His lovingkindness, we have to say that it is His right to call the shots in our lives since He created us and since He created the universe, by giving us all different circumstances.  Romans, Chapter 9, Verses 20 and 21…

 

Romans 9:20

…who are you, O man, who answers back to God? The thing molded will not say to the molder, “Why did you make me like this,” will it?

 

Romans 9:21

Or does not the potter have a right over the clay, to make from the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for common use?

 

God demonstrates His fairness most by giving people with different circumstances an equal shot, especially an equal shot at salvation.  John, Chapter 3, Verse 16…

 

John 3:16

For God the Father loved the world UNconditionally, and He loved all mankind so much, that He gave His uniquely born Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.

 

Finally, God doesn’t create every one of your circumstances.  If you get cancer from smoking, for example, you can’t say God made it happen.  Sometimes the things that happen in this world are from the source of you, or from the source of Satan, God’s enemy.  And just because the Lord is fair enough to let them happen, He isn’t the cause.

 

Tick Tock…what time is it on the Creator Clock?

 

<CREATOR CLOCK SLIDE>

It’s Four O’clock… God is Fair!

 

If you like these short lessons, visit our website at www.barahministries.com.    That’s www.B-A-R-A-H-ministries.com  We have two different one hour lessons per week to edify your spiritual life. 

 

If you like these lessons, share them with your friends. 

 

If you like these lessons, feel free to help us financially so that we can keep providing these lessons free of charge to people all over the world.  Thanks very much to those of you who have helped us.

 

When you give, do it because you have been given to…not because you HAVE TO give…but because you WANT TO give. 

 

Keep on getting to know God.

 

I’m Pastor Rory Clark.

 

Pastor Rory Clark

Barah Ministries

www.barahministires.com