The Goodness of God - Pt 1

For your name's sake, O Lord, pardon my guilt, for it is great. Who is the man who fears the Lord? Him will he instruct in the way that he should choose. His soul shall abide in well-being, and his offspring shall inherit the land. The friendship of the Lord is for those who fear him, and he makes known to them his covenant. My eyes are ever toward the Lord, for he will pluck my feet out of the net. (Psalm 25:11-15 ESV).

Psalm 25 is one of the clearest psalms from David that directs us to the goodness of God. It is also a very sober warning. I am always a little amazed how many people consider themselves believers who don't consult Christ when making choices. As we begin this new series concerning the goodness of God, I feel the need to sound a warning: You cannot be saved from sin by the Christ of the Bible if you reject the Christ of the Bible. The Christ of the Bible is an authoritative Adviser as well as an atoning Savior. So if we try to receive him as an atoning Savior and reject him as an authoritative Adviser, all we receive is an imaginary Christ, while rejecting the Christ of the Bible. Therefore, since we can't be saved by the Christ of the Bible if we reject the Christ of the Bible, we will never make it to heaven, nor enjoy the fellowship of God here, if we don't aim to make the counsel of Christ decisive in the decision making process of our life. Suppose Jesus Christ walked through the door to your home and came up to you saying, "Hello, my name is Jesus, I am the Son of God and I came into the world to save sinners and give them complete happiness and everlasting life. By my death and resurrection I have atoned for sin. And by my wisdom and knowledge I can show you how to make choices that will bring you the greatest life and joy. Will you trust me?" And suppose you said, "Well, I do want to be happy. I like the idea of having all my sins forgiven. I certainly don't want to go to hell. But I have looked over some of you directions for the good life and I just don't agree with some of your ideas about how I can be happiest. So I accept your forgiveness now, and I really appreciate it. But I think I will go with my own ideas of how to live." Sounds crazy doesn’t it? Jesus’ answer to such a response is recorded for us in the gospel. The rich young man asked Jesus what he needed to do to inherit eternal life. Jesus told him a few commandments that needed to be kept. His answer was that hed had done but still wondered what else there was for him to do. Jesus told him to sell or give away everything he had and follow Him. The Bible says. “He went away sorrowful.” (cf. Matthew 19:16-30). Jesus said that the young man wanted to control his destiny by his own devices. That is an impossibility. God is good and merciful; however, he is also just and righteous. As we begin, keep that in mind. Your decisions in life are important as they reflect your heart.