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August 25, 2009
The Goodness of God
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Greetings!
What is good? Cookies are good. Teams can be good. Players can be good. Kids can be good. But what does it mean when we say God is good? The goodness of God is far beyond the simple usage of the word good.
The Bible begins with quite a few verses around the "good" concept. In Chapters 1 and 2 of Genesis God created things and said they were "good". He also created the tree of the knowledge of "good" and evil. Goodness has been with us since creation but the concept of goodness has lost it's flavor and punch.
The Israelites had the concept right, "Oh, give thanks to the LORD, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever" (Psalm 118:1). Recently, I was thinking about the goodness of God and came to the conclusion the when God is described as "good" it is our best attempt at one word that contains many attributes of His amazing character. This notion is from Exodus 33.
In Exodus 33, verses 18 -19, Moses and God are having a talk:
MOSES 18 And he said, "Please, show me Your glory."
GOD 19 Then He said, "I will make all My goodness pass before you, and I will proclaim the name of the LORD before you. I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion."
God's own description of the glory man could contain was called His "goodness". The goodness of God is the package of God we receive on any given day. He may be kind, compassionate, gracious, loving, patient, faithful, gentle, powerful, giving, etc. In whatever way we perceive God the truth remains, He is good! He is all of the amazing attributes we can find in vocabulary but He is more ... He is good! |
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8 Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good; Blessed is the man who trusts in Him!
~ Psalm 34:8 ~ |
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Overwhelmed by God's Goodness
God is good. There is nothing we can do to challenge this thought. The goodness of God is not just a fact every follower of God should believe but a perspective by which we should live. It is our joyful life pursuit to "taste and see" the goodness of God in every day living.
It isn't always easy to "taste and see" the goodness of God. When I am alone with my thoughts and God I find it easy to reflect on His goodness. It is when I am not in connection with God, whether alone, with others, or in the world, that I question goodness. It is in humanity and my own nature that good is not present but in God goodness is as present as wetness is to water.
The "good news" of the gospel is that God, through His goodness, draws me into relationship, His goodness and eternal life. Romans 2:4 communicates it thus, "Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance?" God is good. He is so good that even when we are bad He draws us in with His goodness!
I am overwhelmed by the goodness of God. There is truly nothing that can separate me from His goodness! (Romans 8:34-36) I know that I miss the mark. I know I have bad days. Still, I know that I know that I know that God is good! His goodness inspires me to be good, to do good and to seek good. God is not only a beacon of hope but an example of supreme goodness.
Pursue the God of goodness this week and allow His goodness to change your perspective on living and on life! I leave you with this thought by Thomas Manton as quoted by A.W. Pink,
"There is such an absolute perfection in God's nature and being that nothing is wanting to it or defective in it, and nothing can be added to it to make it better. 'He is originally good, good of Himself, which nothing else is; for all creatures are good only by participation and communication from God. He is essentially good; not only good, but goodness itself: the creature's good is a super-added quality, in God it is His essence. He is infinitely good; the creature's good is but a drop, but in God there is an infinite ocean or gathering together of good. He is eternally and immutably good, for He cannot be less good than He is; as there can be no addition made to Him, so no subtraction from Him' (Thomas Manton). God is summum bonum, the highest good."
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For King and Kingdom,
Randy Martin |
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