The Lord is righteous and loveth righteousness. Psalm 11:7
The root of righteousness is the word right. It means to be correct; to not be wrong. The word justice is closely associated with righteousness. A judge who makes a just decision makes a correct or right decision. It is therefore impossible to have true justice without righteousness. And it is impossible to have righteousness and justice without truth.
The foundation of righteousness, justice and truth is the Creator Himself. He is right and truthful because He “cannot lie.” (Titus 1:2) The Lord Jesus Christ, in whom “all things came into being,” (John 1:3) stated that “if you continue in My word you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” (John 8:31-32) It is therefore His words alone, the Creator’s words, that form the basis of all righteousness. “The entrance of Thy words giveth light.” (Psalm 119:130)
As to why the visible universe, and specifically the earth’s crust, appear as they do today can only be understood in the context of the Creator’s righteousness. The creation recorded in Genesis was perfect and without blemish in every respect. God declared that, “it was very good.” (Genesis 1:31)
God instructed Adam and Eve: “From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you shall surely die.” (Genesis 2:16-17) Unfortunately, Adam and Eve ate of the tree thereby rebelling against God’s command. The perfection of the original creation was forever lost.
Because “the Lord loves righteousness and justice,” (Psalm 35:3) the rebellion of Adam and Eve had to be punished. They were driven from the Garden of Eden, death and decay were introduced into God’s perfect creation, weeds became a reality, work became toilsome, and so forth.
Sixteen hundred and fifty-six years after creation Noah and his family entered the ark to be preserved from The Flood that transformed the earth’s crust. Because God “loves righteousness and justice,” wickedness had to be be dwelt with. The Scriptures state, “The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually … Now the earth was corrupt in the sight of God, and the earth was filled with violence.” (Genesis 6:5,11) “God brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly.” (2 Peter 2:5)
Today, the results of God’s righteousness and justice are visible throughout the world: The earth’s crust is heavy laden with a fossil record detailing death and destruction, transformed remains of plant matter and animals are found in the form of fossil fuels on every continent, bent and unbent sedimentary layers encompass the earth, trees from the world that was are now found as petrified logs, fossils of marine life are found on top of the highest mountains, and on and on.
Although we presently witness a scarred universe, there remains incredible beauty everywhere on earth. God in His greatness brought forth a refashioned world after The Flood which shows His awesome ability to bring life from death and exchange beauty for ashes.
“How blessed are those who keep justice, and who practice righteousness at all times!” (Psalm 106:3)
