The Goodness of God

 

“In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us, and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins (1 John 4:9-10).”

“For the LORD is good; His mercy is everlasting; and His truth endureth to all generations (Psalm 100:5).”

If I were to ask you where creation came from, I trust you would tell me God. You would be able to say that this was entirely His idea, entirely His invention. What I want you to remember, as you think about what God has done to rescue His people from their sin, is that this too was entirely His idea and entirely His invention.

I say that because there seems to be an emotional part of our memory that is forgetful of such things. When we go wrong in our lives, when we disappoint ourselves with our sin and our weakness, and find ourselves in the midst of regret and shame, we seem to remember it backwards - as if we were the ones applying for rescue, as if we were the ones who arranged the meeting, suggested the covenant, and convinced God to go along with it.

I suppose all that is natural, because that’s how most of us got married, that’s how most of us got our job, that’s how most of us survive - and the fear when we go wrong, when we fail, is that we will be found out.

Here is the goodness of God: that before the world was made, before Adam and Eve sinned, God had determined not only that He would let them fall but that He would also rescue them. The entire plan of redemption from start to finish was all His invention. The Father was the One who in love sent His Son; the Son, in turn, proclaimed His delight in doing the will of His Father; and the Spirit (as Charnock put it) hastened with the wing of a dove to fit the Lord Jesus for His work and to apply His work to us.

I want you to see that the goodness of God in redemption is greater than His goodness in creation. For one thing, it was far more difficult. In creation, all God had to do was bring us into being. That, of course, was such an immense and incredible act of might and strength that only He could have done it - only an omnipotent, all-wise, all-knowing, eternal God could create out of nothing. But consider what had to take place in the work of redemption. Here God set out not to bring something new into being, but to conquer the hearts of those who loved their sin and wanted to remain in it - who saw no majesty or beauty in Him - and to make their hearts beat for Him and His glory.

Here, in this plan of rescue, He would not only create life, but He would overcome its sin, overcome Satan, overcome death, vindicate justice, show mercy, and change the wickedness, despair, fear, and hardness of men into holiness, joy, peace, and tenderheartedness. He would make His enemies His friends.

But not only was redemption more difficult - it was more costly. And yet that didn’t stop Him, did it? What did creation cost? Nothing. And yet in fashioning such a world and putting us in it, we count Him good. Think then of the goodness of God in purposing to save us when such a rescue would cost so much! God would be made man; the Lord Jesus, King and Creator of all that is, would hang like a criminal, and He who knew no sin would become sin that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.

And then, to top it off, we deserved the opposite of what He gave. It wasn’t like a man rescuing a drowning child; it wasn’t only that He didn’t have to do it; all the arguments of fairness and justice and right were in the other direction entirely. What He might have done is condemned us all; He could have abandoned the whole of the race, sent us to hell, and left us there - and yet this concept of grace exists because, out of His own goodness, for no reasons except His own, He determined that He would be good to us.

But have you ever considered His goodness toward His own Son? For a season, His goodness toward His own dear Son was less than what was given to you! When did He ever forsake you? When did He ever pour out His judgment upon you? When were you made to taste what it is to be utterly alone, to bear a curse, and to face unmitigated justice? You and I may suffer here, but all His sufferings were voluntary and undeserved. He didn’t have to enter this world; He didn’t have to bear with the mocking and maliciousness of His enemies; He didn’t have to be exposed to the betrayal of His own friends. He didn’t have to do any of it - the Father might have kept it all from Him. And yet this is the goodness of God to us: that He so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son.

Consider 4 ways in which the goodness of God appears in this.

1. First, God planned this. And why? What was the motive? What was behind it? Solely divine goodness. We mistake the gospel if we think the Son was saving us from the Father - it was the Father who purposed to save us. This was His plan, and everywhere in Scripture it is described as God sending His Son. What could possibly compel a Father to send His own to die except the most profound love?

Here is the love of our Father: that He, of His own accord, of His own imagination, decided that He would be good to wicked men; He would save them; He would send His Son for them; His Son would die for them. And it would not only cost the Son - it would cost the Father dearly - but He would do it because they are precious to Him, because you are precious to Him.

Never forget that while the ground of your salvation is the merit of Jesus, the reason for it - the thing at the back of it all, driving the whole plan from start to finish - is a loving Father.

2. But then, second, notice God’s goodness in what He gives us. We recognize, I hope, that this was His plan, it was His idea. He is so good, so gracious, so full of love that He wanted to do it. But what exactly did He want to do? Well, the plan involved at its very heart the substitutionary death of His own Son. But the aim - what was that? What was to be given? What was to be accomplished?

The gift was Himself in His Son. It was Jesus. John Piper has written a book called God Is the Gospel, and that is its message: the gospel purpose wasn’t meant to be conceived as a ticket to heaven, an escape from hell, or merely forgiveness. What was to be gained - and what it is that we offer when we proclaim the gospel - is Jesus Himself. God the Father gave His Son - and I don’t just mean temporarily or to die - but for us to have; to be His; to be able to say, “I am His and He is mine.”

He couldn’t have given a greater gift even if He had given all the world. Even if He should have given you every treasure on earth, every part of the whole universe, charge over the angels, success over your enemies, and a life eternal in a world of bliss and gold - all of this is far beneath what He actually gave when He gave us Jesus.

The Father sent His Son to live among men, to become nothing, to suffer and die, and to hang cursed upon a tree that we might have Him. God becomes our God; all that is His becomes ours, and we are claimed as the sons and friends of God. The gain is that forever He is ours!

Do you remember when you first set eyes on your wife and thought, “How lucky I would be if I get her”? By the power of the gospel, you have now been given eyes to see the beauty and loveliness of Jesus. Have you begun to grasp how blessed you are to have Him? But He is yours! He is your beloved, your Savior, your Shepherd, your Friend who sticks closer than a brother—and this, for eternity.

And why? Why should this be? Because of the goodness of God.

3. But then think of the goodness of God when we consider the condition we were in when He rescued us. It isn’t possible to imagine a more pitiable condition. We were not only legally guilty; we were also, in every way, sinners. Every life is the story of sin multiplied upon sin - more sin than there are moments. And as we follow the story of history, it is the story of men and women finding new ways to sin. Follow the story of Israel as it is described in Nehemiah 9, and it is one story of rebellion after another - after God had proved merciful, after God had rescued them, after they had known His kindness.

And yet, against this backdrop - against the backdrop of your heart and my heart, with all our sinful imaginings, ambitions, and desires - even then God said, “I love them, and I will save them.”

I wonder if, for a moment, you can begin to grasp the astounding goodness of God in this. What would the Church and the world think of you and me if they knew everything?

And yet He knows. He knew when He decided to send Jesus. This is Paul’s argument when he says, “If God gave us His Son, will He not also give us all things?” Here we are now, in time, having heard and believed the gospel, and yet sometimes we doubt His goodness and His faithfulness. Paul is saying, in effect, “But He gave His Son for you then, when the same arguments could be made against you.” The accuser may be pointing out some awful things you’ve said, done, or left undone - but God knew all of that already, loved you unconditionally, and sent His Son to draw you to Himself.

4. Last, think about the goodness of God in the covenant of grace. Consider Adam and Eve in the garden, hiding from God - and yet no sooner had they sinned than God showed up, promising forgiveness and pardon through the seed of Eve. Imagine the condescension of God, that He would decide to establish a new covenant. That old covenant - the covenant of works - was already unnecessary. He didn’t have to promise life for Adam’s obedience; He didn’t have to come to any terms with a mere creature. But He did. So He certainly didn’t have to come back again with another covenant.

When you break an agreement, the other party is not bound to come back with another offer, let alone a better offer. Imagine you broke your agreement with the bank. You stopped making payments, and instead of seizing your home, they came back saying, “One of our bankers has agreed to pay the whole of your debt. Don’t worry about it. Just sign here, and it’s all taken care of. You get your home; you don’t have any more payments. Let us take care of it.”

And this is what He did. Adam and Eve failed, so He said, in effect, “We’ll try again.” But “try” isn’t the right word here, because in this case Jesus would do the work - and He cannot fail.

But here is God’s goodness: we sin; we break the agreement - and God initiates a whole new plan in which He binds Himself to do all that needs doing. He will not only pay what’s owed, He will take the penalty for your failure.

Here is a covenant that promises life on the obedience of Another! The conditions are all met for you. You don’t have to do the work - the work is done for you. God says, “I will be your God, and I will do everything that needs to be done in order for that to happen. Your sin needs paying for? I will pay the price. Righteousness needs doing? Let Me do it. There are terms that haven’t been met? My Son is coming to meet them.” In other words: I am so determined to have you that I will do it all.

This is not someone giving you a leg up, getting you started, giving you a loan, or even a donation - and then getting frustrated with what little you manage to do with it. This is your Creator doing it all. This is what we mean when we say that God saves.

And, remember, He saves for fellowship; that you may be with Him in glory; that you may enjoy Him and He enjoy you!

There is so much goodness in this plan that we could go on and never come to the end of it. But think with me about that one condition God asks of us. In one sense, it isn’t a condition, because it is not meritorious. He doesn’t save us because of it; rather, He gives it to us. That one condition He requires for our salvation is faith.

We’re not kidding when we say this is free. It is by faith, Paul says, that it may be by grace. Faith is the chosen instrument because it is the one thing opposite to works. Faith is merely resting on the works of Another. And in a sense, it is so easy - children can believe. Faith is not something that requires effort, work, practice, intelligence, or skill. It is not something you acquire after a certain amount of time - nothing is easier. It is easy, and as Charnock says, it is reasonable.

All it requires of us is a willingness to take God as our God, to take Christ as our mediator. Can He possibly have required less? He asks only that you believe He is true, and that you trust Him.

What could be more reasonable?

But God is so good to this precious covenant that He adds a promise. He swears by Himself. And then, on top of all that, what is His method?

Do you ever consider this? God may indeed be angry with sin, but does He come proclaiming His outrage and His hatred? Does He come with only threats? There are threats - but notice the example of Jesus, who, while He spoke of hell, denounced the Pharisees, rebuked Herod, and was unflinching in defense of the truth, was never unkind, never harsh, and always so affectionate in His invitations.

Knowing our frame, that we are but dust, knowing our frailty, our weakness, and our trouble, He had compassion. Even those who rejected Him He took pity on, and for them He wept.

How often do we find Him, through prophets and in the flesh, calling them “my people”? What a way to speak to wicked men: “Come unto Me, all you who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” Even the warnings were designed to draw men to Himself, for He was not willing that any should perish. On that basis, with that love, He sent us out to be ambassadors, pleading with men and women to be reconciled to God!

There is a hatred in God toward sin, but the context of His hatred is His love. And if we dare to speak of His hatred, we had better speak of His love - which, however particular it may be, is spoken freely and universally. His offer and His promise are universal; His invitation is to everyone; and in His goodness, He is ready to receive any who come.

Listen to David’s experience: “I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord; and Thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin…” The prodigal comes back and finds his father already there - watching, waiting, longing for his return. As Micah says, He delights in mercy. His holiness may require justice, but He loves to be merciful. Whoever comes to Him is assured of welcome.  Jesus says that no one who comes will ever be cast out, no matter what they have done.

This is nothing else but the goodness of God. He has a right to punish. He is a God of infinite and unspeakable holiness; and yet, for no other reason but His own goodness and love, He rejoices over His own people with singing. He loves to do good; He delights to show mercy; it pleases Him to save.

If the angels rejoice in heaven at the recovery of a single lost sheep, what must be the rejoicing of our heavenly Father, who planned it this way? If they rejoice, though they suffered no loss in our rescue, what must be the joy in the heart of the Savior at the salvation of lost sinners?

Believe Him when He says He is not willing that any should perish. Believe Him when He says that you may come. Believe Him that He will not cast you out.

What a sight it must be in heaven when one sinner is recovered and saved! May God give us tender hearts toward the lost, that we would believe the rich promises of the gospel and go to them as Jesus did. What a good God we have! What infinite and unspeakable joy it is to say, “He is mine, and I am His” - to know that all the world cannot take Him from us, because He is good.

* This post is adapted from a sermon I preached several years ago.