Friday, September 26, 2014

The Gospel For Good People

Let me be frank at the outset. These thoughts are much better expressed in the sermon with the same title by Jim Shaddix http://9283b62adf4cad736e46-46e4f035c5679c79ce7534d08f6f25e9.r5.cf2.rackcdn.com/audio/2284.mp3

With that being said, I still feel compelled to write this down at least for my own blessing, if not for others as well. The set up is to consider David's life prior to 2 Sam 11. By any definition he was a "good" person. We would be hard pressed to find a very big chink in his armor. And yet somehow his affair with Bathsheba occurs as does the cover up and the resulting murder of Uriah.

We could easily spend a lot of useful time considering the how and the why of David's sin, because my guess is the drivers are not much different for us today. However, I'm moved by two verses that book end the account of David being confronted in his sin. The first is at the end of 2 Sam 11:27 "But the thing that David had done displeased the Lord." This is a piercing reminder that no matter who we are, no matter how good we are, our sin displeases God. I know we don't like to hear this or think about it, but even as Christians our sin displeases God.

But thankfully, that is only one bookend of David's account. The other end is in 2 Sam 12:13 "And Nathan said to David, “The Lord also has put away your sin; you shall not die." Much could be said about the consequences of our sin and rightly so. But what has captivated me is the gospel truth contained in the first 13 verses of 2 Sam 12. Consider the following:
  • David did all he could to cover up his sin, yet God confronts him. No sin is hidden.
  • David knew God was holy and requires justice 
  • David did not seek any type of restoration, yet God pursued him and brought him to the point of repentance.
  • David did not outsin the grace that God had lavished on him.
  • Even "good" people need the gospel
    I'm not sure where anybody reading this may be at. But I am continually amazed by the extent of the gospel and how much more I need to own it today than I did when I first believed. On top of that, there is the reality that God's love in Christ so wide and high and long and deep that it will cover even our deep, dark sins. I think we will be astounded, as David probably was, when we finally are confronted with the reality of our sin and that all of that offense has been taken from us and given to Jesus.  Amazing grace indeed.

      Soli Deo Gloria