Geoffrey R. Kirkland
Pastor, Christ Fellowship Bible Church
THE LORD IS GOOD! Believe the Bible’s declaration about this essential character quality of your God. The goodness of God is a moral attribute of God whereby He is the source of all benevolence, kindness, care and tenderheartedness. The goodness of God requires that God has no evil, no darkness, no impurities. Think on this: your God is good and his love is everlasting (Ps 100.5). Your God is good so all must sing praise to His name for it is lovely (Ps 135.3). The Lord is good “to all” (Ps 145.9). The Lord is good to all those who wait for (that is to say: ‘eagerly and actively pursue’) Him (Lam 3.25). The Lord is so good that He proves to be a stronghold in the day of trouble (Nahum 1.7).
This essential quality flows from the very being and nature of the Almighty God. God’s goodness is not some passive quality. God does not just see what happens and then respond in a good way to the events of life. No! Rather, God’s goodness demonstrates itself in His infinite benevolence in active motion at all times. God is good in amazing ways. He is good in who He is. Also, He is good in what He does. These two points on the essential qualities of God’s goodness must ignite a loving trust and a steady reliance on our God. We can trust Him and lean on Him. He is sturdy and merciful. He is a Stronghold and faithful.
For God to be good means that every other attribute flowing from His majestic character must be perfect. For example: God’s love is good. His wrath is good. His mercy is good. His justice is good. His eternality is good. His holiness is good. The goodness of God highlights the praiseworthiness of all that God is and all that He does. That’s why you can confidently speak truth to your heart from Romans 8:28: “We know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God and who are called according to His purpose”. This truth brings us to the very character of God, His dealings with all mankind, and His decrees in all of creation. In fact, God’s goodness extends even to the wicked and unbelieving in what we call “common grace”. For example: rain and sunshine that the ungodly enjoy come from the good hand of God. That the rebels and blasphemers have provisions, food, water, shelter, health and laughter prove that God is good generally (commonly) to all His creation.
But O! How marvelous is God’s goodness most magnificently seen in Christ at His cross! Taste and see that the Lord is good; how blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him (Ps 34.8). What amazing goodness springing from the very heart of the infinite God that He would be so kind and benevolent toward the ill-deserving like us. We deserve infinite wrath, but He lavishes us with infinite love. This is an expression of God’s goodness. For God so loved the world that He gave His Son (John 3.16).
Eschatologically, in the last days, in the glorious Kingdom of Christ, all will come to the Lord and to His goodness (Hosea 3.5). Not only that, God promises that His covenant-people will “be satisfied with my goodness” (Jeremiah 31.14). What awesome promises! What holy wonder! What glories to come! What worldwide joys await all the redeemed!
This attribute proves to sustain weary souls through sufferings. We would despair unless we believed we would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living (Psalm 27.13). In every circumstance of life, at all times, I can know that my God will actively, perfectly, caringly and perfectly do what is best in my life for His glory and my good. This theological foundation gives hope and stability in sufferings. It encourages trust in the good hand of God when the thunderclouds burst upon our heads. It motivates us to live holy and happily for Him even when uncertainty and confusion invades. I must be persuaded that my God is good. This grand vision of God’s essential goodness provides hope and joy for the suffering saint not because of our circumstances but because of our God who always remains immutably the same in His magnificent goodnesses (Psalm 23.6).
