The Eternal Goodness of God
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This week we are in a new section of James. everything that we have covered up to now has been about trials and suffering. this week however is on a new topic, lets find out what it is.
Please stand in honor of Gods word as we read
Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow.
In the exercise of His will He brought us forth by the word of truth, so that we would be a kind of first fruits among His creatures.
Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren.
Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow.
In the exercise of His will He brought us forth by the word of truth, so that we would be a kind of first fruits among His creatures.
this starts with “do not be deceived” do not be deceived by what? well we have two main choices it can either refer to the passages before or after this statement.
If we look at what we talked about last month we can make a case for this being related to it. if (for example) we looked at verse 13
(NASB95)
13 Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone.
Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone.
James could be saying not to be deceived by this statement. God does not tempt us for every Good thing comes from Him! this works, but I feel that it is to narrow. this view Limits the good and perfect gifts that come from God, to only refering only to temptation and trials.
In other words if we put “ do not be decieved” in the last passage James would be saying that God doesn't give us temptations He gives us trials, which are good for us!
while this is true and it is what James has said, he already said it before! James here is moving us on to a new subject while still referring to the old one!
this passage unlike the verses before is focused on only the Good aspects of God, not on the good through the bad, only the good. This passage is a breath of fresh air before we plunge back into the muck of our dirty lives, back into how God fixes us and how far we are from Him.
This passage is here to remind us that our God is good unlike every other god this world has tried to worship. For example the Greek and roman gods ( who were the most commonly worshiped at that time) they were just more powerful versions of man! they constantly argued and fought between themselves and had constant affairs with men (Figuratively and literally) and Caesar who was worshiped as a god was a man and a very flawed one at that.
however our God is good and all good things come from Him and through Him
so then we can make a safe assumption that “do not be deceived” is referring to verses 16-18
now what does that mean? in the next verse we see the theme of what these verses are talking about
Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow.
every Good thing and every perfect gift is from God. This is something to remember when we are in trials, but also when we are experiencing great blessing, in times of plenty and times of poverty, anything good is from God “the Father of Lights”.
The Father of Lights is a referance to one of the first things He did, turn with me to
To Him who made the great lights,
For His lovingkindness is everlasting:
The sun to rule by day,
For His lovingkindness is everlasting,
The moon and stars to rule by night,
For His lovingkindness is everlasting.
He made the great Lights these are one of the good gifts that James is talking about in fact God even calls them good
Then God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night, and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years;
and let them be for lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth”; and it was so.
God made the two great lights, the greater light to govern the day, and the lesser light to govern the night; He made the stars also.
God placed them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth,
and to govern the day and the night, and to separate the light from the darkness; and God saw that it was good.
so God made the heavens and the earth and they were good, James says that God does not change or vary and here he uses a very interesting illustration he says there is no shifting shadow. this is a fairly powerful image that you can use multiple ways in this context we are given.
firstly shadows are cast by light does the sun have a shadow? well God is light and is the father of Lights
This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all.
If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth;
also shadows dance and change rapidly
also shadows dance and change rapidly yet God does not change
also shadows dance and change rapidly
“For I, the Lord, do not change; therefore you, O sons of Jacob, are not consumed.
shadows are cast by light
shadows are always scary in times of trouble, but He is our refuge in troubled times.
A Psalm of David. The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside quiet waters. He restores my soul; He guides me in the paths of righteousness For His name’s sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You have anointed my head with oil; My cup overflows. Surely goodness and lovingkindness will follow me all the days of my life, And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
and shadows are always scary in times of trouble
we also have the idea of how a shadow lies about the object that it was cast from because it is a 2d picture of a 3d object and we often make shadows or versions of God that are not close to who He really is. we get these Ideas because we are tiny and have a limited view of who and what He is! in Isaiah 55:9
we also have the idea of how a shadow lies about the object that it was cast from because it is a 2d picture of a 3d object and we often make shadows or versions of God that are not close to who He really is. we get these Ideas because we are tiny and have a limited view of who and what He is! in Isaiah 55:9
Complete Jewish Bible Chapter 55
“As high as the sky is above the earth
are my ways higher than your ways,
and my thoughts than your thoughts.
we have the idea of how a shadow lies about the object that it was cast from because it is a 2d picture of a 3d object and we often make shadows or versions of God that are not close to who He really is. we get these Ideas because we are tiny and have a limited view of who and what He is
so then since we know that He does not change or vary and He has already given us good gifts starting with the sun, moon and stars. we can count on Him to give us good and perfect gifts.
“so then,” you may ask me “when will I get my mansion and brand new car and $1 million” there is only one of those things that I can guarantee that is the mansion and all that you have to do for that is die and then you will receive the one that Jesus is building for us! other than that why would He give us those things?? He said GOOD gifts! money is not a good gift! first off its a lazy gift and God is not lazy, its a gift for someone you dont know well and He knows you better than you know yourself! also He calls it evil.
For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.
(NASB95)
Complete Jewish Bible Chapter 55
“As high as the sky is above the earth
are my ways higher than your ways,
and my thoughts than your thoughts.
10 For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.
How is this a gift that He would give us if He loves us as He claims to.
if not those than what gifts will He give us? well one of them is wisdom we covered this in v.5
another is the skill that He gave you.
He has given us each a call, a job to do, a mission to perform and within that job I can promise peace and joy also challenge and trial, but as we have covered before those are good. I would even say that they are gifts!
also, and this is the biggest one of all, He gave up His son for us
“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.
That is a good gift!
“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.
“For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.
He, out of His love gave up His son to die in our place so we could escape punishment for our evil
For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.
For one will hardly die for a righteous man; though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die.
But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.
“For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.
“He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
“This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil.
“For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed.
“But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God.”
in light of all of these gifts that He has given us He has earned praise and I would like to do something odd lets turn back to that psalms passage I am going to read this and I would like you to respond with the second line “For His lovingkindness is everlasting” we will go through the whole psalm and I would also like you to listen to all of the gifts that He gave to us and to the nation of Israel
please stand as we give thanks to God
Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good,
For His lovingkindness is everlasting.
Give thanks to the God of gods,
For His lovingkindness is everlasting.
Give thanks to the Lord of lords,
For His lovingkindness is everlasting.
To Him who alone does great wonders,
For His lovingkindness is everlasting;
To Him who made the heavens with skill,
For His lovingkindness is everlasting;
To Him who spread out the earth above the waters,
For His lovingkindness is everlasting;
To Him who made the great lights,
For His lovingkindness is everlasting:
The sun to rule by day,
For His lovingkindness is everlasting,
The moon and stars to rule by night,
For His lovingkindness is everlasting.
To Him who smote the Egyptians in their firstborn,
For His lovingkindness is everlasting,
And brought Israel out from their midst,
For His lovingkindness is everlasting,
With a strong hand and an outstretched arm,
For His lovingkindness is everlasting.
To Him who divided the Red Sea asunder,
For His lovingkindness is everlasting,
And made Israel pass through the midst of it,
For His lovingkindness is everlasting;
But He overthrew Pharaoh and his army in the Red Sea,
For His lovingkindness is everlasting.
To Him who led His people through the wilderness,
For His lovingkindness is everlasting;
To Him who smote great kings,
For His lovingkindness is everlasting,
And slew mighty kings,
For His lovingkindness is everlasting:
Sihon, king of the Amorites,
For His lovingkindness is everlasting,
And Og, king of Bashan,
For His lovingkindness is everlasting,
And gave their land as a heritage,
For His lovingkindness is everlasting,
Even a heritage to Israel His servant,
For His lovingkindness is everlasting.
Who remembered us in our low estate,
For His lovingkindness is everlasting,
And has rescued us from our adversaries,
For His lovingkindness is everlasting;
Who gives food to all flesh,
For His lovingkindness is everlasting.
Give thanks to the God of heaven,
For His lovingkindness is everlasting.
thank you.
now in verse 18
In the exercise of His will He brought us forth by the word of truth, so that we would be a kind of first fruits among His creatures.
it says that He brought us forth or gave birth to us through the word of truth and of course the word of truth is referring to the scriptures, all of them not just the gospels. it also serves to ground us to the word as that will be a constant theme in the passages to come.
according to a commentary on James we can sum up this last verse like this
The Pillar New Testament Commentary: The Letter of James E. While God Tests His People, He Never Tempts Them to Sin (1:13–18)
James, therefore, appeals to the “new birth” of Christians as a striking example of God’s good and faithful giving. James stresses the free and unconstrained nature of this giving by beginning the verses with the participle “willing” (boulētheis), variously translated “in the exercise of his will” (NASB); “in fulfillment of his own purpose” (NRSV); “he chose” (NIV). God’s grace has been extended through the gospel to people so as to bring into existence a foretaste, or down payment (“firstfruits”), of a redemptive plan that will eventually encompass all of creation.
we are His firstfruits and the firstfruits in the old testiment were a sacrifice to God or you could say that we are a good gift that God is giving to the son Jesus Christ!
now tonight we will be taking communion and here at set free communion is open to all believers who attend here or somewhere else. just to clarify by believer I am saying someone who has come to a point in their life that they have admitted to God that their life is not in keeping with His rules and that they want to accept the good gift that is Jesus’s death on the cross and that by raising from the dead Jesus has payed the price of all of our wrong doing and this allows us to spend eternity with Him in paradise.
If that is you then we welcome you to join us, however if you have not made that decision we would ask that you take this time to consider your life and to think about the gift that has been offered to you. you will miss nothing by not taking communion its a oyster cracker and some juice in a tiny cup, its not magic it will not forgive sins it guarantees nothing, we do it as a reminder of what Jesus went through and as a reminder that we are under a new covenant that does not require a sacrifice for every single sin. we rather can count on Jesus’s sacrifice at the cross to cover all of our past, present and future sins. this is what we celebrate here tonight.
While they were eating, He took some bread, and after a blessing He broke it, and gave it to them, and said, “Take it; this is My body.”
And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He gave it to them, and they all drank from it.
And He said to them, “This is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many.
“Truly I say to you, I will never again drink of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.”
in exodus we have the first covenant which had the 10 commandments and also much more
Then Moses came and recounted to the people all the words of the Lord and all the ordinances; and all the people answered with one voice and said, “All the words which the Lord has spoken we will do!”
Moses wrote down all the words of the Lord. Then he arose early in the morning, and built an altar at the foot of the mountain with twelve pillars for the twelve tribes of Israel.
He sent young men of the sons of Israel, and they offered burnt offerings and sacrificed young bulls as peace offerings to the Lord.
Moses took half of the blood and put it in basins, and the other half of the blood he sprinkled on the altar.
Then he took the book of the covenant and read it in the hearing of the people; and they said, “All that the Lord has spoken we will do, and we will be obedient!”
So Moses took the blood and sprinkled it on the people, and said, “Behold the blood of the covenant, which the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words.”
and then in Jeremiah we get the foreshadowing of a new covenant
“Behold, days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah,
not like the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, although I was a husband to them,” declares the Lord.
“But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days,” declares the Lord, “I will put My law within them and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.
“They will not teach again, each man his neighbor and each man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them,” declares the Lord, “for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.”
this is the covenant that we live under and this is why we practice communion. it is to remind us that we still have a covenant we need to remember what it is so that we do not break it and so we can please Him.
Let us pray