Word of Encouragement (4/17/2020)
This morning, we want to praise God for His goodness.
We use the word “good” a lot but it is very hard to define it in any succinct way. This is because the idea of “good” is very wide in its meaning. Just look up the word in any dictionary and you will find the following definitions (and more!): being positive or desirable in nature; serving the desired purpose or end; not spoiled or ruined; superior to the average; of high quality; of moral excellence; benevolent; well-behaved; worthy of respect; competent; complete, etc. When we speak of God as being good, we mean all these things (and more!) in perfection, absoluteness, and infinitude.
It is important to remind ourselves that God is good, not because He fits into the idea of good; rather God is the essence of goodness: God IS good. So, Jesus said, “No one is good except God alone” (Matt. 10:18). There cannot be anything good apart from Him. So, some define hell as the absence of God. We should not understand this as God being absent in His being (which is omnipresent, yes, even in hell [Ps. 139:8]). We should understand this as God’s goodness fully withdrawn from hell. Therefore, nothing can be more desirable and lovable and praiseworthy than God.
If we define morality as seeking that which is good, then God is morally obligated to seek His glory and honor more than anything because He is the absolute and highest Good. So, Bavinck said,
“As he is himself the absolute good, the perfect one, he cannot and may not love anything else except with a view to himself. He cannot and may not be satisfied with anything less than absolute perfection. When he loves others, he loves himself in them: his own virtues, works, gifts. Hence, he is absolutely blessed in himself, the sum-total of all goodness, of all perfection.”
This is why the ultimate goal of our life should be “to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever.” This is the most ethical thing we can ever do. Because He is the absolute and ultimate Good, we should glorify Him above all things. Because He is the absolute and ultimate Good, there is no greater blessing than to enjoy Him forever.
Yet many have trouble trusting God to be good. I think the reason is because we confuse being good with being nice. To be nice is to make other people feel good (regardless of right or wrong); to be good is to help other people be good. While we want God to be nice, God is good. So, when God doesn’t do things our way to make us feel good, we question God’s goodness. How foolish!
Let us praise God for His goodness and let us surrender ourselves wholly to our good God, trusting Him to do all that is truly good to us, for us, and in us! “He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things [good]” (Rom. 8:32)?