The old prayer was "God is great; God is good. Now we thank Him for our food." Of course, "good" and "food" don't rhyme, but ... what about the rest? I've sometimes heard the person in front of the congregation declare, "God is good" to which the congregation is expected to reply, "All the time." But ... is that true? Sometimes, in conversations with Christians, I've stated, "We know that God causes all things to work together for good" (Rom 8:28) -- a shortened version -- to which they've objected. "No, no," they'll say, "only to those who love God and are called." Really? Is God good? Is God good all the time?
When someone referred to Jesus as "good teacher," Jesus questioned Him. "Why do you call Me good? No one is good except God alone" (Luke 18:19). So, from the lips of Jesus, only God is good. Comparing that with Paul and the Psalms, conversely, "No one does good, not even one" (Psa 14:3; Psa 53:3; Rom 3:12). So only God is good and no one else is. The Bible often refers to God as good (e.g., Psa 34:8; Psa 100:5; Nah 1:7). Additionally, James is not vague when he states, "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change" (James 1:17). Now that last one is interesting. First, and quite clearly, if there is anything good in your life, it comes from God. "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above." Every one. But the second point is important, too. Everything good comes from God who doesn't change. He doesn't produce good sometimes and sometimes not.
Scripture is abundantly clear that God is the only good and anything good comes from Him. Is He good all the time? Well, if "good" is part of the definition of "God" -- of who He is -- and if God does not change, He would have to be good all the time, not because of what He does, but because of who He is. Sure, God is good to those who hope in Him (Lam 3:25), but David declares, "YHWH is good to all; He has compassion on all He has made" (Psa 145:9). So there is no question that God is good, and that God is good all the time, because God is good by virtue of His own nature. The question that remains, then, is will you trust Him for what He is, or will you trust your own feelings when things don't "feel good"?
7 comments:
I've understood Romans 8:28 to mean that those that are called are able to see the good He has caused in the bad. However, not all things are for the good of the unrepentant. From God's perspective, it is good that sinners be damned, but is it good for them?
Thank you for this encouragement today. God is good--all the time--because of who He is. I hope this testimony is on my lips until my dying day. I am so grateful God never changes--I will be counting on that for the upcoming decades (which are likely to be my most challenging ones personally).
Your question, David, begs the question, "To whom are they good?" I was suggesting that to God (who is truth, and, therefore, always right) all things He does are good. We all know that we're all capable of mistaking what is or is not good. Or, to put it another way, if God does something good and I don't see it as good, it doesn't change the fact that it's good. Including the damnation of the unrepentant sinner.
Lorna, it's a message I keep bringing to myself, so I thought I'd share with you folks, too.
Stan, regarding your reply to David’s question, is it helpful to think of “God is right” or “God is just” for his example? To me, those phrases complement and clarify “God is good,” in that God abhors evil and must exercise divine judgment as a good God; this might not appear as “goodness” to those being judged but certainly is in the “big picture” (which God sees even if we don’t). I agree that we cannot make the proper judgment of what is “good” with our limited knowledge and understanding.
I believe all those (and more -- like "love") all tie in to "good," but I also believe that, when every person is judged, they will concur. I believe that everyone who faces the Judgment Seat and is not admitted to heaven will say, "Yes, that is good and right." I believe that every knee will bow and declare Jesus as Lord, some to spend eternity with Him and some not. I believe that, when the veil of sin is removed, everyone will concur that God is good all the time. I certainly don't believe that "good" is determined by how I or anyone else feels about it.
I too believe that all will concur with God’s judgment, whichever way it goes for the individual. I can imagine that as each unrepentant sinner appears before a holy God, they will cry, “woe is me!” and not “hey, that is not fair!” (This was exactly how I was thinking that the truths that “God is right” and “God is just” clarify how “God is good all the time” while also judging sinners. Of course, all His attributes exist in harmony and without contradiction.)
Stan,
The answer to your question is, yes I will trust Him because He is good. I don't always act like it, but to the core of my being I believe it. I may not see how things work, but I trust Him that they do. It can be hard to do so when life sucks, but I do my best to do so.
To David's question, it seems like that standard of what actions are good would be defined by what brings glory to YHWH.
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