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What Is the Highest Good in Life?
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But for me it is good to be near God; I have made the Lord GOD my refuge.
Psalm 73:28
Asaph began Psalm 73 saying, “Truly God is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart” (73:1). What does it mean to say that “God is good to Israel?” The ancient philosophers —Plato, Socrates, etc.—used to debate what was the highest good in life. They used an old Latin phrase —the summum bonum—which is the highest good. What is the highest good?
Asaph says to us: “It is good to be near to God” (73:28). In other words, “I’ll tell you what the summum bonum is. For me, it is good to be near God. He opened my eyes in the sanctuary when I thought about the ultimate end of the wicked. Those who are far from Him will perish, but God is good to Israel because Israel has been brought near to God.”
Asaph would say, “I see now that if everything in my life was as I wanted it to be, but I was far from God, I would be in a desperate position. If nothing in my life was as I wanted it to be, but I was near to God, then I would still be supremely blessed. For me, the summum bonum is to be near God.” There is nothing greater in all of life than this. That’s what Asaph learned.
The blessing of the gospel is that Jesus came into the world and gave His life on the cross so that you could come near to God now and near to God for all eternity. “You who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ” (Eph. 2:13).
You get near to God through the blood of Jesus Christ. He is our peace. He came to preach peace to you who are far away and to those who are near.
Why would you remain at a distance from God when you know that Jesus Christ has come to bring you near?.
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