Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Bible Study The Goodness of God in Christ Jesus

The goodness of God is evident in the gospel of Jesus Christ. The gospel is the “good news” (Isaiah 40:9; 41:27; 52:7; 61:6; Luke 1:19; 2:10; Acts 8:12; 13:32; Hebrews 4:2, 6), and good it is! God is good to all men in His common grace, showering blessings on the wicked and the righteous alike (Matthew 5:43-45; Acts 14:16-17). But God is particularly good to those who believe in the gospel.

The gospel is predicated on the truth that man is a sinner, deserving God’s eternal wrath (see Romans 1:18-3:23. This is the bad news of our sinful condition and the eternal wrath of God which it deserves. But the “good news” is that God in His goodness has made possible one way by which men may escape judgment, have their sins forgiven, and spend eternity in the blessed presence of God. That way is through the coming of Jesus Christ to live a perfect life, to die on the cross of Calvary in the sinner’s place, and to rise from the dead and ascend into heaven.

Nowhere is the goodness of God more evident than in the person of our Lord. In His goodness, God provided a way for sinners to be forgiven and to be declared righteous. It is not by any good works which we do, but on the basis of the goodness of the Lord Jesus Christ (see Romans 3:19-26; Titus 3:4-7). If you have never trusted in His saving work, I have words of exhortation for you,

8 O taste and see that the LORD is good; How blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him! (Psalms 34:8).

With this offer of salvation by faith in Jesus Christ, I must also issue a word of warning. The goodness of God is directed toward our repentance (Romans 2:4). If we reject the goodness of God in Christ, if we reject the gospel, then we bring upon ourselves the divine wrath of God:

22 For I was ashamed to request from the king troops and horsemen to protect us from the enemy on the way, because we had said to the king, “The hand of our God is favorably disposed to all those who seek Him, but His power and His anger are against all those who forsake Him” (Ezra 8:22).

22 Behold then the kindness and severity of God; to those who fell, severity, but to you, God’s kindness, if you continue in His kindness; otherwise you also will be cut off (Romans 11:22).

(4) The goodness of God is a foundational truth that shapes our perspective toward God and His dealings with us in this life. The goodness of God is The Joy of Jesus and giving...

1 comment:

  1. I love to read Bible and often speak out jesus quotes. I like the part where you say you are doing this to give back but I would assume by all the comments that this is working for you as well.

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