WHY QUESTION (PART 3)

WHAT IS THIS GOOD?

By virtue of my profession and the kind of work I do, I am privy to work with a lot of young people. The story of a particular teenager remains fresh in my mind. As she recounted her rape ordeal with me that afternoon at the office, my heart was filled with tears for where our society was headed.

There are some things that seem outrightly bad. Like war for instance? What about domestic violence? Robbery? Murder? Or the pandemic that is ravaging our world? What about the recent occurrences of rape and sexual abuse? Oh, that is really really bad. But there again, we set the standards. While I do not seek to offer any feeble answers which only works to dehumanize those who suffer and cast aspersions on the God and Father who loves and cares for his creation, I only ask that we open our minds and look again.

In Luke 18:18, a certain ruler went to Jesus and asked, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal Life?” Jesus answered, “no one is Good- except God alone.” From Jesus’ statement, he established that God alone is the definition of goodness. Therefore, when we say, ‘Is this good?’ or ‘This is good’, we are really saying, ‘Is this God?’ Or ‘This is God.’ This is because the moral foundation of the world was not an afterthought that came after the creation of man, it stems from God’s character.

To know the character and goodness of God, we have to look at Jesus for he radiates God’s own glory and expresses the very character of God (Hebrews 1:3). He is the visible image of the invisible God (Colossians 1:15). The goodness of God is not a feeling. It is God as revealed in the face of Jesus Christ. This is not just about giving to the poor or helping those in need. In fact, it is very possible to give everything one possesses to the poor, even to the point of death, and still lack God’s character (1 Corinthians 13:3).

So what then is this goodness? It must be defined by God for it is the essence of his character. As we walk with him closely and with a sincere heart, we can begin to understand his character and live it out for the light within us produces only what is good and right and true.

Remember the woman with the alabaster jar of expensive perfume? She was criticized for being wasteful, for what she poured on Jesus could have been sold and given to the poor. But Jesus’s response was that she had done a good thing. Is Jesus against giving to the poor? Of course not. Jesus fed the poor. He healed the sick. He raised the dead. He went about doing good. But this good did not stem from public opinions but from an understanding of and a relationship with the Father; for the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever the Father does, the Son also does in like manner. (John 5:19)

Examples abound in the scriptures where men used the giftings of God to misrepresent him, but I implore us to always look to Jesus. In 2 Kings 2:23-25, the prophet Elisha cursed about forty two (42) boys that mocked him and they all were killed; Jesus, when faced with some opposition, was advised by his disciples to call down fire from heaven to consume the people. But what did Jesus do? He rebuked them, and asked if they did not know the kind of spirit they were; for the son of man did not come to destroy men’s lives but to save them (Luke 9: 54-56).

The goodness of God is consistent. It is not and would never be on the basis of what we do or do not do, for there is no variation in him. He is the same yesterday, today and forever (Hebrews13:8). Our actions or inactions doesn’t change him. Thus, when Job in Job 1: 21 said, “the Lord gives and the Lord has taken away”, that is not true; for even Job at the latter part of his life admitted his ignorance…“for he spoke of things he knew nothing about” (Job 42:3). God is good. He gives sunlight to both the evil and the good, and he sends rain on the just and unjust alike (Matthew 9:45).

So I end with these, what do you see as goodness? Why do you call a person good? What are your expectations? For they can set us up for disillusionment and disappointments if we are not careful.

To be continued…