The Attributes Of God – The Goodness Of God

What are God’s attributes? Each Friday we will look at an attribute of God. This week, the goodness of God. The clear message of Scripture is that God is uniquely good and that He is the measure for everything we call good. Considered together with His wisdom and power, Christians can be assured that God not only desires to reveal His goodness but is able to accomplish His good plan in the best possible way.

“For he raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus. So God can point to us in all future ages as examples of the incredible wealth of his grace and kindness toward us, as shown in all he has done for us who are united with Christ Jesus.” – Ephesians 2:6-7.

God’s goodness simply can’t be fully grasped.  How can any human being ever get their head around the awesome goodness of God? It transcends our understanding, yet we know its truth through scripture. God’s love and goodness are universal. It encompasses all people. Psalm 145:8-10 says, “The Lord is merciful and compassionate, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love. The Lord is good to everyone. He showers compassion on all his creation. All of your works will thank you, Lord, and your faithful followers will praise you.“  

When we are saved and we love and serve God we experience the boundless riches of God’s grace and goodness toward us. We experience what David says in Psalm 23:6, “Surely your goodness and unfailing love will pursue me all the days of my life, and I will live in the house of the Lord forever.” Think about that for a second: the goodness of Good follows us. 

The question is how is God’s goodness showing up in our daily lives? There is any number of ways, When we leave our lives in the hands of our good God, we will see the good things God has for us. We see the goodness of God in how He sustains us each day. He is faithful to meet our physical needs and loves us through the people He’s placed around us. Even when life is hard, we can trust God to sustain us. We can trust God’s providence even if His provision doesn’t align with our desires.

Forgiveness reveals God’s goodness, daily. Daily, we come to God for forgiveness, because we all fall short of the glory of God. (Romans 3:23) In His goodness and through the sacrifice of His Son, we are able to embrace the gift of forgiveness He has given to us, and thus forgive others as He has done for us. In the greatest act of love, God sent His one and only Son, Jesus Christ, the promised Messiah of the Old Testament, to earth. Fully God and fully man, Jesus came to earth to die a sacrificial death on the cross by crucifixion. He was innocent, yet died a criminal’s death, intentionally for us. The cross is a daily reminder of the goodness of God.

Discussion Questions:

1. If circumstances in your life cause you to doubt God’s goodness, where in Scripture can you turn for reassurance and confidence? 
2. Which of God’s other attributes can assure you that God is able to exercise His goodness? Can you think of more than one? 
3. If somebody asked you about the goodness of God, what would you say?