Justice and the Enemy’s Headquarters
In our study of Biblical Anthropology, we’ve already talked a lot about truth. But let’s look at it a little more from the perspective of justice.
What is our ultimate authority – the source of all truth? That would be the ultimate Being – God – but because of that, we can say that our ultimate source of truth is His revelation to us – God’s Word.
We could also say, the Person of Jesus Christ, revealed in the Bible.
Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me…”
John 14:6
Colossians 2:3 says, “…in whom” (that is, in Christ) “are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.”
Truth is in the unchanging mind of God. He has given us physical laws, logic, math, science. God is truthful, God is consistent, and so when we are truthful we imitate Him.
That’s why Leviticus 19:36 says, “You shall have just balances, just weights, a just ephah, and a just hin: I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt.”
I am God, and you are my people. And so, when you sell someone a gram of corn, make sure that it’s actually a complete gram of corn – not a little less. It’s about truth.
Exodus 20:16 – “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbour.” Honesty! Don’t lie. Don’t deceive.
“Truth” is basically a question of what is real. Lies aren’t real, right? Satan himself is the author of the unreal, the false, the empty. Jesus explained:
“You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.”
John 8:44
And how does the devil distort the truth? He introduces doubt. “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” (Genesis 3:1)
You may think that you have your truth and I have mine. Maybe “truth” is relative – it’s only a matter of perspective. And in this way we can destroy truth completely.
This is actually a big problem for the world. If there is no truth – that is, solid, absolute truth – it’s not possible to unite together. Because what could we actually have in common? Matthew 12:25 – “Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and no city or house divided against itself will stand.”
And so you can’t actually completely reject God’s truth. But you can use parts of God’s truth along with the lies to build something temporary and unstable, and try to attack God from there.
Let’s use this image to illustrate. It’s a half-built house, or a house in ruins. Look at it and remember it. If you want to reject God, you need to use some lies – some things that are not real – in order to build. But you can’t build anything with only “nothing-bricks”. You’ll also need to use some truth mixed in. That there is the headquarters of the enemy.
In this way, certain “experts” must build this house with lies mixed with truth, and everyone is supposed to follow their theories.
And of course, these will be the wise and powerful philosophers of this world. The sociologists. The politicians. The psychologists. The scientists. The professors.
Now, of course, I’m talking about unbelievers. Thanks be to God, there are many believers in all of the fields I just mentioned. And note again, I’m not saying that everything that unbelievers say is wrong – far from it! But it can never be a “complete structure”.
We’re going to look at a very influential thinker from the past, Karl Marx. Marx lived in the middle of the 19th century, and he hated both God and Christianity. He wrote:
Religious distress is at the same time the expression of real distress and also the protest against real distress. Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, just as it is the spirit of spiritless conditions. It is the opium of the people. To abolish religion as the illusory happiness of the people is to demand their real happiness.
Karl Marx (in Critique of Hegel’s Philosophy of Right)
According to Marx, in order to have real happiness, we must get rid of the “illusion” of religion. We need to free ourselves from God and His truth. But wait – what will we have in His place? Truth mixed with lies.
Before we go on with our other perspectives on justice (remember, we’re just on the first one – Truth), it will be useful to talk about the Marxist worldview in general, and how this and other ideas are affecting the world today.
For now, get the picture of that house in your mind. A temporary, unstable structure built with both the real and the unreal. That image will help a lot in the posts to come.