The Goodness of God

Sermon Summary

Last week we explored God's greatness—His eternal nature, creative power, and the vast universe He spoke into existence. We declared with Paul, "Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever." But recognizing God's greatness isn't enough. A God who is great but not good inspires only fear, not devotion. Today we discover that God is not only great, but profoundly good.

Returning to Genesis 1, we see God repeatedly declare His creation "good"—seven times using the Hebrew word tov, which means beautiful, excellent, complete, and perfectly suited to its purpose. This word appears over 700 times in Scripture and reveals God's character. In Genesis 2:9, we see trees "pleasing to the eye and good for food"—creation wasn't merely functional but beautiful and delicious. God lavished beauty upon us.

Why are sunsets breathtaking? Why does food taste incredible? Why are relationships meaningful? As one former atheist said after experiencing motherhood: "I love this child more than evolution demands." Our Great and Awesome God is also a profoundly good God.

Scripture confirms God's goodness in His character (Psalm 100:5), His provision (Psalm 34:8), and His presence (Nahum 1:7). We see it in Joseph's story, the prodigal son's welcome home, and ultimately at the cross where Christ died for us while we were still sinners.

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But what about suffering? Romans 8:28 doesn't say all things ARE good, but that God works all things FOR good. Sometimes His goodness looks different than we expect, visible only in hindsight.

How do we respond? We trust Him when we don't understand. We worship Him for who He is. We reflect His goodness to others through love, forgiveness, service, and grace. And we taste and see—experiencing His goodness for ourselves.

God is good all the time. All the time God is good.