WHY LIVE A GOOD AND GODLY LIFE?

WHY LIVE A GOOD AND GODLY LIFE?

By: Daniel McMillin

Introduction

If you could have any superpower, what would it be? Would it be to fly? Would it be to have superhuman strength? Would it be time travel? Would it be telepathy? Would it be mind-control? Would it be mindreading? Would it be to shapeshift? Would it be magic? Imagine for a moment that you had the power of invisibility. What would you do with your powers? Would you use your powers for good or for evil? Would you be a superhero or a supervillain? Well, for most of us, I would assume that we would desire to use our newfound powers for good rather than for evil, and we would desire to be a superhero to be there to defeat the villain and the ways of evil. But that brings us to an important point that I believe is essential for today's subject. What would we do if we had the ability to get away with evil? What if God wasn't watching, that is to say, that He, as an all-knowing (omniscient) and all-present (omnipresent) Being, did not see us or was unaware of our sins? Would we go about doing evil or desire to live a good and godly life? It is easy to say, "I want to live a good and godly life," because we believe that is the correct answer. That is the right thing to do. But would we? And will we? (I want to preface that I will be using many stories to illustrate a point. But my primary purpose is for us to make a self-reflection of our true priorities to enlighten us of who we are on the inside and then to exhort us to seek to do the right thing and live the right way)

The Republic and the Ring of Gyges

Why is a thing good? Is it due to its intrinsic value or its consequences? Are there things that are good in and of themselves regardless of the outcomes or are there things that are only good because of the effects regardless of their value? What does it mean for a thing to be truly good?  That is the question! This is what the Ring of Gyges is all about as the great philosopher Plato goes on a journey in The Republic to discover this truth. Goodness is independent of its consequences. Goodness contains a value in and of itself regardless of the outcome. But will we do that which is good regardless of the

consequences? Where there is no law of justice for a society, no God (or gods) to produce such law, or traditions to define justice from generation past to present and future, what will we do? If there is no basis for justice, then will we do harm to one another? If we strip all of that away, will we do bad things? If we could get away with it if there were no consequences to our actions, would we steal or murder, or what have you? Why be moral if no one will know? (How will they know?) ADD Summary of story.

Where is our moral intuition? Is it fear of getting caught? Or maybe not wanting to avoid the consequences of our actions? The Ring of Gyges shows that people act morally out of necessity rather than out of moral intuition. We do not act morally because of freedom of one's moral choice but because we have to. We act morally for fear of punishment. The consequences of our actions keep us in check. Without the law, without justice, and society to keep us in check. It is then that we would choose immorality. However, these laws are set to ensure no harm would be done to another individual. It is moral to help and immoral to harm others. So if it is wrong to do harm to others, then to do things for our own self-interest that would result in doing harm to others would be immoral. It is for that reason that we need laws in order to maintain a moral system that we do not abuse and use one another that results in harming our fellow man. "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." And so, we ought to do the right thing for the sake of doing good rather than evil. We should desire to do good to others, helping rather than hurting. If we were given the opportunity to be invisible, no one would ever know. We would possess a power that provides us with the opportunity to do as much injustice as humanly possible, or...we could choose to use our newfound power for good.

Harry Potter and the Cloak of Invisibility

In Harry Potter, JK Rowling tells the story of a young wizard. We read of a boy who survived sudden death, who goes on adventures with his friends, and who defeats evil as he does good things. But there is also a side to him that is mischievous. He's like his father, always up to no good. But when he inherits his father's cloak of invisibility, we see him reaching another level of him being a troublemaker. He breaks into places he's not supposed to be, he listens into conversations he ought not to hear, he pranks and, at times, harms others when he has the cloak on. And so we read of this child who is given the opportunity to get away with whatever he wants with his cloak of invisibility, and while he may use it at times for a good purpose, he would use it for mischievous purposes for his own self-interest.

The Lord of the Rings and the One Ring to Rule Them All

In the Lord of the Rings, JRR Tolkien creates a world with wizards, elves, dwarves, orcs, goblins, humans, and hobbits. There are those such as Boromir that seek to use the power of the one ring to use for his own self-interest, Sauron for world domination, and Gollum to fulfill his obsession. Each uses (or desires to use) this ring for power which results in chaos and corruption. But then Frodo possesses the ring, and he uses the ring to vanquish evil and save lives. He went on this unexpected journey to destroy the ring of power for the best interests of others. When we have the desire to do good, it is then

that we will seek to do the right thing. We should all want to be good people, and we should want to do the right thing. But we don't always... even when we know God is watching and we know of God's divine commands, we still choose not to do the right thing. We act in our own self-interests and allow the power of sin to corrupt us. It is for that reason that we should want to do the right thing in order to not allow immorality to corrupt us. 

Genesis and Jesus

What follows in this first list are examples of doing things that are wrong for one's own self-interest that results in a negative way. Ultimately these are stories about sin. What kind of impact it has on our lives, its nature, and the consequences that follow. And so we begin at the beginning of our story in the Garden of Eden, where Eve is put in a position where she is literally being tempted by the devil, who is in the form of a serpent. And we read what she does, out of her own self-interest. "When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate." (Gen. 3:6). You notice how she follows her own self-interests. She is tempted to act upon what she desires, and she shares that with her husband and, as a result, they are naked in the literal sense and are also spiritually naked and filthy due to their iniquities.

When you read of Adam and Eve's children after the fall, we see Abel offering a better, acceptable offering to God which was due to his faith (Heb. 11:4). But Cain's sacrifice was unacceptable. Moses wrote that God "had no regard" (Gen. 4:5), which made Cain very angry. And so Cain "rose up against Abel his brother and killed him" (Gen. 4:8). This story is very interesting to our lesson because it seems as though God, possibly from Cain's perspective, is unaware of what he had done. God asks, "Where is Abel your brother?" And Cain replies with one of the most infamous quotes of the Bible, "I do not know. Am I my brother's keeper?" (Gen. 4:9). So it almost seems like Cain thinks that he has gotten away with murder, as most murders may assume, but God has known all along. That is why He replies, "What have you done?" as a statement of self-reflection to accuse Cain of his crimes of murdering his brother as he then directs his attention to the testimony of Abel… "The voice of your brother's blood is crying to Me from the ground" (Gen. 4:10). As a result, God cursed Cain and then banished him, leaving Cain with this reputation of wickedness.

Many years later, "the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually" (Gen. 6:5). This was not what God had intended from the beginning. "God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good" (Gen. 1:31). But now look what happened. They have sought after their own self-interests, been identified with wickedness, have corrupted their hearts with evil, and it is all due to their sins. They had allowed their lives to become consumed by sin. The world was so bad that God had to destroy the entire world with a flood to destroy evil and preserve good, namely the family of Noah.

After the flood, mankind desired to create a tower that would "reach into heaven" to make for themselves "a name" (Gen. 11:4). And they did, just not in the way they had intended. And so God confused their language, which once was the "same" (Gen. 11:1), but now they do not "understand one another's speech" (Gen. 11:7), and He "scattered them abroad from there over the face fo the whole earth" (Gen. 11:8). As they acted in their own self-interests with their pride and arrogance, they were dispersed and humbled by God.

Finally, during the time of Abraham, the Lord sess the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah and says that is "great, and their sin is exceedingly grave" (Gen. 18:21). There was not one righteous person there. These two sinful cities were consumed by the influence of sin, corrupted by its power, and, as a result, God destroyed them due to their sinful nature (Gen. 19).

What do we notice? Sin is evil, wicked, and wrong. Sin corrupts, condemns, and destroys us. Sin harms, terrorizes, and kills people. It is our greatest threat, yet we greet it as an old friend. You see that living in sin, following your own self-interests, hurts you, hurts others, and God hates it. How do we seek to do the right thing and not act on our own self-interest

In these next few examples, we notice what happens when we do the right thing. When we do not do things for our own self-interests alone, it does not go too well. But when we, through self-sacrifice, have faith in God. We depend upon God's sovereignty and trust that all things will be accomplished for His good will. What happens when we act not out of our own self-interests but for the service of God.

When the world was known for thier evil deeds, God saw one man named Noah who stood out and had "favor in the eyes of the Lord" (Gen. 6:8). He sought to live a good life, do the right thing, take care of his family, and trust God. He is, for that reason, viewed as a most righteous man. When we sing "Trust and Obey," he is the greatest example of such faith. When God said to build an ark in this way, Noah did it exactly as God had commanded. He did what God said and was rescued from the flood, along with his family. What we see is that faith saves. Doing things in accordance with God's will, in the way that He has commanded, is profitable for us. It is in our best interests to trust God because we will be blessed.

After Isaac is born, God tests Abraham and says to him, "Take now your son, your only son, whom you love, Isaac, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I will tell you" (Gen. 22:2). Abraham gets up early, takes his son to be sacrificed, and is about to go through with it. The angel of the Lord recognized he truly feared God and saw that he was willing to sacrifice his son, and so God showed mercy, and Abraham sacrificed a ram instead. He was able to do this because he believed the promise that God had made previously made concerning Issac, "I will establish My covenant with him for an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him" (Gen. 17:19). Since he trusted God and His word, He was faithful until the end and obedient every step of the way. As a result, God blessed him and said, through the angel of the Lord, "In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice" (Gen. 22:18).

Though Joseph was in a terrible position when he was sold into slavery and hated by his brothers, he was able to make it through the ranks while in Egypt. He worked under Potiphar, the Captain of the bodyguard, and worked very diligently and was able to prosper due to the providence of God and, as a result, became his personal servant and was made the overseer of his house. (Gen. 39:1-6). But when he was tempted time and time again by Potiphar's wife, he fled until she slandered him and he was imprisoned (Gen. 39:7-23). But even then, he was able to prosper as he interpreted the Pharoh's dream and was later made a ruler of Egypt. When Joseph did the right thing, he prospered. God did not punish him for his perseverance, righteousness, or obedience. God truly blessed him because even when it would have been easier to live his life the way he wanted, he did the difficult thing and did what was right. Even when things were not easy, and life was hard.

Look at the sum of it all. When we live for God, rather than ourselves, we are doing the right thing. When we are doing what God wants, we are doing what is pleasing to Him. As a result, we are blessed, prosper, and are delivered from our sins. God sees us as faithful servants who seek Him first. God sees our priorities. When our lives are about ourselves, we miss the big picture. But when we make God our lives, then the picture becomes clearer. What we have noticed is that we want to do the right thing because that is what God wants us to do. We want to do the right thing because it is the best thing to do for others. And we want to do the right thing because it is best for ourselves.

To give a final example, we look at the life of Jesus. This is what the Bible has been preparing us for. Its purpose is to point us to Christ, which is exactly what each of these stories accomplish. Jesus Christ lived a life that was sinless, perfect, and spotless. He was one who lived in accordance with God's will till the point of death. He was obedient to the law of God that He was under. He did things that helped others. He did the right thing. He was and is the most influential, impactful, and impressive life that man has ever had the pleasure of knowing. But we see that there were many difficulties which was heightened in the last week of His life, know as the passion. He cried in Gethsamane for deliverance from the sufferings that He would experience. He endured rejection, abandonment, denial, betrayal, false accusation, slander, mockery, scourging, and crucifixion. This image seems to be the wrong thing. Jesus was innocent of sin; He had committed no crimes, and yet He was punished for the sins of everyone. He died on the cross to redeem us. And we see that He has granted to us eternal life, deliverance from sin, an abundance of blessings, and so much more. You see these stories that we have just noted in Genesis come together in the life and death of Jesus Christ. The story of the Bible is about more than sin; it is also about salvation. A story we can all appreciate. If Christ lived a life that was right, then that is the one we should follow. That is the example we all ought to imitate. We should honor the sacrifice of our Savior by living for Him. It is for that reason that we should strive to live the Christian life. We should seek to do good, to live the godly life that God desires for us to live. Why live a good and godly life? Because it is the right thing to do!

"How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, Nor stand in the path of sinners, Nor sit in the seat of scoffers! But his delight is in the law of the Lord, And in His law he meditates day and night. He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water, Which yields its fruit in its season And its leaf does not wither; And in whatever he does, he prospers. The wicked are not so, But they are like chaff which the wind drives away. Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, Nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous. For the Lord knows the way of the righteous, But the way of the wicked will perish." (Psalm 1)