(8–10 minutes, easy set-up)
Students will watch a video about one man’s belief about God’s justice.
(8–10 minutes, easy set-up)
Prepare to show a scene from a DVD of the motion picture The Count of Monte Cristo. Preview from time index 26:52 to 30:30, which is in chapter 7.
Explain the basic plot of The Count of Monte Cristo: Edmond Dantes was an innocent man tricked into an act of treason against the French government. Explain further that when he was asked to deliver a secret letter that contained sensitive information, Dantes’ best friend found out about the secret and began a domino effect that led to Danes’ arrest and imprisonment. Play the clip at this time. Point out the words carved on the cell wall: “God will give me justice.” Afterward, ask: How did Dantes feel when he was unfairly treated? How could he have believed in God’s justice when he was being punished for something that he didn’t do?
Next, share that after 13 years, Dantes escaped from prison and sought to take justice into his own hands. Ask: If he believed in God’s justice, why did he seek vengeance himself instead of letting God take care of it? When we’ve been unfairly treated, why does God not carry out His justice immediately? Does that mean that He doesn’t love us? Allow students to respond. Then say: Today we begin a course on the justice of God. We’re going to discover that God is both the origin of justice and its greatest defender. We will also learn about how He uses justice in judging people fairly, in His own time, and by His own measures.