Several years ago, one of my daughters asked me, “Why do we have to be punished?” While I am not always prepared to answer such tough questions, I was ready for this one. I responded with a tragic but true story about a young girl and her mother crossing a busy street. The child refused to hold her mother’s hand and disobeyed when told to wait. The mother watched in horror as her daughter was hit by a car and killed instantly.
I used this example to illustrate how rebelling against authority may result in tragic consequences. I told my daughter that what feels like punishment is actually discipline, and I discipline her because I love her. She needed to learn to obey those who know what is best for her.
God’s Holiness
My analogy was clear enough for my 6-year-old to understand. Despite its simplicity, the situation is profoundly similar to God’s relationship with humanity. God chastens those whom He loves (Deuteronomy 8:5; Proverbs 3:12; Revelation 3:19). However, to better understand God’s necessary punishment, we must understand God Himself and our relation to Him.
God is holy, or set apart from creation. He owes His existence to no one (Psalm 90:2; Isaiah 46:9). Conversely, every created thing owes its existence to Him (Exodus 19:5; Psalm 24:1; Isaiah 44:6). God is set apart because His eternal, unchanging character (Malachi 3:6) defines righteousness (Deuteronomy 32:4; Psalm 18:30; Isaiah 30:18).
Punishment Demanded for Sin
The Bible teaches that sin is rebellion against the one and only righteous God (Deuteronomy 9:7). Sin is failure to maintain God’s righteous standard. His justice, or righteousness, demands that sin cannot survive in His presence (Habakkuk 1:13). Therefore, sin separates us from God (Isaiah 59:1–2) and cannot go unpunished (Proverbs 11:21). The apostle Paul taught that “the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23).
All of humanity, born under Adam’s headship, bears the stain of sin (Isaiah 53:6; 1 Corinthians 15:22) because Adam joined the first rebel (Satan) in his opposition to God (Genesis 3; Isaiah 14:12–21; Ezekiel 28:11–19). Thus, we find ourselves in a tragic situation: our sinful, human condition.
God’s Solution
But there is hope. Perhaps you’ve heard the saying, “Grace is getting what we do not deserve, while mercy is not getting what we do deserve.” Although God’s justice demands punishment for sin, He also desires to show grace and mercy. From the very beginning, when mankind joined Satan’s rebellion, God decreed that the woman’s Seed (the Messiah) would crush the serpent’s (Satan’s) head, though the serpent would bruise His heel (Genesis 3:15). Therefore, God eventually set apart Abraham and his descendants, the nation of Israel, to bless all families on Earth through Abraham’s ultimate Seed, Israel’s Messiah (Genesis 12:3; 22:18; Galatians 3:16).
In setting Israel apart to bring the Messiah, God gave the Law to firmly illustrate His righteousness (Deuteronomy 32:4; Psalm 19:8). In His covenant with the nation at Sinai, God clarified that sin must be paid for, even to future generations (Exodus 34:7). In fact, the curses for disobedience (Leviticus 26; Deuteronomy 28) in the Sinaitic (Mosaic) Covenant are some of the clearest illustrations in Scripture that our righteous God must punish unrighteousness. Thus, the Mosaic Covenant underscored the need for a Savior to take the punishment for Israel’s unrighteousness, just as Isaiah predicted (Isaiah 52 and 53) in the Tanakh (Old Testament). When Jesus the Messiah arrived in the 1st century, He fulfilled this prophecy through His death on the cross.
Then, something amazing happened: God revealed that Gentiles could be forgiven for sins through the Jewish Messiah’s atoning work (Acts 10:44—11:1; cf. Isaiah 49:6). Indeed, the Messiah came for Israel (John 1:11; 11:51), but Israel has not yet entered into the New Covenant, which was ratified by His bloodshed (Luke 22:20). One day, Israel will enter the New Covenant (Zechariah 12; Romans 11:26–27), prompting the Messianic Age in which Jesus will reign from Jerusalem, with Israel being fully restored to the Promised Land (Amos 9:15; Acts 1:6–7). Until the Lord returns to set up His Kingdom, the church today, made up of Jews and Gentiles, can rest assured that the Messiah took our punishment for us by dying on the cross and rising again.
Consequences Versus Condemnation
Consider the love of parents, many of whom would jump in front of a car to save their disobedient children. It helps us understand God’s selfless love. This is the Good News: For those who trust in Jesus the Messiah, the punishment for all our sin was paid for on the cross—past, present, and future (Hebrews 10:14). “There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1).
However, we must discern between God disciplining those who belong to Him and allowing those who reject Him to suffer eternal condemnation. While believers need not fear condemnation, we will be chastened (Revelation 3:19). Oftentimes, God expects us to suffer rebuke through accountable believers in the church (Matthew 18:15–17). Furthermore, being forgiven upon repentance does not mean that God will spare us from the consequences for our sin. For example, a Christian, like an unbeliever, incurs legal punishment in human courts for breaking the law.
In this world, we will face tribulation (John 16:33), but we can resist sin and diminish its consequences by walking with the Lord. Sadly, those who do not trust in the Messiah will be separated from God forever (Luke 16:19–31). If you haven’t trusted in Jesus to forgive your sins, today is the day for salvation.
