January 24
Abundant in Goodness
And
the Lord passed by before him, and proclaimed, The Lord, The Lord God, merciful
and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant
in goodness and truth, Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no
means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children,
and upon the children's children, unto the third and to the fourth generation (Ex. 34:6-7)
When Moses asked to see God’s glory (Ex. 33:17-23),
God gave him a revelation of His character. On the basis of this revelation,
Moses was able to successfully intercede for Israel when they sinned and opened
themselves up for destruction (Num. 14:17-20). Because of His goodness, God is
ready to forgive our iniquities: “For
thou, Lord, art good, and ready to
forgive; and plenteous in mercy unto all them that call upon thee”
(Psalm 86:5).
Sometimes God is depicted by Bible expositors as
having a cruel mean streak in the Old Testament. He is looked upon as harsh,
unforgiving and quick to judge at the slightest transgression. It is
erroneously implied that Jesus had to come for the express purpose of tempering
the Father’s desire to bring harsh judgment upon worthless sinners. We are even
told by some that Christians should avoid the Old Testament since only the New
Testament (specifically the epistles) is applicable.
However, when we look for God’s revelations of
Himself in the Old Testament we see anything but a cruel and merciless deity.
God did not switch personalities from the Old to the New. He was merciful and
forgiving under the Old Covenant just as He is in the New Covenant.
Jesus did not die and resurrect in order to change
God’s character or His attitude toward us. Jesus died in order to legally
rescue us from Satan’s tyranny, thus providing the Father a legal basis upon
which forgiveness can be extended and no one can accuse Him of being unfair to
Satan and the fallen angels. Before Jesus, the second member of the Triune
Godhead, gave His own life, the animal sacrifices provided a covering which
pointed to His redemptive work.
In other words, even in the Old Testament, God
provided every possible way to extend His love, mercy, and forgiveness to
fallen man. This is an example of abundant goodness. This same God is ever
ready to forgive you and love you regardless of what you have done. Embrace His
abundant goodness.
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