Day 24, Year 1 The Lord Jesus is full of Justice and Righteousness

“‘Behold, the days are coming,’ says the LORD, ‘That I will raise to David a Branch of righteousness; A King shall reign and prosper, And execute judgment and righteousness in the earth.'” (Jeremiah 23:5 NKJV)

“On the contrary, 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 9:20 NASB)

The “Branch of righteousness” in the first verse of today is often understood as the Messiah, that is, Jesus Christ in the New Testament, as He is the descendant of David. He is to establish a kingdom on earth encompassing all humanity, executing judgment and righteousness with wisdom. Therefore, the communities that believe in Jesus should be filled with His righteous judgments. As mentioned previously, the righteous judgments of Jesus will surely be executed in those who seek and obey Him. And we could make the choices within the range He determined and these would become our destinies.

Indeed, human opinions often differ from God’s judgments. When we are dissatisfied with God’s decisions, what should we do? First, we should understand our own identities and rights before Him. The second verse of today states that people have no right to question God, even the way we were born, such as our color, gender, etc., that are predetermined at birth. Humans have no power to choose many things in life, but we can choose where we will end up. Living in this world, people often mistakenly think that they have the right to interfere with God’s decisions. This becomes one of the reasons why some people blame God for His direct or indirect works.

Combining the two verses of today, we can understand that God has supreme sovereignty, while humans do not. God acts according to His standards, making Him absolute just and righteous. So, the verses imply that we have no right to question God’s decisions, for instance, why He created us in particular ways. However, if we humbly ask the Lord Jesus, He might explain the reasons behind His actions to us. It is substantial to note that rather than questioning God’s actions, we should approach Him with a humble heart and ask Him to show us His just and righteous judgments, such that we can learn His way of doing things. In addition to being humble, there might be times when we need to pray repeatedly for Jesus to reveal the reasons behind His actions—this process allows us to grow in wisdom.

Reflection questions:

1) Do you believe that everything is under God’s sovereignty? Why?

2) Do you find it difficult to humbly ask Jesus for the reasons behind His various actions? If so, how would you overcome it?