How Good Is God?

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

Most of us are familiar with this statement and the response, but what do we mean when we say God is good? And how good is God's goodness? Apparently to God, His goodness is so central to His character that when Moses asked God to reveal His most intimate self—“Show me your glory”—God responded by saying, “I will make all My goodness pass before you” (Exodus 33:18-19).

In showing His goodness to Moses, God was sharing the most important aspect of Himself. He wanted Moses to really understand who He was and what He was truly like. God's goodness is so good, so unique to Him, that it finds expression in a special Hebrew word, “hesed.”

Hesed is mentioned in connection with God 240 times in the Old Testament. There are no words in English that truly capture the full meaning of hesed. It’s best described as the interaction of three basic characteristics: strength, steadfastness and love. Strength conveys the idea of truthfulness, loyalty and faithfulness. Steadfastness refers to unchanging devotion, and love is seen in concrete acts of kindness and favor in fulfillment of promises. In Scripture hesed is frequently translated as “loving-kindness” or “tender mercies.”

Hesed implies a personal involvement and commitment in a covenant relationship that goes infinitely beyond any legal requirements. Think for a moment of marriage. Marriage is a covenant relationship with oaths that are binding on both parties, but real marital love completely transcends the legalistic boundaries of marriage. In fact, God frequently describes His hesed toward His people in terms of a marriage relationship. We may fail in our commitment to Him, but He is always faithful to us.

We are told that God’s hesed lasts to a thousand generations: “Understand therefore, that the Lord your God is indeed God. He is the faithful God who keeps His covenant for a thousand generations and lavishes His unfailing love on those who love Him and obey His commands” (Deuteronomy 7:9). It is His hesed that caused creation to come into being (Psalm 136:5-9) and moved Him to create human beings in His own image. His hesed sent Christ into the world to reconcile us back into a relationship with Him (John 3:16) and continues to offer us every good thing. “What shall we say about such wonderful things as this? If God is for us, who can ever be against us? Since He did not spare even His own Son but gave Him up for us all, won't He also give us everything else?” (Romans 8:31-32).

How can we possibly describe this degree of goodness? Let me try with this illustration: A few years ago, my wife, Sue, and I were in the Rockies when the temperature hit minus 40 degrees. That's 40 degrees below zero. I want you to know that's cold beyond cold! But it was far from absolute cold, which is minus 450 degrees. You see, even though we couldn't feel it, there was still some warmth left in the air at minus 40 degrees. But absolute cold means there is no warmth left at all. I think it's the same with God's goodness. His hesed is absolute goodness—strong, steadfast and totally loving without any fluctuation.

How good is God? Absolutely good, absolutely all the time!

Join us this Sunday as I will be sharing at our 9:30 AM and 11:30 AM services.