We all hear the phrase “God is good.” It’s so easy to say that phrase. It just rolls off the tongue.

 

God is good. But when it comes to life in the real world, we often wonder about the goodness of God. After all, there are plenty of not-so-good things in the world.

 

Every time someone is diagnosed with cancer or some other disease we wonder about God’s goodness. If God is so good, why does He let bad things happen?

 

To answer this question, we must recognize that God’s goodness doesn’t hinge on circumstances. His goodness is an aspect of His unchanging character.

 

Jesus declared, “No one is good—except God alone” (Luke 18:19). 1 John 1:5 tells us that “God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.”

 

To say that God is good means that God always acts in accordance to what is right, true, and good. Goodness is part of God’s nature, and He cannot contradict His nature. Holiness and righteousness are part of God’s nature; He cannot do anything that is unholy or unrighteous. God is the standard of all that is good.

 

The fact that God is good means that He has no evil in Him, His intentions and motivations are always good, He always does what is right, and the outcome of His plan is always good (see Genesis 50:20). There is nothing unpleasant, evil, or dark in Him. The Bible teaches that God’s goodness extends from His nature to everything that He does (Psalm 119:68). “The Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations” (Psalm 100:5).

 

When we say that God is good, we mean that He is inherently kind and benevolent to all of His creatures. He desires our happiness and well being.

 

But in order to provide for our happiness He knew that it was necessary to create us in such a way that we could freely make choices.

 

It is our sinful choices, not God’s character, that account for the bad things that happen around us.

 

God did not create evil (Habakkuk 1:13; 1 John 1:5). Rather, evil is the absence of goodness; it is whatever God is not. Because of His goodness, God abhors sin and will judge it some day (Romans 2:5). It is never the will of our good God for us to sin: “God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone” (James 1:13).

 

When sin entered the human race, disease, accidents, and hardships followed. These are the consequences of our rebellion against God.

 

Granted, you may have experienced tragic events that were the results of someone else’s sinful choices. There are victims of drunk drivers, murder victims, victims of abuse. Still, these evils are the result of human sin, not a mark against God’s goodness.

 

It might be that, for you, believing in the goodness of God is a real step of faith. Remember, the Bible clearly presents God as inherently good.

 

For example, Psalm 119:68 says “Thou art good, and doest good; teach me thy statutes.”

 

God is good to His people as Psalm 73:1 says “Truly God is good to Israel, even to such as are of a clean heart.”

 

But God is also good to those who reject Him. In Luke 6:35 Jesus said, “But love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest: for he is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil.”

 

Psalm 145:9 simply declares “The Lord is good to all: and his tender mercies are over all his works.”

 

Acknowledging the goodness of God is a step of faith, but it is a step supported with evidence. God has demonstrated His goodness to us in countless ways:

 

Acts 14:17 “Nevertheless he left not himself without witness, in that he did good, and gave us rain from heaven, and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness.”

 

James 1:17 reminds us “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.”

 

Anything good in life is a gift from God. We don’t deserve His blessings, but because God is good, He provides them for our pleasure.

 

God’s goodness should lead to thankfulness on our part: “Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever” (Psalm 107:1; cf. 1 Chronicles 16:34; Psalm 118:1; 136).

 

However, people do not naturally want to follow or thank God. Instead, “people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil” (John 3:19). In the Old Testament, the Israelites repeatedly rejected God’s good law, forgot His goodness toward them, and were unfaithful to Him: “They forgot what he had done, the wonders he had shown them” (Psalm 78:11).

 

Ultimately, God’s goodness is seen in His plan to redeem us from sin. The gospel is “good news.” In His goodness, God sent His Son to become the perfect and blameless sacrifice so we could be forgiven of our sins. God does not want “anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9), and it is “the goodness of God [that] leadeth thee to repentance” (Romans 2:4, KJV).

 

There is only One who is fully and truly good—God. This good God invites us to seek him and to “taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in him” (Psalm 34:8).

 

Have you received Jesus into your life?

 

If so, thank Him for His goodness today.

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If you have never received the Lord Jesus into your life and never had your sins forgiven, will you trust Him today? Contact me if you want to talk more about this at pastorprbedford@gmail.com 

 

Have you made a decision for Christ because of what you have read here? If so, please contact me so I can pray for you and help you in your new lifes journey.

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