Our Greatest Good (part 2)

Meditation on Psalm 16:2b

Continued

"I will say to the LORD..."apart from you I have no good thing."

2) God is our greatest Good because he is the ultimate standard for what is good and thus approves or disapproves what is good and what is not. We see this in his approval of creation.  Each day when he made something, ‘God saw that it was good.’  The light, stars, mountains, trees, rivers, lions, sheep, cats and dogs were all good.  Then he created humans in his own image and likeness. At the end of his work, “God saw all that he had made, and it was very good” (Genesis 1:31). 

Then a great sorrow entered the world when our first parents disobeyed God and ate the forbidden fruit.  Sin entered the human race, corrupted us and as a result God cursed the earth.  Sin is the anti-good agent in us so that ‘there is no one who does good’ (Psalm 14:1) and even our own righteousness becomes nothing more then a filthy rag (Isaiah 64:6). In fact it robs us of the good God intends for us (c.f. Jeremiah 5:25; 18:10).    

But God is still good to us.  He gave us the Law, which is God’s standard of goodness for us.  The author of Psalm 119:39 tells God: “Your laws are good.” These laws include the Ten Commandments along with the other ones found in the Bible.  While many people wince when they hear the word ‘rule’ or ‘law,’ God gave them for our good.  There is a question posed to the Israelites in Deuteronomy 10:12-13 that points to the reason why God gave his commands: “And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God ask of you but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all you soul, and to observe the Lord’s commands and decrees that I am giving you today for your own GOOD.”

Even though the Lord’s commands are good and given for our good, they are so good that it draws out even the slightest sin in our lives.  Paul describes it in Romans 7 this way:

“So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous and good.  Did that which is good, then, become death to me? By no means!  Nevertheless, it used what is good to bring about my death, so that through the commandment sin might become utterly sinful.” 

When Paul finally concludes God’s commands are good and that in his own strength he cannot measure up to them, he declares: “What a wretched man I am!  Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death?  Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!”

Jesus Christ is our greatest good.  For while Jesus hung on the cross for six torturous hours, the love and compassion of God towards sinners and the justice and wrath of God against sinners met and provided a way for us sinners to be rescued.  And the power of God raised Jesus from the dead the third day so that we might believe he is our greatest good!  This is good news for us!  Very good news indeed!