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Justification
Part 2 - Job 38-42 Our Problem with God[1]
Ice breaker: What do you not like about creation that you would wish God would have done differently? No mosquitos? Make people fly? What?
This fall we’re talking about this thing, JUSTIFICATION = how you, a sinner, can stand before God and God say to you, “You are righteous. You are perfect. And you deserve to live in heaven forever with me.”
Review: The devil goes after Job because the devil thinks Job and God are a bunch of phonies and if the devil can really make Job suffer and get Job to stop believing in God then the devil will prove that God’s grace and salvation are fake. So God let’s the devil make Job suffer to show that God’s salvation is real. But Job doesn’t know any of this.
Read the end of Job’s story.
At first, when Job is suffering, he is patient and prays to God for mercy. But after a while Job can’t take it anymore and Job gets mad at God and starts complaining to God. Job yells at God that he doesn’t deserve his suffering. Job says that he’s righteous and that God is being unfair. Job demands God show up and explain what’s going on and says God better have a pretty good answer.
Is Job wrong for getting mad at God for all his suffering? Is Job wrong for demanding God show up and explain himself? Does God show up to say sorry to Job?
God shows up in a terrible storm like it’s judgment day. And God doesn’t come to explain himself or tell Job why he‘s suffering. God shows up and demands Job explain himself and what Job believes about God.
When God shows up Job doesn’t get to ask the questions. God asks the questions. And God asks Job if Job can overcome all the suffering and chaos and evil in the world.
And Job says no and that his suffering means he has to run to God for help. That’s what all our suffering tells us - we need God’s help and salvation.
Job says God is right and that Job isn’t perfect and that he can’t fix all the suffering and evil in the world. Job even tells God that Job can’t fix the sin that’s in him.
AND THAT’S A BIG PROBLEM. If Job can’t fix his own sin then who is he in big trouble with? Who will judge all sinners?
GOD!!!! The devil may hate Job and everyone else but God is the real enemy of all sinners including Job. For Job to beat the devil, Job has to beat his sin. But Job can’t. And if Job can’t beat his sin, then it’s God who has to beat Job and judge him and condemn him. That’s what the devil wants God to do. So for Job to beat his sin and the devil and FOR JOB TO BEAT GOD - then God has to beat Job’s sin for him!!!! God has to save us from himself! God has to save us from his own wrath against our sin.
Do we know why Jesus had to die on the cross? What does Jesus save us from?
Jesus saves us from God, from God’s wrath. God sends Jesus, his own son, to come and suffer judgment for us and take the wrath of God on the cross for our sins. We can’t beat our sin or God’s wrath so Jesus beats it for us and because Jesus beats our sin we beat the devil. You just have to trust God and believe Jesus did it.
What is something we just learned that we can praise God for?
What is something we just learned that we can ask God for?
[1] Kevin DeYoung, The Biggest Story Bible Storybook, Chapter 38, Cover Your Mouth, Job 38-42 202-205.