God Is So Good (31mb)

(To download an MP3 file of this message, click on the title above. To listen now online, click on the play button of the audio player shown above.)

This sermon is the sixth in a ten-part series on the attributes of God. This message continues to discuss what some theologians refer to as "Relative Attributes" and specifically covers the wisdom, goodness and faithfulness of God.

Written Excerpts:

Currently we are discussing the…

II.   Relative Attributes – Those aspects of God’s being that directly relate to His creation and His interaction with it. They refer to God’s mode of operation and activity within His creation and with His creatures.

Last Sunday we tried to cover the topics of Omnipotence; Omnipresence; and Omniscience.

A. Omnipotence – God is unlimited in power, might and ability.

B. Omnipresence – God is present in all space at all times.

C. Omniscience – God is infinite with regards to knowledge and understanding.

Today we will continue by looking at the attributes of Wisdom; Goodness and Faithfulness.

D. Wisdom – In general, wisdom is the adaptation of knowledge in order to achieve desired ends.

In regards to God, we understand God’s wisdom to be the use of infinite knowledge within the context of eternity to achieve goals and purposes that glorify God.

1. Wisdom operates without restrictions of time.

Job 12:12-13

Job seems to be comparing the wisdom of God with the wisdom of old men who, in his day, lived to be hundreds of years. In spite of all the knowledge and wisdom they would accumulate in their long lives, God’s wisdom is greater.

The message in context seems to be that their long life is nothing compared to the eternal God, who has a view and perspective infinitely greater than theirs.

We have the ability to compare situations and events with others that exist in our short memories, but God has the ability to orchestrate events and situations according to His eternal perspectives and His eternal purposes.

2. Wisdom is active in all God’s works.

Ps. 104:24; Ps. 136:5

God does everything from creation of the world to working out little details of our lives with infinite, eternal wisdom that is geared to accomplish His eternal purposes and promote His eternal glory.

3. God is the source of wisdom.

Prov. 2:6

The book of Proverbs is full of verses that exhort us to seek and get wisdom from the Lord. In fact, there are many verses written in such a manner to portray God as the personification Wisdom.

The goal for each of us as Christians should not be simply to have extensive knowledge of truth, but to have God’s wisdom to know how best to apply the truth in accomplishing God’s purposes.

As we are trying to apply God’s wisdom to the situations we face in life, we always need to remember that God’s point of view is far better than ours. James 1:5

E. Goodness –

Exodus 34:6  (see Ex. 33:19)

(Packer) Within the cluster of God’s moral perfections there is one in particular to which the term “goodness” points…. That is the quality of generosity.

Ps. 84:11 “For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord will give grace and glory; no good thing will He withhold from those who walk uprightly.”

1. The goodness of God is underived.

Since God is eternal and infinite in all His divine perfections, then “goodness” as described already above, is also eternal and infinite. Therefore, God’s goodness is inherent within His own being and He does not gain goodness from anyone / anything else.

God does not conform to some independent standard of goodness in order to be considered good. God IS the standard of goodness.

2. God alone has the unique perspective to know what is truly good and what isn’t.

As mentioned earlier with regards to the subject of wisdom, our perspective is so limited in time and scope. We tend to judge the “goodness” of something based upon situations and events that are somewhat isolated. But, God has the unique perspective of eternity.  

We’re not the only ones that are observing the activity of God. All the heavenly created beings are also watching and observing the activity of God within this world and throughout the universe.

3. God is not the originator of evil.

There is a passage of scripture that declares, “I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things.” (Is. 45:7)

However, the context here denotes “evil” as disaster or calamity in the natural world.

(John Wesley) “Why is evil in the world? Because man was created in the image of God; because he is not mere matter, a clod of earth, a lump of clay, without sense or understanding, but a spirit like his Creator; a being endued not only with sense and understanding, but also with a will exerting itself in various affections.

 “To crown all the rest he was endued with liberty… of choosing good and evil. Indeed had he not been a free as well as intelligent being, his understanding would have been as incapable of holiness or any other kind of virtue, as a tree or a block of marble. And having this power…of choosing good or evil, he chose the latter, he chose evil. Thus sin entered into the world.”

This same freedom of will and ability to think, reason and choose was apparently also once afforded to angels who rebelled against God even before Adam and Eve. Thus, the origin of Satan.

4. Our goodness is derived from God and we are to do good unto others.

None of us have any inherent goodness in ourselves. Any ability or desire for goodness that we have is a gift of God’s grace.

As Christians, we are urged to perform good deeds and acts of kindness and generosity to others. Why? Because that is the nature of God, whom we are to imitate.

F. Faithfulness

Hebrew root from which the words translated "faithful" and "faithfulness" in the Old Testament are derived means "to prop" or "stay" or "support." The word "faithful", as applied to a person, means someone a person can safely lean upon. The Greek word used in the New Testament means trustworthy or to be relied upon…. (This definition taken from: Whatthebibleteaches.com)

Deut. 7:9 “Know therefore that the Lord thy God, He is God, the faithful God."

The faithfulness of God is inseparably connected to all His other perfections (as we have been emphasizing about all of them), but especially seems related to His immutability.

The very reason that God can be ‘leaned on’ or trusted is because His nature never changes.

1. God is faithful to His own nature

2. God is faithful to His children.

Again, we must remember that when men “judge” God and declare that God let them down and wasn’t there when they needed them, they do so because of their limited perspective on life.

They cannot see what God sees.

The next sermon in this series is: Our Gloriously Holy God (find it in the blog archive on the right)