God's glory is His Goodness!

 

   It has been a week since Easter and I am still in awe of the events of that week. Such a good God we serve! He is a great God, the only God with a capital "G", and the only living God. We sing praise and worship choruses that say God is good, and the body of Christ has coined the phrase "God is Good", some adding "and He is good all the time" to that. That  phrase is so true and if you take a minute to think about it, it can just overwhelm you. Get your Bible out and start looking up verses on that and it will put you humbly on your knees before God. Sometimes though, I think we get those little sayings we like to use and use them enough their vitality gives way to mundane colloquialism.

   In a class I am taking the instructor posed this question in an online discussion forum; Romans 2:4, ’The goodness of God leads man to repentance’. Why is this?  As I submitted my response to that forum just now, I thought I would share it here.

Romans 2:4  Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance? When I read this verse this pops to mind. You catch more flies with honey than you do with vinegar. How true! And like our Diptera insect cohabitants of this planet, we prefer and are attracted to nice, pleasurable, sweetness in our life than we are sour uncomfortable experiences.

Exodus 33:18-19a  18 And Moses said, I beseech You, show me Your glory.  19 And God said, I will make all My goodness pass before you,...

  God did not send Adam and Eve out of the Garden because He was angry with them. When they sinned and fell short of God’s glory they could not stand in the glory of God because it would have killed them. He was protecting them. In Exodus 33 we read how Moses had an intimate relationship with the Lord. They spoke as friends do. Moses asked things of God, and God gave them to him. Moses loved God and asked if he could see His Glory. And what exactly did God say? God said, “I will make all My goodness pass before you,...”

   The goodness of God drives evil out! Turn a light bulb on in a dark room and darkness leaves. Jesus shows up and His goodness healed and delivered people. And God says His glory is His goodness. 

   As believers we have the benefit and privilege of living in God’s goodness. But it does not, should never, stop there. In Exodus 33 God wants Israel to have victory and prosper. That has always been His plan. The Israelites were to be a light to the rest of the world. God wanted to manifest His goodness through them so the rest of world would join them. God wants a big family! Matthew 5:16 says, “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.” Our good works flow out of the fruit of God’s Spirit of goodness in us. When we manifest that fruit to the unsaved world they too are affected by God’s goodness. God’s goodness touches them and evil is driven out. Goodness is our calling card to the unsaved world. Let’s get knocking on the doors of the lost, bring them out with our touch and into the Kingdom of God with His goodness!

   Why does the goodness of God lead to repentance of man? Because in the natural people like pleasure and to do well, and in the spirit goodness is God's glory!! I am just preaching m'self happy, happy here folks!!!

   Grab your Bible, look up those verses on God's goodness and get happy with me!!! Have a good and goodness filled day!