Genesis 18:16-19. 16Then the men set out from there, and they looked down toward Sodom. And Abraham went with them to set them on their way. 17The Lord said, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do, 18seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him? 19For I have chosen him, that he may command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing righteousness and justice, so that the Lord may bring to Abraham what he has promised him.”
Two of the most important words in the Old Testament are in today’s scripture. Can you guess what they are? That’s right, righteousness and justice. They are so important because, first of all, they describe God himself. God is righteous and God is just.
Psalm 89:14. Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne; steadfast love and faithfulness go before you.
OK, so these words are a big deal, but what do they mean?
In the Old Testament, righteousness and justice were mostly something you DO – keep the way of the Lord by doing righteousness and justice.
Righteousness means living up to God’s good standard, doing what God created us to do – love him and love others. Righteousness meant doing good and being kind to everyone. Like when Abraham and Sarah welcomed the three visitors into their tent to have lunch that was doing righteousness. For Abraham and his descendants, righteousness meant obey any specific commands of God too.
Justice. If doing righteousness is living up to God’s standards, then doing justice is returning to those standards when we fall short. To do justice is to fix things so that they are back to the way God wants them. For example, if someone is sick, justice helps them get better. If someone is poor, justice helps them to have what they need. If someone is being hurt, justice stops it and will even punish the bully that is doing the hurting. In short, doing justice makes things righteous again.
Here in Genesis 18, God is telling Abraham to DO righteousness and justice. And to teach this way to his children and their children for generations. This is what God calls a great and mighty nation. Not the biggest, strongest, or richest nation, but the one who does the right thing and fixes the wrong things.
Abraham’s descendants became the nation of Israel. So the question is, did Israel live up to this calling by God, to do righteousness and justice?
Yes, and no.
No, Israel would never become that loved god and others and fixed the world’s problems. In fact, they usually did the opposite, they became just like the world around them. They worshiped false gods (idols) and hurt people, even each other. This is how the prophet Isaiah says it:
Isaiah 5:7. [God] looked for justice, but behold, bloodshed; for righteousness, but behold, an outcry!
So what’s the yes?
The YES is Jesus Christ and all that are in him. Jesus is the descendant of Abraham that always did righteousness and justice. Jesus never did anything wrong, and he heled those who were sick, poor, and being hurt. Jesus alone fulfilled the covenant that God made with Abraham. As the “better Abraham,” Jesus did what the first Abraham and all his descendants (the Israelites) could never do. Jesus fully obeyed God.
Now, with Jesus in our hearts, we are counted as righteous too! Just like Abraham was when he had faith in God (see Genesis 15:6), we are counted as righteous and just when we have faith in Jesus. That means that we can now actually DO righteousness and justice, because we already ARE righteous and just.
This is the Christian life – BE WHAT YOU ALREADY ARE.
We don’t try to become righteous, just, good, and kind. With Jesus in us, we already are all those things. Now we can choose to do these nice things because we are simply trusting that Jesus will do it through us as the Holy Spirit reminds us that we are already loved so much by God and that we have nothing to gain and nothing to lose…so why not always do the right thing?
As Christians, together, we are God’s great and mighty nation. Everyone who believes in Jesus is a spiritual descendant of Abraham – declared righteous by God through our faith in Jesus. As we stand justified before God, let us not only BE righteous, but let us DO righteousness and justice. Let’s do what is right and fix what I wrong in Jesus name.
You: Can you think of an example of righteousness (doing what is right) from your day today? What about justice (fixing what is wrong)?
You with Jesus: Why do you think that God has to make us righteous BEFORE we can try to do what is righteous?
Prayer: Father, help me to be what I already am, instead of trying to become what I already am. I don’t want to just try to do what is right, I want to actually do it as I trust in Jesus and his love. Amen.
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