You are good, and do good. Psalm 119:68
How do you define goodness? Is it just the opposite of what we think is bad? Is it something that we do? How can we understand what the goodness of God really means?
God is morally perfect. That means that He is excellent in all that He is and does and is completely free from anything that is malicious. He always does the right thing, because He is the only one that can. He knows everything about everything and is not the source of crookedness or evil in any measure.
But He’s not a sugar daddy or a Santa Claus. If we only think of God’s goodness in the terms of us getting what we want from Him then we’ve misunderstood what the essence of His goodness really is.
When God gives moral laws, He is giving us what is good for us. We might not like it. We may find it hard to understand. But that does not alter the fact of His goodness and desire for us to have His goodness worked out in our own lives.
I work with ladies who have had breast cancer. It is an extremely difficult time in their lives that often results in radical body altering surgery. Most agree to this surgery, even though it is going to be painful and life changing. But they are convinced that the removal of the cancer and surrounding tissue will save them. For the only time in their lives, they welcome a masked man/woman coming towards them with a knife in their hands while they lie helplessly on an operating theatre bed.
How often we mistake the goodness of God! His moral laws and instructions for living are not there to destroy us, but to heal us. He knows that the soul that sins will die. (Ezekiel 18:20). So, He comes with His Word to remove the sin and to save us from eternal death.
Are the 10 commandments good? We are told not to murder, commit adultery, steal, lie, or be jealous. Are those good things or bad? If we get what we want from murder, adultery, stealing, lying or jealousy does that make it good, or only good for us at that moment in time?
Biblical economics are built on giving and receiving, not on having to borrow money and pay back with interest. In fact, when God gave each Israelite their portion of land, it was to stay in that family forever. If the family had to sell it when they fell on hard times financially, it had to be returned to that family at the end of 50 years, so that the next generation could have an inheritance. It was to be given back, not sold back to them. This stopped the growing gap between the rich and poor becoming bigger and bigger as it is today. Is that a demonstration of goodness or badness? Marital faithfulness and parental responsibility are the bedrock of a secure and stable society. Is that a good thing or a bad thing?
For God to be good, He has to hate evil. He wants the very best for our lives, so He has to point out what hinders us from receiving the good that He has planned for us.
Man may think He knows best, but we are inherently self-centred. Goodness is defined by what pleases us in our circumstances and time of life.
God is pure goodness and perfect morality. He knows what is best for us and wants what is best for us, but like the cancer surgeon, no one goes under the knife with out giving their consent.
God offers mankind the freedom from the consequences of spiritual cancer – the consequences of our sinful nature. It can be a painful process to be conformed to the image of Christ, as we have to cut away all the sinful thoughts and habits, we’ve developed over a life time. But, oh the joy of knowing that our sins have been forgiven.
There is a bell in our local cancer treatment centre. When patients finish their treatments and have been given the all clear, they get to ring that bell. Their weeks, months or years of treatment are over. Their joy and excitement of ringing that bell is contagious. Everyone cheers and celebrates with them.
There is ecstatic joy in heaven when we are saved, and an equally ecstatic welcome for us when we reach heaven gates and enter into the eternal joys of his reward. Our God is Good! All the time!
