God Is Good
Notes
Transcript
Over the next 4 weeks or so, we will be covering different attributes of God in a series I have titled Knowing God.
When I came to candidate in April and either in the sermon last Sunday or during the Life Group time, I mentioned a quote from A.W. Tozer, and I was not kidding when I said that you will hear me repeat this quote many times:
What comes into our mind when we think about God is the most important thing about us. - A. W. Tozer
This series will not be a comprehensive study of God's attributes, otherwise we would be in this series for a very long time. This series is not a very deep study into the attributes of God, otherwise Sunday morning service wouldn't get out until Sunday evening.
The purpose of this series of Knowing God is to bring to mind some of God's attributes and to hopefully begin understanding how God's attributes work together. The more you know Him, the more you'll love Him; the more you
All of God's attributes are equally important, but I'd like to start with His goodness this morning , because I believe this to be foundational. When Moses said, "God, show me your glory." God responded by telling Moses, "I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim the name of the Lord." When God revealed Himself as much as He could to Moses without killing him, what He showed Moses was His goodness right before He made His formal introduction:
The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, 7 Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children's children, unto the third and to the fourth generation.
God is good! I believe most, if not all, of us would agree with this statement. Some may even follow it up with the phrase "all the time!" There are references to God's goodness all throughout scripture. As we just saw, God Himself proclaimed His goodness to Moses. Exodus 34:6 And the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth.
Even Jesus affirmed the goodness of the Father throughout His ministry.
I really think we take God's goodness for granted. Either that, or we underestimate His goodness.
We sing songs like The Goodness of God and God Is So Good, but do we really believe this? Do we really believe that God is abundantly good, and if we do, do we truly believe that He is good all the time?
If I were to ask you to think of a time when God was good to you, I would be willing to guess that 99% of thoughts would go to times when good things happened in your life. The thing is, even though those times are a show of God's goodness toward us, we often fail to realize that our circumstances DO NOT define God's goodness.
The narrative of the world and even of many Christians, however, is that God is someone who is good to those that deserve it. By contrast, this means He is mean to those who do not deserve His goodness. Even the disciples held this view of a small, selfish, and capricious God.
Luke 9:51-54
John 9:1-2 And as Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind from his birth. 2 And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind?
When the disciples asked this question, they were operating from a very old narrative: God is an angry judge. If you do well, you will be blessed; if you sin, you will be punished." It is an ancient narrative that is still prevalent in modern Christianity.
Those my age and older will probably remember that after the events of 9/11, several prominent televangelists took to the airwaves to proclaim that those terrorist attacks were God's punishment on the United States, and in particular New York, for sinfulness.
The earthquake in Haiti in 2010 that killed around 160,000 people was attributed by many to God punishing that nation for its sinfulness. I remember warnings of "America, we're next" were all over Facebook for a while after this.
This narrative of the angry and vengeful God is not just a belief held by some people. According to a study by Baylor University, it was found that about 37% of conservative Christians believe that God is "judgmental and highly engaged in human affairs," as if God were divine judge, watching us and eagerly awaiting the moment we commit even minor infractions to punish us.
To be completely honest, I viewed God in this way for many years. As soon as something bad would happen, I'd start confessing sins that I hadn't even committed, just in case!! And if I did something good, I was immediately looking and expecting His blessings.
But Jesus had a different narrative about God the Father. Jesus boldly proclaimed that God was good in a way that no other was. As Jesus was talking to a rich, young ruler that had come to Him inquiring about how to obtain eternal life, we read that Jesus declares God as good. The story is in Matthew, Mark, and Luke, but let's look at Mark's account:
Mark 10:17-18 17 And when he was gone forth into the way, there came one running, and kneeled to him, and asked him, Good Master, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life? 18 And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God.
That word good is a word that means: good, beneficial, of a good nature, pleasant, agreeable, joyful, happy, honorable, excellent, and upright. Without any hesitation, Jesus proclaims that God is perfectly good. All throughout the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus refers to God's absolute goodness toward those that are just and unjust. In chapter 7, he calls his audience, many of whom were religious leaders, evil, contrasting their imperfection as parents with God's absolute goodness.
In all the stories that Jesus tells of the Father, He describes a God that is always good and always out for good.
Luke 9:53-56 Does this sound like the narrative of an angry God?
If Jesus, being God in the flesh, He being the visual representation of the invisible God, the One who said if you've seen me you've seen the Father... If He did not call down fire at this point, do you think he was trying to show that God is angry and vengeful? No! He is showing God's goodness!
So we go back to Jesus and the disciples coming across this man that is blind from birth. Notice the question again:
John 9:1 And as Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind from his birth. 2 And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind?
Who sinned? This man was obviously suffering. The rabbi's frequently taught that sickness was the result of God punishing men for sin.
Some even held to the belief that children could even sin in the womb, and that is why children were born with deformities, disease, or were even stillborn. This was a pervasive thought in that culture, and it is reflected in the question that was asked so easily by the disciples, "Whose sin caused this blindness?"
In this moment, Jesus is given the prime opportunity to affirm the narrative that "God is laying in wait to punish sinners." Let's see how He responds.
John9: 3 Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him.
Does this sound like the Angry God narrative?
Help me out. What would you say it sounds like? It sounds like an Amazing God narrative and if you continue the story, it reveals the GOOD GOD narrative.
Jesus' response seems rather odd. He says that neither this man nor his parents sinned. Obviously, He is not saying that they had never sinned in their lives, but that this condition of blindness was not the direct or indirect result of sin.
Jesus continues to say that this man's condition is the result of God's goodness and greatness. That the works of God should be made manifest in him. Not just that God's greatness would be manifested, but manifested in this particular man.
He could have said, "Yup, those parents hadn't gone to the temple in three years, so God is punishing them for their lack of faithfulness." But he did not say anything like that.
I like what New Testament scholar and Greek professor Merrill Tenney had to say about this passage:
"If Jesus believed the man’s blindness was a fair and just punishment for his sins (or his parents’ sins), he would have walked away. Justice would have demanded it. Instead, Jesus healed the blind man, and so revealed the power of God."
Jesus refused to look at this man's condition through either situation offered up by the disciples. Instead, he viewed it as an opportunity to do God's work.
Pastor and author James Bryan Smith states it this way: God is not in the business of balancing an eternal checkbook.
I would add to that that He is in the grace business. Jesus clearly abolished the notion that "we get what we deserve" as he clearly stated that God maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.
The idea that good things happen to good people and bad things happen to bad people is not even what we observe in reality. Terrible things happen to what the Bible would refer to as just individuals and plenty of evil people receive wonderful occurrences in their lives. SO WHY DO WE SO OFTEN HOLD TO THE NARRATIVE OF THE PUNISHING/BLESSING GOD?
I think it has to do with something that Pastor Chris preached on a while back, and that is our desire for control.
If it were true that God blesses the good and punishes the bad, I can coerce God into blessing and protecting me by simply doing good things. But this is just a form of superstition akin to:
- don't walk under a ladder
- don't break a mirror
- don't let black cats cross your path
- etc.
In a discourse he wrote, Augustine of Hippo basically says that we do not know why God allows good things to happen to evil people and bad things to happen to good people. Then he points out that good things do happen to the good, and bad things also happen to those who are bad. Augustine continues his discourse saying that since these things would be impossible to understand, it would be a waste of time to attempt to make sense of it all.
Instead, he offers a suggestion: Focus our attention on the good things that are particular to the good.
I grew up on the mission field and have had the privilege of knowing many missionaries, pastors, and faithful, Christian men and women. I've been able to see people that are completely sold out to the Lord and who live for Him, not out of a sense of obligation, but because they truly love God. I have witnessed in the lives of some of these people terrible tragedies, deep poverty, and what many would consider injustices perpetrated toward them. But in these people, throughout all these things, I have also witnessed unfathomable peace, joy, and fulfilment. I have heard praise and worship rendered to the Lord out of full hearts when it just does not seem to be logical. I have seen smiles, honest smiles born of God's love and peace and a love for God on the faces of people that in every logical conclusion should not be smiling.
This is what Augustine referred to as the good particular to the good. These good things are good things that are produced in those that whole heartedly follow the Lord, and they are not situational, nor are they experienced in any remote way by those who do not follow God.
Last week we studied about being connected to the Vine which is Jesus. That in our relationship with Him we are to be fed by Him. He then produces in us things that we could not get anywhere else.
- The fruit of the Spirit-
- love
- joy
- peace
- longsuffering
- gentleness
- goodness
- faith
- satisfaction
- fullness of days
- an abundant life
- meaning and fulfilment
- etc.
And like there are blessings peculiar to those that are good, there are evils peculiar to them that are evil. There is a special type of loneliness, guilt, and self-hatred that is peculiar to those that are selfish, egotistical, and spiteful. These will never understand the joy and peace that is uniquely experienced by those that serve, love, and follow after the Lord.
Listen, I am NOT denying the punishments that God meted out throughout the Bible. Those were specific instances in which we have very clear revelation from the Lord that it was God's punishment. For example: Destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, Israel and Judah's captivity, the cycle that we read about in the book of Judges, etc. But like I said, these were specific instances of consequences that followed disobedience after God had decreed what the punishments would be or declared afterward that these situations were in fact punishment. And even His punishment to the evil people is not designed to satisfy the wrath of God. It is designed to be discipline, to draw the receiver and/or the onlookers into relationship with God. It is meant for good, even when we can't understand it.
As one man wisely said, "Regardless of the situations around us, I believe that one day it will all become clear. One day [we] will fully understand why God allowed [different situations], and I believe that when [we] understand why, [we] will see that God was not only just, but good.” -paraphrase J. B. Smith
We see this attitude in the words that Job spoke after he had lost all his children and all of his possessions, after his health was stripped away from him, after his wife urged him to curse God and die, and after three of his friends had come to him and instead of comforting him, they accused Job of sin. They at first insinuated that he was living in sin and then outright accused him of unconfessed sin. We know the behind the scenes of what truly happened with Job; it was God allowing Satan to tempt Job in various areas to see if Job would indeed turn his back on God.
But the way Job replies to his friends is this. Job 13:15 Though he slay me, yet will I trust in Him.
Wow! What a profound statement. "Trust," a small word, carries some substantial weight. It isn't just belief, it is obedience. If you trust somebody, you follow their advice and commandments. If you TRUST God like Job trusted Him, it means that you will follow Him to the death KNOWING that He is good, just, and will be glorified.
Let me be clear, this is not advocating any type of self-harm, but it is advocating for us to have the mind that Jesus had and that was characterized by His disciples. They preached, they obeyed, and they made disciples. They were told repeatedly to cease, they were threatened, imprisoned, beaten, tortured, and all but one died at the hands of those who hated them. All they had to do was stop and they could have lived a long and regular life. But they trusted God that even in death He is GOOD.
The book of James is one of my favorites. It book opens up with this statement James 1:2-4 My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations [trials]; 3 Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. 4 But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.
Count it all joy. ALL. EVERYTHING. The trial, the hard times, the test, the bad events, whatever you want to call it, count it ALL joy. KNOWING that it brings about good things. IN EVERYTHING GOD IS GOOD, even in the so-called bad times.
This requires and absolute trust in God and a relinquishing of control. This means that I often find myself in need to review this in my own life. Especially in the area of finances, and too often I have presented my so-called merits as a reason for God to get us through and provide for us. But the thing is, once the request is made, do I trust God enough to say, "But if you want me to be homeless, then I will trust you, I won't complain, and I will whole-heartedly say 'you are always good.'"
I cannot stand here and say that I have figured out God or that I fully understand His goodness. Anyone that does that is delusional or just flat lying to you. But I can say this, God IS good. This is a fact of who God is. It is part of His nature, just the same as the fact that God is love and holy and righteous and just and perfect.
God is good, even when the situations around me do not seem good. God is good when everything is going well; He is good when my world is falling apart. He is good when I am faithful, and He is good when I am not. He is good in His blessings; He is good in His discipline. He is good when things go as planned, and He is good when I cannot see the next step in front of me.
GOD IS GOOD ALL THE TIME!
Why is this so important to understand? Because if you are a Christian, it is important that you get to know your Heavenly Father. It is He that defines who you are. He is the one that give purpose for life and for ministry. You will never serve God to your fullest until you understand that He is always good. He is good when ministry is going well, and He is good when nobody seems to appreciate you. He is good when you are on fire, and he is good when you are weak. You will never fully integrate into a the body of the church if you do not understand that He is good, and the church will not be very impactful until His goodness flows through each of us.
If you are not saved, if you have never trusted Jesus and Him only for salvation. Then you cannot fully experience God's goodness. The greatest thing that God did for you and for me was to send His only begotten son Jesus to die on a cross for our sins and to pay the deb of sin that we all owe. Jesus died willingly on the cross, took our sin upon Himself, shed His perfect blood to wash man's sins away. But he did not stay dead. Three days later he rose from the grave and defeated death and sin. Because of this, you can be saved from sin and from sin's eternal consequences in a lake of fire.
It is His goodness that extends that invitation of salvation to you today. You cannot buy it, and you cannot work for it. You cannot earn it. You do not have enough goodness in you to deserve salvation. No church can give you salvation, no person outside of Jesus can give it to you. It is God's absolute and perfect goodness that offers you eternal life today, free of cost.
So what must you do to be saved?
Repent= recognize that you are a sinner and that your sin is an afront to God.
Put your faith completely in Jesus and call on Him to save you, for none of us can erase our own sins.
Trust in His promise that whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
We started with this quote, and I will continue to quote Tozer: What comes into our mind when we think about God is the most important thing about us.
How you view God will affect everything.
Have you been viewing God as truly good all the time? Or only good when things are going right?
Have you bought into the deception that every bad thing that happens to you is because God is angry at you, or do you truly realize that even in the bad times, God is still good? Listen, and I am not saying that God doesn't discipline us, he does. But just because I ran out of gas does not necessarily mean God's wrath is upon me for some sin I committed. If God clearly speaks to your heart about it being discipline, then that trust that it is and realize that it is still His goodness He is showing, He's not showing wrath or anger or even disappointment.
If you only view God as good some of the time, your view of God is small, incomplete, and directly against the way He has revealed himself in his word and through his Son. The more you know God, the more you can truly love Him.
