justice or vengeance?

it is no secret that we serve a God of justice- or is it? why do people today view God as sitting on His throne with a bolt of lightening in His hand ready to strike dead anyone who fails or falls? the more i reflect on it, the more i realize that some of our ideas of who God is may be entangled with mythology.

we've all had the images in our heads from childhood when we watched all those disney movies and other cartoons. God is this really old guy with shocking white glowing hair and a really long flowing beard. He wears a golden crown that is partially hidden by the hair that has been growing since before eternity existed. He wears a white toga a lá cæser with a golden sash and golden sandals. His blazing eyes of fire are darting about the earth for anyone to strike dead when they screw up.

those without disney movies and other cartoons to guide their misconceptions of God had the help of sunday school felt boards (remember those?). and God became a sort of anti-santa claus. where santa looked for the good boys and girls to give good things to, God looked for the bad ones to strike with lightening.

now, that's a bit played up, but the premise is still the same. the obvious issue with this is that if that's what God were really looking for- to destroy people who do evil, the earth would have been empty long ago. in fact, we know that His eyes wander the earth looking for those who are righteous. He is seeking those who seek justice.

the difference between justice and vengeance is simple. revenge is the act of seeking to hurt someone as harshly (or worse) as they hurt us while hiding under the disguise of justice. revenge usually includes public humiliation of those who hurt us, whether they hurt us in public or not. if we give way to our anger and seek revenge, we feel good only in that moment of triumph. but as soon as we discover the damage we have left in our wake, that is when we become confused because we feel lower than when they hurt us.

the reason God says that vengeance is His is because He sees all things for what they are. while it may seem to take forever for God to act on our behalf, what we don't see is what we think is His inaction is actually His reaction on our behalf. if He were to come down hard on this person for offending us, He would also have to come down hard on us for offending someone else because He is a God of justice. justice is not the act of bringing or restoring peace but the act of paying a legal debt. life is the price of the debt owed. for the christian, Christ has paid the debt with His death on the cross. for the unsaved, justice still waits to be served.

for the world-wide renown of His sovereign glory...