Sermon for Saturday
And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou Me good? None is good, save One, that is God. Luke 18:19
When my wife was looking after children in our home, she often had youngsters from unusual backgrounds. One little boy about two years of age was from a family that was mixed up in some strange oriental cult. But the little boy was a normal, healthy, and bright youngster. Frequently, when Judy would try to teach him something, he would catch on quickly, and Judy would say to him, ‘Good boy!’. But when the lad’s mother heard that, she put a stop to it. Under no circumstances was Judy to ever tell him that he was either good or bad. Her attitude on the subject was extreme, to be sure. But in one way, she was partly right; none of us are good, although all of us are bad. The only exception is the Lord Jesus, the Saviour of the bad.
Did you notice who spoke after Jesus made this remark to the rich ruler? It wasn’t the rich ruler, who should have interjected at this point to declare that Jesus was good because he was God. But he didn’t. All this poor rich man saw concerning the Lord Jesus is that He was a religious figure. He completely missed His deity. And he lost his soul. Failing to see that Jesus is not only good but also God is the most tragic mistake people can make concerning Him. As Christians, we need to be constantly aware of His deity and all that the reality of His being God means to us.
The understanding that Jesus is God will serve to keep us humble. The Word Who was made flesh dwelled among us, but was never reduced to sinfulness, as was the first Adam and all of his descendents. He Who is our Lord, Saviour, and Friend is not like us in so many ways, and we must appreciate His grace in receiving us. We must accept that He Who has drawn near is holy, undefined, and separate from sinners. Although we are sinners, He has received us. So we ought to in humility strive to separate ourselves from sin and all that would be offensive to the Lord Jesus. As God, He deserves our respect and reverence. He also deserves to have us separate ourselves from sin as much as possible.
Only God is good. But we who belong to Him should strive to be as good as we can. -Jim MacIntosh