THE EVERLASTING ETERNAL GOODNESS OF GOD

--Kriston Couchey

GOD IS GOOD

God is good! This is a definition of who He is. More than that, God has ALWAYS been good. There never was a time that He has not dealt with man based upon His goodness. It is false belief that somehow God was not good before Jesus came to earth, and after His death and resurrection somehow God decided to be nice. Scripture records God saying of Himself, "I change not.” Before the very founding of the earth out of the eternal goodness of God Jesus was slain to reconcile men to God. It was not that God needed a heart change toward us; we needed change of heart to be able to relate to a Father in whom there is no darkness and only goodness.

JESUS REVEALED THE GOODNESS OF GOD

Jesus came to bring the light of God to the world.  In truth, He is the expression of God’s goodness to men that revealed the Father to men. Jesus is the embodiment of God the Father; revealing the good nature of Father, and in the process revealing and confronting the state of men’s hearts.  

Father God is so good that evil (that which is not good) cannot remain in His presence. It is by the cross that we are cleansed of sin and made holy in the sight of God the Father, and by means of that cleansing we are given Grace to walk Holy by the gift of the indwelling Spirit of God. Grace truly is ability to walk holy as Jesus did. It is the influence of God upon man that makes him like God in character and able to stand in the light of truth without hiding.   

HARD TRUTH IN LIGHT OF GOD’S GOODNESS

As the revelation of Christ continues to unfold in this hour we must have a confidence in the goodness of God. Many who have limited Him by their own definition of goodness will be unable to move forward in this day until they come to grips with the truth of the goodness of God that is unlike what they have defined Him as.

I want to take a walk through scripture and bring to light the actions initiated by a good God that some think are “bad” and declare to you that even these actions were rooted in the goodness of God. We have had enough people defining the box of goodness God must stay in. Now it’s time to let His truth give us a reality check of a goodness of God that is outside the box of our comfort.  

God was good when He...

God was good when He destroyed the earth and all of its inhabitants with a flood. Ge 6:17 And I, behold, I do bring the flood of waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh, wherein is the breath of life, from under heaven; everything that is in the earth shall die.

God was good even when He (God) slew the son of Judah. I Chr 2:3b And Er, Judah’s first-born, was wicked in the sight of Jehovah; and he slew him.

God was good when He (God) rained fire and brimstone out of heaven. Ge 19:24 Then the LORD rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the LORD out of heaven…

It was the out of the goodness of God that He (God) smote the land of Egypt with plagues and killed the firstborn. Ex 12:13 And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt.

God was good when fire came from Him (God) and killed Korah and his men. Num. 16:35 And there came out a fire from the LORD, and consumed the two hundred and fifty men that offered incense.

God was good when fire came from Him (God) and killed Aaron’s sons.  Lev. 10:1  And Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took either of them his censer, and put fire therein, and put incense thereon, and offered strange fire before the LORD, which he commanded them not .2  And there went out fire from the LORD, and devoured them, and they died before the LORD.

God was good when He (God) smote Uzzah who tried to steady the cart holding the Ark. 2Sa 6:7 And the anger of the LORD was kindled against Uzzah; and God smote him there for his error; and there he died by the ark of God.

God was good when He told the Israelites to kill every man women and child when going into the Promised Land, when he rose up Jehu to kill Ahab’s son and wife, when He sent Satan to test Job, when He used Assyria as a razor to judge Israel, when He sent Babylon in judgment against Judah., and on and on…

How is it that God was good and did these things? He did them because He did it for love. He loved people too much to let sin overtake them. He loved people too much to allow evil to remain and plant its cruel seed and put people in bondage and abuse them. God is good and has good intent in all He does.  But what about the New Testament?  Did God change? Is He better than He was then?  No, He is still the same. Salvation is secure from before time. And His goodness is set from eternity.

NEW TESTAMENT GOODNESS

God was good when by the Holy Spirit Peter pronounced judgment upon Ananias and Sapphira and they died. God was good when a messenger from God smote Herod and he died eaten by worms. God was good when Paul “…full of the Holy Spirit…” pronounced blindness upon Elymas the sorcerer and he was led away blind. God IS good even with the MANY New testament scriptures that speak of eternal and temporal judgment that is STILL coming upon all who live ungodly and do not believe on the son of God.

If God has always been good throughout the history of mankind, then we need to face some hard facts about what God’s goodness looks like. We can all accept that every good gift comes from our Father, but can we accept that those who choose evil and refuse to walk in the light by believing in and embracing God’s goodness are condemned or judged?

Scripture says that “… light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil”. Jesus came to bring a sword that would divide those who hear and believe in the goodness and love of God, and those who chose to hide from the light of God’s goodness to continue to in self-serving wickedness. Scripture then goes on to say, that those who do not believe are “…condemned already”.

The payment for sin is done, but the seed of evil sown still reaps a harvest, and the harvest of evil is destruction. Jesus is clear in speaking about the time of harvest at the end of the age. There are those counted as sons of the evil one, and those who are sons of the Father. All who do wickedly (sons of the devil) will be removed and burned, not as a punishment or smiting for sin, but out of love that does not allow evil to persist and plant it’s cruel seed that defiles, puts men in bondage, and abuse those God loves.

God is TOO GOOD to allow evil to persist in His kingdom as it unfolds. He is removing for love that which destroys the people He loves. For that reason, the goodness of God is seen in judgment, judgment that discerns what is born of Him and what is not, and removes that which is not so that His people may be preserved. That is a true aspect of the goodness of God.

In His Love and Goodness

Kriston Couchey