The Goodness Of God

There are many misconceptions con­cerning the "goodness of God." Some have the idea that God is a cruel and spiteful God because he, as they put it, "allows bad things to happen." They seem to think that God is responsible for all the wickedness in the world, failing to recognize that God created man a free,  moral agent, and therefore man himself brings about these terrible things - not God. Paul said to "... behold the good­ness and severity of God" (Rom. 11:22). Again, some misunderstand the meaning of the word "severe," equating it with cruelty. But severity is not cruelty. As parents, people are sometimes severe with their children, but what right think­ing parent would be cruel to his child? God chastises his children just as the fa­thers of our flesh do (Heb. 12:1-11). This is for our own benefit. So just because God is severe does not assume that he is cruel and spiteful.

God's goodness is manifested in many ways. It is shown by his willingness to pardon the sins of man. Isaiah said, "let the wicked forsake his way, and the un­righteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy on him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon" (55:7). He is "not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance" (2 Pet. 3:9). Paul says "the grace of God... hath appeared unto all men" (Tit. 2:11). Thus we see that it is God's desire that all men take advantage of the blessings he has made available - but God will not force man to obey his will.

God's goodness is shown by his willingness to adopt man into his family. When one is adopted into a family, he officially becomes a part of that family. He has the right to ob­tain the blessings and privileges that go with being a part of the family. If God were a God of cruelty, he would not allow people to be­come a part of his family. He would keep the bliss of heaven to himself, not offering to share it with anybody! But Paul said, "but when the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were un­der the law, that we might receive the adop­tion of sons" (Gal. 4:4-5). In such an act, we can again see the goodness of God demon­strated. In extending this offer God is shown to be a good God.

Then we see God's goodness shown by the fact that he is willing to love man. This love was deep enough that he sent his only Son, and allowed him to be crucified that man might be free from sin. Does this sound like a God of spite and cruelty? Surely not! Who among us would be willing to do the same thing? John 3:16 shows the extent of the love of God. Christ loved man enough to carry out the wishes of his Father in this matter because "while we were yet sin­ners, Christ died for us" (Rom. 5:8).

Finally, God's goodness is shown by his willingness to allow us to become heirs. "The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit that we are the children of God: and if children, then heirs: heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him that we may also be glorified together" (Rom. 8:16­17). Who would refuse to be an heir "with Christ"? This is a wonderful promise and because of God's goodness we have it! Upon one occasion, God made a great promise to Abraham (Gen. 12: 1-3). This blessing comes down to man today in a spiritual sense. Paul said, "and if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise" (Gal. 3:29).

Such goodness will surely lead man to repentance ( Rom. 2:4). When man re­alizes this, he can come to appreciate the goodness of God more fully: Hu­manity has come to look upon God's goodness too lightly. It needs to be re­minded that there is a severe side to God, to be sure, but that is another les­son. Man needs to realize the dangers of delay, and the penalty that his ingrati­tude for God's goodness will surely bring. - Bill Moseley

 

 

 

Two things above - one good and one bad. Have you figured out which is which? There is a small bakery near our house that makes the best apple fritters on planet earth! About the size of a baseball catcher's mitt, but surely taste a whole lot better. My problem is when I take my early morning walk, usually around 5:30 a.m. three days a week, I come 'round the comer of the street where we live, and I can smell those things! Temptation? You bet - I can convince myself if I keep walking in that direction, I can be there in about two minutes, and probably be the first one in line at that hour! But - I know I don't need them - so the "flesh battles the spirit," and thankfully, so far, the spirit has won, although I have given in a couple times in the past year or so.

That, my friends, is precisely how temptation works in the life. We are prone to give in to temptation because it presents us with an apparently great thing that we don't need. Satan makes things so handy for us, and if not careful we can rationalize whatever it is that may be before us, and sure enough, we "can be there in about two minutes!" That's why we need to learn to leave sinful things alone altogether, and not play around with them. Apple fritters probably won't affect our salvation very much, if any. But mark it down - if we don't handle the temptations that come our way in the right manner, that salva­tion will be affected very much! As good as it may "smell," learn to avoid it if God does not approve. - Bill Moseley