Zion shall be redeemed by justice,
and those in her who repent, by righteousness.
Isaiah 1:27
There is an interplay of God’s work and human obedience happening in this short verse that captures my imagination right now. The prophecies of Isaiah open up with God taking Israel “to court” so to speak, leveling charges (with irrefutable evidence) of disobedience, rebellion, infidelity, and willful covenant-breaking against them. And verse-by-verse, section by section, God reveals the depths of His people’s rejection of Him. God also emotes… telling thorough the prophet how He feels and how He will react to these constant and willful transgressions. He feels like a disrespected parent (Isaiah 1:2), a failing farmer (Isaiah 1:3), a rebelled-against ruler (Isaiah 1:19-20), and a rejected lover and spouse (Isaiah 1:21).
Yet God in grace, tempered with the reality of His justice judging all this evil, offers to redeem and restore. He will redeem His people when His justice becomes their passion. He will restore with His righteousness even their most whorish unfaithfulness IF they would only repent and return to Him as their only love, proving it with their actions.
God cares about injustice. So should His people. The amount of injustice in this world is staggering. There are massive injustices (oppressed people groups, war-torn countries, broken legal systems, disregard for life, crimes against children — born and unborn, power struggles, sexual exploitation, control and violence, economic inequalities that bring trauma, disease, and death — just to name a few!) There are also so many “little” injustices that add up to so much pain in any one person’s life. The collective impact of these injustices chipping away at a soul can be defeating and devastating, turning a person who should reflect the glory of God and the image of God into a broken shell of despair. Christians should long for the kingdom of Christ, for their own passion for righteousness, to address these with the gospel.
When we do so.. we repent! We turn from the evil we do and this world does AND we turn our focus away from the evil done to us that might control us. Instead we cling to the righteousness and transforming life of Christ so that in His righteousness we are passionately empowered to see our King’s justice rule our lives completely again! That’s what the gospel does… it is nothing less than an elimination of all that is wrong. Do we truly live with that vision as our focus?
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