Good is a word that can mean many things. A thief can say, “I had a good day…of robbing people.” In that sense, just by saying something or someone is good, does not mean much, unless we dig deeper to know the facts.
Many times we as Christians say, “God is good.” I think, we use it more in the sense that, God had been gracious and merciful towards us. It is a good place to start. However, we should strive sincerely to get a clearer and bigger picture of God’s goodness. This helps us greatly, in our walk with the LORD.
When we say, God is good, we need to say it, in the context of we being not good…to be more precise…absolutely bad, and incapable of any good, what-so-ever. This is a accurate picture of God’s goodness, showered upon worthless people like us.
Secondly, this goodness of God is something that we cannot earn it, nor buy it. It is something, that God in His grace and mercy, pours upon us, despite we being wicked and evil. Such an understanding is difficult to digest, for many of us…for we seem to have a distorted opinion about human nature.
Thirdly, we see God’s goodness displays His impeccable character. All that God ever does, is rooted in His character. Words of Michele Pasley help us see this clearly – “Because God is good, God will always act in alignment with his character. That means, God will always act with goodness in ways that make us better, strengthen us, heal us and restore us.”
The above three points come out clearly in Romans 5:6-8, 10 – “6 For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us…10 For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.”
May we always seek the LORD, sincerely, to gain a proper and deeper understanding of who God is, and His character. Let us not skim the surface and satisfy ourselves. There is so much to know about the goodness of God. The more we know about God, the more we will realise and know about ourselves.
"...recognising God’s essential goodness is foundational to an accurate understanding of God’s nature, God’s work in the world, and God’s plans for humanity."