Understanding God's Goodness
Pastor Larry Perez
Larry Perez
January 7, 2022
Romans 2:4 "or do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and long-suffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance?"
I remember one day after leaving the movie theater, I entered my car in the parking lot, and before I could put the key into the ignition, I felt that my car was moving forward! At that moment, I slammed my foot on the brake as hard as I could. To my surprise, it wasn't that my car was moving forward, but that the two cars on both sides of me were moving backwards. I was always on park! I still laugh at this situation because I sensed the Lord teaching me something through this. Just because others around me are moving backwards, doesn't necessarily mean that I'm moving forward! You just may be on park and not moving at all!
This illustration is a good example of what is happening here with Paul. He is speaking to the moralist who thinks that because they are not committing the sins that are seen outwardly in chapter one, that they may be in good standing. To Paul, he wants them to understand that looking around at others doesn't mean we are moving forward. We could simply be on park and its just as bad.
We need to come to a point and thank God for his goodness towards our lives. According to theologian David Guzik, "Goodness may be considered God’s kindness to us in regard to our past sin. He has been good to us because He has not judged us yet though we deserve it." Let's take time to thank Him for being good to us even when we didn't deserve it. Is it possible that many have misunderstood his goodness toward the wicked? Is it possible that we might have misunderstood that the entire reason for his goodness is to lead us to repentance instead?
May we take this time to meditate on the goodness of God and remember the following:
I remember one day after leaving the movie theater, I entered my car in the parking lot, and before I could put the key into the ignition, I felt that my car was moving forward! At that moment, I slammed my foot on the brake as hard as I could. To my surprise, it wasn't that my car was moving forward, but that the two cars on both sides of me were moving backwards. I was always on park! I still laugh at this situation because I sensed the Lord teaching me something through this. Just because others around me are moving backwards, doesn't necessarily mean that I'm moving forward! You just may be on park and not moving at all!
This illustration is a good example of what is happening here with Paul. He is speaking to the moralist who thinks that because they are not committing the sins that are seen outwardly in chapter one, that they may be in good standing. To Paul, he wants them to understand that looking around at others doesn't mean we are moving forward. We could simply be on park and its just as bad.
We need to come to a point and thank God for his goodness towards our lives. According to theologian David Guzik, "Goodness may be considered God’s kindness to us in regard to our past sin. He has been good to us because He has not judged us yet though we deserve it." Let's take time to thank Him for being good to us even when we didn't deserve it. Is it possible that many have misunderstood his goodness toward the wicked? Is it possible that we might have misunderstood that the entire reason for his goodness is to lead us to repentance instead?
May we take this time to meditate on the goodness of God and remember the following:
· God has been better to us than we deserve
· God has shown us kindness when we have ignored Him
· God has shown us kindness when we have mocked Him
· God is not a cruel master and we may safely surrender to Him
· God is perfectly willing to forgive us
· God should be served out of simple gratitude
I Thank God, that instead of driving us towards repentance, He is leading us towards repentance. To drive is rough, its to push us, but instead with his mercy and his love and his gentle goodness, he leads us to the cross, and to his empty tomb so that we can open our eyes and be right with Him. GOD IS SO GOOD!
I Thank God, that instead of driving us towards repentance, He is leading us towards repentance. To drive is rough, its to push us, but instead with his mercy and his love and his gentle goodness, he leads us to the cross, and to his empty tomb so that we can open our eyes and be right with Him. GOD IS SO GOOD!
Prayer: Thank you Father for your goodness over our lives. For the times that we could have been exposed but instead you treated us with a love that we didn't deserve. Thank you for never being cruel but instead leading us towards your presence with your gentleness. You are awesome! AMEN!