Why God is Good

2011-11-11

God is good beyond anything we can fathom. There are times we look at our circumstances and we either deny that God is good, or just deny his existence. But if we look at the record as to what God has done, we immediately see his goodness.

John 1:1: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” Jesus was God himself, and he dwelled in heaven. But that was only the beginning.

John 1:14: “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.” He left the heavenly realm, and he lived among humankind.

He came and lived in our world. He was born into a poor family, and had “no form nor comeliness,” neither “beauty that we should desire him” (Isaiah 53:2). Even then, he did not live for himself during the short time of his public ministry. Healing lepers, the blind, and the deaf, casting out devils, reaching out to the lowliest outcasts, we saw gentleness, even when society had turned its back. But this life was not all he cared about.

John 14:6: “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” He promised eternal life to all who believe and trusted in him. Again he said, “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (Matthew 11:28-30).

Jesus “was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin” (Hebrews 4:15). Yet he reached out to all people, especially those “poor in spirit” (Matthew 5:3) who were willing to admit they were sinners.

It was the religious leaders and those with power that rejected him the most. He was betrayed by one of his own close friends: “He that eateth bread with me hath lifted up his heel against me” (John 13:38). How does it feel when you are betrayed by a close friend? Jesus willingly endured this for something greater than himself.

He was scourged with harsh malevolence; he was mocked by many, hung from a cross with common criminals, and died, descending to the lower parts of the earth. On the third day, he arose from the dead: “For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures” (1 Corinthians 15:3-4).

Hebrews 9:26: “He appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.” Jesus came to earth to serve us with the ultimate service. He had no need otherwise to come to the earth, which largely despised him, but “God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). But not only this happened; he rose from the dead, and we too shall have eternal life if we believe him.

He did not have to do any of this for you or for me. But he did, and this is why God is good.

In addition, Jesus never promised an easy life, but he did promise us eternal life. God is good not because he always gives us what we want; he is good because he gives us what we really need.