Have you ever been told that life isn't fair? How did it make you feel?
It never feels good to be at the losing end of unfairness. But at one point or another we've experienced a certain level of injustice. That's why we don't like being told that life isn't fair—because that's absolutely true. Life truly isn't fair.
Some people are born smarter than others, others richer. Innocent people lose and guilty people win.
But behind all of this is a just God who is not just fair but is also perfectly just in all His ways. Psalm 145:17-18 tells us, "The LORD is righteous in all his ways and kind in all his works. The LORD is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth."
God Is Just, but the World Is Not
Understanding the unfairness of this world and God's justice must always be preceded by the foundational truth that the unfairness of this world is not God's fault.
It's ours. Our sinful nature has destroyed the perfect and righteous ways of God. When God created the whole earth, He meant for it to be good in every way. That's why every time He created something, He called it "good."
But man's sin—starting with Adam and Eve's—introduced injustice into this world. Romans 5:12 says, "Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned."
We've all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, and that brings injustice.
It's funny how when a terrorist group drops a bomb or a criminal takes a life, people easily point fingers at God. We must remember that God gave us dominion and free will. Sinful men and women are the ones who have messed that deal up, not God.
God Is Not Fair
If there's anyone that God is not fair to, it's Himself. Left on our own, human depravity dictates that we all deserve nothing except eternal separation from God in this life and in the next—not His blessings, not His covenant, not His grace.
But in His rich mercy, our Father found a way for us to be qualified and justified.
The way He did that was by paying the ultimate price, which was no less than the blood of His own Son Jesus Christ, for the forgiveness of all our injustice and unfairness. God was unfair towards Himself so that He would unfairly bring undeserved grace upon all mankind in this lifetime through common grace (the fact that we're alive, provisions, relationships, enjoyment) and in the next lifetime for all those who put their faith in Him.
God is a God of justice, but is never fair because He is always unfair towards Himself and gracious towards us.
