God is Good

When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone;

The modern liturgy of the street and church hall begins with “God is Good” and the response “All the Time” and together we say “and All the time God is Good” Never have words been more true. However we usually say it thinking the “God is Good because God has been Good to Me” while that may be true if we are to understand the nature of God we need to understand that God is good all the time.

It can be difficult to believe when we see evil prevail or sickness hit the innocent or natural disasters that seem unfathomable. Bad stuff happens and sometimes to good people. Sometimes good stuff happens to bad people. I answer to this dilemma with a standard retort and premise. God is always good and God is always just. He is just in what he allows and what he does not. Sickness is not always caused by sinfulness and natural disasters are not always judgments. When we are tempted to blame God and be angry or bitter toward him we need to remember he is not tempted by evil.

God does not hold resentments. He does not execute vengeance indiscriminately. He does not need anything and therefore lust after nothing; he cannot be bribed or manipulated. God does not have self esteem issues he is not lonely and in need of relationships. God is Love, 1 John 4:8.

1 Corinthians describes love for us. " Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres."

Love is other directed not self directed. It considers others more highly than ourselves: sin is the opposite of this, sin is always selfish and the root of sin lies in our own character.

but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed.

Many believers come from the Flip Wilson, the 1970’s comedian, School of Theology; they claim the “Devil made me do it.” Well the devil is a tempter. He tempted Jesus, and he tempted Adam and Eve. The difference between Jesus and Adam was that Adam’s desire lead to disobedience while Jesus continued to obey even when his will was contrary to the Father’s. When Jesus cries “not my will but yours be done” he is indicating that he did not want to go to the cross. Hebrews 5: 7-8 express this truth in very clear terms. “During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with fervent cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission. Son though he was, he learned obedience from what he suffered”

Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death

Death has reigned in human history since the disobedience of Adam. If it were not Adam it would have been you. Adam walked with God as no man ever has and he could not stand up to the desires of his flesh, in the midst of a sinful world you only have one pray, “Lord save me.”.

Sin when it is full grown brings death, death to relationships, and jobs and nations and dreams and all things that it touches. But God in his mercy became a man and lived out what we could not live out on owe own. Romans 5:19 reads “For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.”

That righteousness is action based. It creates it loves, it works, and it forgives. It demonstrates the character of the Good God we speak about to others and shows that he is a gift giver and a joy stealer.

Don’t be deceived, my dear brothers and sisters. Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created.

The gift of the Word of Truth is the “God is Good, and All the Time God is Good.”