Sermon Tone Analysis

*Is God Fair?*

Genesis 18:16-33

Abraham has recently been reminded that God can do whatever he chooses to do (Genesis 18:14).

But here we find out the answer to the question, “Will God’s choice be just?”

(Genesis 18:25).

In his dealings with Sodom and Gomorrah, God demonstrates that he is completely just in both his wrath and mercy toward sinners.

!

I. God is completely just in his wrath

The story of Sodom and Gomorrah is clearly a story about God's wrath toward sin and sinners: /Deuteronomy 29:23, “an overthrow like that of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim, which the Lord overthrew in his anger and wrath.”/

The fate of Sodom becomes an example in the Bible of what happens to those who anger God with their sinfulness: /2 Peter 2:6, “If by turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes he condemned them to extinction, making them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly.”/

Why is God so angry at sin?

Is his anger just, or is it a fitful rage?

There are four reasons I can find in this text that demonstrate why God's wrath toward sin and sinners is completely just.

!! A.  Because sin always has a victim

Then the LORD said, “Because the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great.”

(verse 20).

Why is it that God even takes notice of Sodom?

Because there is a cry of distress coming from the city.

Every sin has a victim who cries out for help or vengeance, like the blood of Abel crying out to God from the ground (Gen 4:10).

God hears these cries of distress and cannot ignore them.

!! B.  Because God is moved by the affliction caused by sin

Listen to these words from Exodus 2:23-25, describing the oppression of the Israelites at the hand of the Egyptians:

/During those many days the king of Egypt died, and the people of Israel groaned because of their slavery and cried out for help.

Their cry for rescue from slavery came up to God.

And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob.

God saw the people of Israel—and God knew.

/

God is moved by the affliction and wrong-doing done by sin and justice requires him to respond.

God is the defender of everyone who has been victimized by sin.

He will make all wrongs right.

He does not forget those who have been wronged.

Our text says that the sin of Sodom and Gomorrah was “very grave.”

The Hebrew is literally “heavy.”

It is the same word used to describe God's glory.

It can also describe a “weighty” person in society, “someone who is honorable, impressive, worthy of respect.”[1]

The sin of Sodom and Gomorrah was so severe that God could not help but notice.

He would be unjust if he did not respond in anger at the flagrant sinfulness.

What would we think of someone who is not outraged at the grossest criminals of our day?

A convicted mass-murderer.

A serial rapist.

A child predator.

God feels the heaviness of sin, and he is just in responding to it.

!! C.  Because God fully investigates the sin

But God does not respond impetuously.

Notice what he says to Abraham in verse 21: “I will go down to see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry that has come to me.

And if not, I will know.”

Amazing.

God knows everything, so why does he need to check out for himself how sinful Sodom really is?

We read in verse 17 that God has already decided what he is going to do to Sodom.

What more proof does God need?

The answer is of course that he needs no more proof of the sinfulness of humanity.

But he fully investigates the sin for our sake, to demonstrate to us how just he is in his wrath.

He did this with Adam and Eve, “Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” (Gen 3:11).

He did this with Cain: “Where is Abel your brother?” (Gen 4:9).

He did this at the tower of Babel (Gen 11:5).

By fully investigating sin, God exposes how reprehensible sin is.

He leaves no stone unturned.

When God judges sin he does so thoroughly, so that God and man alike will agree that God's judgment is just.

And we know what happens to the angelic delegation that went down to Sodom; they found out first-hand how bad the sin was.

They experienced the wickedness of sin.

And as God's representatives, they demonstrate another reason why God is completely just in his wrath.

!! D.  Because God is the victim of every sin

Does it disgust you to read of the men of Sodom—from the youngest to the oldest—surrounding the angelic messengers, intending to carry out on them homosexual gang rape?

It should.

We should feel the disgust and acknowledge the justness of God for destroying them all.

Their sin is a sin against God himself.

And because he is holy, every sin is a crime committed against God.

He is the victim in every sin.

Does it disgust you to think of the innocent Jesus tortured and mercilessly crucified on a cross?

It ought to.

But note: every one of us had a part in this crime:

/Behold the Man upon the Cross/

/My sin upon his shoulders/

/Ashamed I hear my mocking voice/

/Call out among the scoffers/

/It was my sin that held him there*[2]*/

We, like the men of Sodom, have victimized a holy God.

He is completely just in executing his wrath on us.

But this story not only demonstrates God's justice in his wrath.

We also discover God's justice in his mercy.

!

II.

God is completely just in his mercy

When we ask the question, “Is God fair?” it is here that we have the biggest problem.

If the sinfulness of humanity is so bad, on what basis can God be just in being merciful to any of us?

This is an important question to ask and answer about God.

He is just in his wrath toward all.

But he demonstrates that he is also merciful, sparing many from the punishment of his wrath.

On what basis is he just for doing so?

!! A.  He is moved by his compassion for sinners.

We can certainly begin with a similar point that we made in defending God's wrath, namely, his compassion.

Listen to these words from /Hosea 11:8-9/.

*/8 /*/     How can I give you up, O Ephraim? /

/          How can I hand you over, O Israel? /

/     How can I make you like Admah? /

/          How can I treat you like Zeboiim? /

/     My heart recoils within me; /

/          my compassion grows warm and tender.

/

*/9 /*/     I will not execute my burning anger; /

/          I will not again destroy Ephraim; /

/     for I am God and not a man, /

/          the Holy One in your midst, /

/          and I will not come in wrath./