God's Goodness

Intro

What does Good mean

have any of you ever done good

Good is a word with varying levels of meaning

Some things are good like amazing great nothing better

Sometimes we are good

How you doing? “I’m Good”

Somethings are good like nice or ok

Yea i think that’s good

Now lets look at this

Genesis 1:31 ESV

31 And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.

What does that mean God saw everything and behold it was very good

Maybe perfect even

The definition of Good according to Google

to be desired or approved of.

So everything was desired or approved of

By God

But this must be pretty Good if it can be approved of by God

We know that God is holy, righteous, omniscient, omnipotent, immutable, faithfulness, and on and on

An when he sees creation with all this power and knowledge and perfectness he says I approve

This is profound because he sets the standard of Good

Because of who God is he sets the standard for good

And he also is Good

He is Good and he sets the standard for what is good

He makes the measuring stick upon which we must lay what we think is Good

Psalm 106:1 ESV

1 Praise the Lord! Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever!

Over and over in the psalms its says this

Psalm 34:8 ESV

8 Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!

Psalm 107:1 (ESV)

1 Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good,

for his steadfast love endures forever!

Jesus himself even says this look at

Mark 10:17–31 (ESV)

17 And as he was setting out on his journey, a man ran up and knelt before him and asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” 18 And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. 19 You know the commandments: ‘Do not murder, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother.’ ” 20 And he said to him, “Teacher, all these I have kept from my youth.” 21 And Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, “You lack one thing: go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” 22 Disheartened by the saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.

23 And Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How difficult it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!” 24 And the disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus said to them again, “Children, how difficult it is to enter the kingdom of God! 25 It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” 26 And they were exceedingly astonished, and said to him, “Then who can be saved?” 27 Jesus looked at them and said, “With man it is impossible, but not with God. For all things are possible with God.” 28 Peter began to say to him, “See, we have left everything and followed you.” 29 Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel, 30 who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life. 31 But many who are first will be last, and the last first.”

So God is Good

The only one who is Good

Towzer says “That God is good is taught or implied on every page of the Bible and must be recieved as an article of faith...”

The goodness of God is something that we see from creation to restoration

Everywhere in the bible it is either proclaimed explicitly or it is inferred by the text because we see who God is

And that is he is good

we will see this later in this passage

So know lets look at how God goodness plays out

Mark 10:19–26 ESV

19 You know the commandments: ‘Do not murder, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother.’ ” 20 And he said to him, “Teacher, all these I have kept from my youth.” 21 And Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, “You lack one thing: go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” 22 Disheartened by the saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions. 23 And Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How difficult it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!” 24 And the disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus said to them again, “Children, how difficult it is to enter the kingdom of God! 25 It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” 26 And they were exceedingly astonished, and said to him, “Then who can be saved?”

God’s approval is not easily won

For us to be seen as good in God’s sight is not easy

What does Jesus first ask the rich young man

You know the commandments have you kept them

“I have since a youth”

One thing you lack

Just doing good doesnt mean we are good in God’s sight

But through Jesus God’s approval is eternal

Mark 10:27–31 ESV

27 Jesus looked at them and said, “With man it is impossible, but not with God. For all things are possible with God.” 28 Peter began to say to him, “See, we have left everything and followed you.” 29 Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel, 30 who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life. 31 But many who are first will be last, and the last first.”

Hebrews 10:24–25 ESV

24 And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, 25 not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.