I have some bad news, and I have some good news. Let's start with the bad. The psalmist writes,
For you are not a God who delights in wickedness; evil may not dwell with you. (Psalm 5:4)
Some false gods delight in wickedness. Molech supposedly was pleased by child sacrifices. The Greek and Roman gods were themselves guilty of all sorts of unrighteousness. But the true and living god does not delight in wickedness. This abhorrence toward wickedness is to the degree that there's no way evil can dwell with God.
That's a problem for us, because all of us are born sinners. As soon as we possibly can, we sin against God because it's in our very nature. Since that's the case, on our own, we could never dwell with the God who does not delight in wickedness. That's the bad news. The good news is in verse 7:
But I, through the abundance of your steadfast love, will enter your house. (Psalm 5:7)
The psalmist acknowledges that the only reason he can enter God's house is the abundance, the riches, of God's steadfast love. It is the kind of love that would motivate Him to make a covenant with sinners and show mercy to them.
This idea of entering His house was speaking about the Temple in the Old Covenant, the place where God dwelled among His people Israel. But we now know that the Temple was pointing forward to Jesus Christ, the true Temple, whose body was destroyed but was raised up again in three days. His house is furthermore the church, which is His body.
Because God does not delight in wickedness, and because evil may not dwell with God, something needed to be done in order for sinners like you and me to become part of His everlasting people. "God so loved the world that He gave His only Son that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life" (John 3:16). Christ died on the cross for sinners like you and me, and if you believe in Him, you enter into a union with Him, together with the rest of Christ's church.
What good news, friends. Praise God for the good news that follows the bad.
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