Day 14

As Jesus started on his way, a man ran up to him and fell on his knees before him. “Good teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” “Why do you call me good,” Jesus answered. “No one is good— except God alone.” — Mark 10:17-18

What makes good, good and wrong, wrong? Do we decide right and wrong by consensus or are there fundamental rights and wrongs that stand above culture, context and consensus? In Mark, Chapter 10, a rich, young man came to Jesus and addressed Him as, ‘Good Teacher’. Jesus picked him up on that and said, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone.” What the young man recognized as good in Jesus had its origin in God. Goodness is not an arbitrary measurement, but is consistent with the character of God. If ‘No one is good except God alone’, then goodness is consistent with God and has its origin in God, and badness is anything that is inconsistent with God and does not have its origin in God.

Human beings were created to express the image of God and we can work out what the ‘image’ involves by deduction. God has attributes He has chosen not to communicate to human beings, such as His omnipotence (all powerful), omniscience (knows everything), omnipresence (in all places at all times), immutability (never changes), and eternal nature (no beginning, no end). There are also God’s communicable attributes, which He has given to humanity. These are His moral attributes of love, joy, peace, gentleness, compassion, kindness and goodness, which constitute the image of God and were visible in Adam and Eve when He first created them.

There is a universal moral law which Paul speaks of as being ‘written on our hearts’ even by those who do not know the law. (Romans 2:15). This moral law is determined by the character of God, which is the moral absolute of the universe and which God revealed in practical terms when He gave the Ten Commandments. In today’s world, they may seem outdated, restrictive, unreasonable and even irrelevant but we need to recognize they derive from the unchanging character of God. Perhaps it is because they are humanly impossible to keep, they are perceived with such skepticism and negativity, but that is exactly the point. They are impossible to fallen people, but not to God whose nature they are. It was the Father in the Son who expressed the goodness that so impressed the rich young man, and it is the indwelling Spirit of God who, alone, can reproduce and express the moral character of God within us.

Prayer: I realize, Lord, that everything good comes from you, especially your moral laws which reveal your righteousness. Thank you for the gift of your Son, who works in us to express your good character, which not only enriches us but serves others.

To reflect upon: In what areas do I have a problem keeping God’s law? When I bring it to the Lord in prayer, how is He able to help?