What makes a good king?
Let’s pretend that you have become king of a vast domain with millions of people under your rule and lots of natural resources available to you and your subjects. You have absolute authority to make the laws and a judicial system to enforce them. Your term of rule is for as long as you are able to function or are forced out of your position by a more powerful individual or you choose to retire from the “throne”.
What laws would you make sure are on the books? Whom would they be designed to benefit and protect? Who would pay for the costs of their provisions? What priorities would you have for their enforcement? What benefits would you hope to see from their enforcement during the next decade or so?
Perhaps you can recognize that this is not simply a “pretend” situation. Because of your power and authority as a voter, you do have the ability to influence the legislative processes of a “vast domain”. And the consequences of the rules that are set by those to whom you have given legislative power will be felt by the citizens of your realm for decades to come. As a nation of diverse people we are going through some difficult times and changing circumstances for our lives as individuals and groups of working consumers. And we are expecting our “rulers” to rule wisely, but there may be some real differences between us in regard to what we understand to be good rules of behavior for our common lives and commerce.
Let’s talk about this. How would you answer the above questions? We are entering a time of crisis and change, and how you answer these questions may have some serious consequences for all of us during the next few years. OK “king” what is your will? What is a good king? Let us talk about this.
I’d like some feedback on a similar topic to “Good King”. I have a friend who says he cannot believe in a God who would ask Jesus to die such a horrific death. How can a good God ask His Son to die in such a painful way?
I know that theologically, God is righteous and He requires a payment for our rebellion (sin). Jesus is the perfect sacrificial lamb who pays for my (and yours) sin. And our sin is very ugly. God is just and He requires a sacrifice. But Jesus being the sacrifice for all had to lead a perfect life. So it is God’s love that sent His Son. And our ugly sin that required His ugly death.
How would you explain this Good God?
Danas,
Not only is God “good”, but “God is love” (1 John 4:16). And you are right, “it is God’s love that sent His Son”, as Jesus indicated to Nicodemus in John 3:16 (see also 1 John 4:8-10 for an additional commentary on God’s love).
Please note in answer to your question that Jesus chose to “lay down” his life (see John 10:11-18). His life was not taken from him by God or by the Roman soldiers who crucified him in accord with Pilate’s orders. Paul refers to this act of Jesus as a “fragrant offering and sacrifice to God” because of his love for God’s redeemed “children” (see Ephesians 5:2).
Sin caused a huge separation between the “good” God and his human creatures, and there was no easy way to overcome or to remove this separation. So in love God and His Son, Jesus, provided the “payment” for God’s judgment against sinners or the “bridge” that spans the gap that separates the “good” Holy God from his rebellious children.
For a more complete explanation of this loving transaction see these statements on my website: http://christianityetc.org/god's_family.php and http://christianityetc.org/why_Jesus.php I hope that this brief comment answers your questions. Refer your friend to them. They might help him to understand this matter.
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