Goodness of God (Part 1)
Have you heard of this phrase, “God is good all the time”? Many of us would have even said it without fully realising the true meaning of it. For many of us, “God is Good” has even become a cliché.
What really is the goodness of God?
Is the goodness of God referring to the good things that has happened to you? Not quite.
In the New Testament, Paul describes the “goodness of God” as that which leads us to repentance. (Rom2:4).
Rom 2:1-4(NKJV)
2 Therefore you are inexcusable, O man, whoever you are who judge, for in whatever you judge another you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things. 2 But we know that the judgment of God is according to truth against those who practice such things. 3 And do you think this, O man, you who judge those practicing such things, and doing the same, that you will escape the judgment of God? 4 Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance?
Repentance from sin is an outcome and consequence of the revelation of God’s goodness toward us. Without His goodness we cannot repent, and without repentance we cannot know God for who He is and will continue to live in condemnation for our sins to eternal judgment.
In the Old Testament of the bible, we read about how Moses cried out in Exodus 33 for God to reveal HIs glory to him. God’s response was, “I Myself will make all My goodness pass before you, and will proclaim the name of the Lord before you; and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show compassion to whom I will show compassion.” (Exo 33:19-20).
So God commanded Moses to chisel out 2 tablets of stones (like the first ones he made and were then broken – signifying the laws of God were broken by the nation of Israel) with the ten commandments of God (Exo 34:1), and bring it up Mount Sinai and then He hid Moses in the cleft of a rock and showed “all His goodness” to Moses. In Exo 33:6-7 (AMPC), it says “Then the Lord passed by in front of him and proclaimed, ‘The Lord, the Lord God, compassionate and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in faithfulness and truth;who keeps faithfulness for thousands, who forgives wrongdoing, violation of His Law, and sin; yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished, inflicting the punishment of fathers on the children and on the grandchildren to the third and fourth generations.'”
God’s goodness is revealed in His compassion, His mercies, His patience and His faithfulness, His forgiveness and His truth, as well as His righteous judgments. God’s goodness was revealed with the awareness of God’s LAWs given through Moses which had been broken. The laws of God tell us where we have erred and sinned and that we are all deserving of punishment. The laws themselves do not give life, but only create an awareness of sin.
Without an awareness of sin, we will not be aware of judgment. Without an awareness of judgment we will not need to repent. Without repentance, there is no receiving of forgiveness. The truth is ALL have sinned and fallen short of God’s glory (Rom 3:23) with the penalty of sin being death. The GOOD news is the gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord. (Rom 6:23).
Moses found favour in God’s eyes and had the honour of previewing what was going to happen thousands of years later – the coming of God’s GLORY, the coming of His Son. And in the fullness of time, Jesus Christ was sent to the earth and revealed to us. Through His coming, death, resurrection and ascension, all of God’s goodness has been revealed through Him to all of mankind.
ALL of God’s goodness is revealed through all of His Son, Jesus! All of God’s compassion, mercies, patience (longsuffering) , faithfulness, forgiveness and truth are fully embodied in Jesus Christ. This includes all righteous judgments that all of mankind is deserving of..!”
Since Jesus came to the earth more than 2000 years ago, ALL of God’s goodness has been revealed through all of His Son, Jesus! All of God’s compassion, mercy, patience (longsuffering), faithfulness, forgiveness and truth are fully embodied in Jesus Christ. This includes all righteous judgments that all of mankind is deserving of, that were fulfilled in Jesus bearing the righteous judgment of the sins of the world, through His powerful death on the cross. The goodness of God’s forgiveness is granted to us as we come to Him in the belief and faith of what Jesus has done, and as we confess our sins and acknowledge Him as the Saviour of our sins, we receive His forgiveness and pardon.
In the Old testament before Jesus came, atonement of sin was accomplished through sacrificing the blood of bulls and goats. However since the coming of Jesus the Christ, all our sins and judgments are atoned for through His death and the redemption of our souls through HIs precious blood shed to cleanse us from our sins.
God revealed to Moses in that moment in time, unveiling His Ulitmate Goodness, the Glory of God; the begotten Son of God, JESUS CHRIST. ALL OF GOD’s GOODNESS is revealed through Jesus Christ, the perfect Atonement for our sins and the perfect Sacrificial Lamb of God, whom John the Baptist proclaimed, “who takes away the sins of the world”.
Do you know Jesus, THE Goodness of God?
Do you know Jesus the full complete embodiment of the Goodness of God who leads us to repent of our sins, so that we are no longer estranged and separated from God by sin and can be reconciled to God through Jesus Christ’s death on the cross?
This passage in 2Cor5:20-21 (AMPC) sums it up so well:
20 So we are Christ’s ambassadors, God making His appeal as it were through us. We [as Christ’s personal representatives] beg you for His sake to lay hold of the divine favor [now offered you] and be reconciled to God. 21 For our sake He made Christ to be sin Who knew no sin, so that in and through Him we might become the righteousness of God [what we ought to be, approved and acceptable and in right relationship with Him, by His goodness].
WILL YOU RECEIVE THE GOODNESS OF GOD INTO YOUR LIFE?
Wherever you are and in whatever situation you are facing, you can invite Jesus into your life by simply asking God:
“God, I confess I am a sinner and I need a saviour. Thank you for sending Jesus your Son to die on the cross for my sins. I need my sins to be forgiven. Will you forgive me of my sins? I want to repent from my sins. Please give me the strength to do it. In your Son, Jesus Christ’s name I ask.”