Our God is Just
Esther • Sermon • Submitted
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Transcript
Nov. 8
Text: Esther 6:14-7:10
Title: Our God is Just
Intro:
· "Justice is served." - Those words we each long to hear.
· The American judicial system does not always execute perfect justice. In fact, it is impossible for any human institution to execute perfect justice in a fallen world.
· God is Holy. God is perfect. God is just.
6:14 - 7:2
· This is the second banquet prepared for the King and Haman.
· After the first banquet, Ahasuerus had a sleepless night. Haman was humiliated to parade Mordecai through the streets like the king.
· Now the second banquet - the 3rd time the king has asked Esther her request.
· This is the moment of truth -
o Esther will reveal her own identity.
o She will turn the King against his most trusted advisor.
o Big day!
3-4
· If she has not found favor - she's dead.
· Her appeal is strategic -
o Passive language - "We have been sold…"
o Language straight from the decree - "to be destroyed, to be killed, and to be annihilated. (3:13)"
o Places the King's needs above personal liberty and pursuit of happiness (4).
o She takes into account the King's financial loss, etc.
o She is not an activist seeking to end every injustice. She is simply doing what it takes to save her people.
5-6
· Esther could have answered, "It's you!"
o Nathan to David, "You are the man."
o The King's name and ring is on the decree.
· Esther only names Haman.
o She still has not identified her people as "Jews." She simply says that Haman is "an enemy."
o Haman is terrified. Rightly so.
7
· The king left. Not because he cared about the Jews. Genocide did not bother him. He left because he knew that he was in a pickle. He couldn't resolve issues with Haman, and not reveal himself as implicit. He needed a way to punish Haman that also excused himself.
· Haman should have left too. He was not be in the presence of the Queen alone.
8
· Haman helped resolve the King's situation.
· The king would not have honestly believed that Haman was trying to rape Esther, but it was a good charge to bring against him and to solve this problem.
9-10
· Gallows - best word we have. Actual Persian death was impalement. High and lifted up for all the world to see.
· "Then the wrath of the king abated." - This is key. The king has wrath, and it must be satisfied.
Application:
1. Justice Requires Punishment
a. Evil is Exposed
b. Sin is Rectified/Reconciled
V10 - "Then the wrath of the king abated."
c. Punishment satisfies wrath.
2. Salvation Requires Justice
o Sin has to be punished in order for salvation to occur.
· Sin cannot be overlooked.
· Haman had to be executed in order for the Jews to survive.
3. The Gospel is a Substitute
o Imagine Haman, begging for his life. Esther shows no mercy.
· What if a someone else could have died in Haman's place? There was no one else. A common criminal would not have mattered. There was no substitute.
o Our enemy has in fact enslaved us.
· Slaves to sin
· John 8:34, "Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin. "
· Sin makes us guilty. Reconciliation, justice, is our own execution.
· In order that we might be saved, someone must be executed.
c. God provides a substitute to be punished for our salvation.
2 Cor. 5:21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
1 John 2:2 - "He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world."
Romans 3:23-25 - "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith."
His Mercy is More
a. God sent his only Son to be punished and executed, impaled upon a tree, in order that we, his people, might be saved.
b. He determined to do this - to send his Son to die.
Conclusion:
· God is a God of perfect justice. He never fails to act justly. Which means, you need a substitute!
· Be redeemed today! Declare Jesus to be you Savior! Make it public. Profess him as your savior!
· Believe Him today! Trust that Jesus is your substitute! Trust that His death abated the wrath of the king.
· This is the gospel! You deserve death, but God sent his Son to die in your place that you might be saved. Trust him! Today.
Great Are You Lord!