Theology Lesson 10: Goodness, Love, and Faithfulness

Transcription

1 Theology Lesson 10: Goodness, Love, and Faithfulness Goodness Thomas Manton said, He is originally good of Himself, which nothing else is; for all creatures are good only by participation and communication from God. He is essentially good; not only good, but goodness itself: the creature s good is superadded quality, in God it is His essence. He is infinitely good; the creature s good is but a drop, but in God there is an infinite ocean or gathering together of good. He in eternally and immutably good, for He cannot be less good than He is; as there can be no addition made to Him, so no subtraction from Him. [quoted in Pink, Attributes, 57]. Pink (Attributes, 57) God is not only the Greatest of all beings, but the Best. All the goodness there is in any creature has been imparted from the Creator, but God s goodness is underived, for it is the essence of His eternal nature. As God is infinite in power from all eternity, before there was any display thereof, or any act of omnipotency put forth, so He was eternally good before there was any communication of His bounty, or any creature to whom it might be imparted. Thus, the first manifestation of this Divine perfection was in giving being to all things God has in Himself an infinite and inexhaustible treasure of all blessedness, enough to fill all things. Matt 20:15 Rom 2:4 Luke 2:14 Titus 2:11 Psa 145:15,16 Psa 136:25 Psa 33:5 Psa 145:9 Psa 100:5 Psa 106:1 Luke 18:19 Rom 8:28 Rom 12:2 Gen 1:31 Acts 14:17 1

2 James 1:17 Tozer (Knowledge, 82) The goodness of God is that which disposes Him to be kind, cordial, benevolent, and full of good will toward men. He is tenderhearted and of quick sympathy, and His unfailing attitude toward all moral beings is open, frank, and friendly. By His nature He is inclined to bestow blessedness and He takes holy pleasure in the happiness of His people. Tozer (Knowledge, 83) the cause of His goodness is in Himself; the recipients of His goodness are all His beneficiaries without merit and without recompense Prayer is not in itself meritorious. It lays God under no obligation nor puts Him in debt to any. He hears prayer because He is good, and for no other reason. Tozer (Knowledge, 83) the whole outlook of mankind might be changed if we could all believe that we dwell under a friendly sky and that the God of heaven, though exalted in power and majesty, is eager to be friends with us. Love God is Spirit John 4:24 God is Light 1 John 1:5 God is love 1 John 4:8 Ryrie (Basic Theology, 44) differentiates other words that are related to and stem from the love of God. Goodness may be defined as God s benevolent concern for His creatures (Acts 14:17). Mercy is that aspect of His goodness that causes God to show pity and compassion (Eph 2:4; James 5:11). Longsuffering speaks of self-restraint in the face of provocation (1 Pet 3:20; 2 Pet 3:15). Grace is the unmerited favor of God shown to man primarily in the person and work of Jesus Christ. God s love is uninfluenced. Pink (Attributes, 77-78) By this we mean, there was nothing whatever in the objects of His love to call it into exercise, nothing in the creature to attract or prompt it. The love which one creature has for another is because of something in the object; but the love of God is free, spontaneous, uncaused God s love for me and each of His own was entirely unmoved by anything in us. What was there in me to attract the heart of God? Absolutely nothing. But, to the contrary, there was everything to repel Him, everything calculated to make Him loathe me sinful, depraved, a mass of corruption, with no good thing in me. Deut 7:7-8 2 Tim 1:9 God s love is eternal. Jer 31:3 God s love is sovereign. Rom 9:13 Eph 1:4,5 2

3 God s love is infinite. Eph 2:4 John 3:16 God s love is unchanging. John 13:1 Rom 8:35-39 God s love is holy. John tells us God is light (1 John 1:5) before he tells us God is love (4:8). God s love is gracious. John 3:16 Tozer (Knowledge, 98) We can know, for instance, that because God is self-existent, His love had no beginning; because He is eternal, His love can have no end; because He is infinite, it has no limit; because He is holy, it is the quintessence of all spotless purity; because He is immense, His love is an incomprehensively vast, bottomless, shoreless sea before which we kneel in joyful silence and from which the loftiest eloquence retreats confused and abashed. We are friends of God. To this, Tozer writes (Knowledge, 100) Modesty may demur at so rash a thought, but audacious faith dares to believe the Word and claim friendship with God. We do God more honor by believing what He has said about Himself and having the courage to come boldly to the throne of grace than by hiding in self-conscious humility among the trees of the garden It is a strange and beautiful eccentricity of the free God that He has allowed His heart to be emotionally identified with men. Selfsufficient as He is, He wants our love and will not be satisfied till He gets it. Free as He is, He has let His heart be bound to us forever. The heresy that misunderstands the love of God is universalism. It only focuses on the affection side of God s love and fails to understand the corrective aspect. God s unfailing love translation 32x. Hebrew Hesed. 248x in the OT. Hesed is God s covenantal favor in which He decides graciously and delightedly to bless His children fully and always when they walk in devoted obedience to Him. Hesed is God s covenantal favor. Kindness Gen 21:23; 24:12; 32:10; 39:21; 40:14; etc Great kindness Gen 19:19; 1 Kings 3:6; 1 Chron 1:8 Unfailing kindness 2 Sam 22:51; Ps 18:50 Everlasting kindness Isa 54:8 Loving kindness Jer 31:3 Kindnesses Isa 63:7 3

4 Treated kindly Josh 2:14 Treated well Judg 1:24 Love Gen 20:13; Exod 20:6; Deut 5:10; Numb 14:18; etc Great love Numb 14:19; 2 Chron 6:42; Neh 13:22 Unfailing love Psa 6:4; 13:5; 21:7; 31:16; 32:10; 33:5; etc Wonderful love Psa 31:2 Covenant of love Deut 7:9,12; 1 Kings 8:23; Neh 1:5; 9:32 Loyal 2 Sam 3:8 Merciful/Mercy 1 Kgs 20:31; Psa 5:7; Hos 6:6; Mic 6:8; 7:18,20; Zech 7:9 Devotion/devout 2 Chron 32:32; Job 6:14; Jer 2:2; Isa 57:1 Favor Ezra 7:28; Esth 2:9; Dan 1:9 Faithfully done/faithful Neh 13:14; Isa 55:3 Goodness (of God) Psa 52:1 (NKJV) Glory Isa 40:6 Grace Jonah 2:8 The longing for God s hesed: Ruth 1:8 2 Samuel 2:6 Psalm 119:4 Given to Lot (Gen 19:14). Given to Joseph (Gen 39:21). Given to Ruth (Ruth 2:20). Given to Ezra (Ezra 7:28) Given to David (e.g. 1 Kings 3:6). Given to Daniel (Dan 1:9). What God s hesed does for us: God s Hesed saves us from hell Ps 6:4; 85:7; 10:26 God s Hesed guarantees His promises Ps 138:8 God s Hesed preserves our lives Ps 119:88 God s Hesed comforts us Ps 119:76 God s Hesed makes things go well for us Ps 109:21 God s Hesed crowns us Ps 103:4 God s Hesed silences our enemies Ps 143:12 God s Hesed supports us Ps 94:18 God s Hesed redeems us Ps 44:26 God s Hesed protects us Ps 40:11; 61:7 God s Hesed keeps us safe Prov 20:28 God s Hesed gives us compassion Isa 54:8 God s Hesed satisfies us Ps 90:14 God s Hesed enables our prayers to be heard Ps 119:149 God s Hesed gives us life, prosperity and honor Prov 21:21 "Because of the Lord s (hesed) great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness." (Lamentations 3:22-23) 4

5 "Because your (hesed) love is better than life, my lips will glorify you." (Psalm 63:3) "How priceless is your (hesed) unfailing love! Both high and low among men find refuge in the shadow of your wings." (Psalm 36:7). God decides graciously and delightedly to give His hesed. "I am unworthy of all the (hesed) kindness and faithfulness you have shown your servant. I had only my staff when I crossed this Jordan, but now I have become two groups." (Genesis 32:10). "Who is a God like you, who pardons sin and forgives the transgression of the remnant of his inheritance? You do not stay angry forever but delight to show (hesed) mercy." (Micah 7:18) Hesed is only for believers. General benevolence to all: "The eyes of all look to you, and you give them their food at the proper time. You open your hand and satisfy the desires of every living thing." (Psalm 145:15-16) "and who gives food to every creature. His love endures forever." (Psalm 136:25) "The Lord is good to all; he has compassion on all he has made." (Psalm 145:9). But His Hesed is only for His children. God s hesed is all you will ever need and God will never fail to keep His end of the deal. 3 Images: "The earth is filled with your (hesed) love, O Lord; teach me your decrees." (Psalm 119:64) "For great is your (hesed) love, reaching to the heavens; your faithfulness reaches to the skies." (Psalm 57:10). "For great is your love, higher than the heavens; your faithfulness reaches to the skies." (Psalm 108:4) Forever hesed "I will declare that your (hesed) love stands firm forever, that you established your faithfulness in heaven itself." (Psalm 89:2) "The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me; your (hesed) love, O Lord, endures forever do not abandon the works of your hands." (Psalm 138:8) " Now therefore, O our God, the great, mighty and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love, (Nehemiah 9:32) And indeed, God Himself testifies to His own commitment to keep His covenant: "Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my (hesed) unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed, says the Lord, who has compassion on you." (Isaiah 54:10) "I will maintain my (hesed) love to him forever, and my covenant with him will never fail." (Psalm 89:28) His love (hesed) endures forever: 1 Chron 16:34,41; 2 Chron 5:13; 7:3,6; 20:21; Ezra 3:1; Psa 100:5; 106:1; 107:1; 118 (five times); 136 (twenty-six times); Jer 33:11 God only gives His hesed to His children when they walk in devoted obedience to Him. Salvation by faith Eph 2:8-9; Gal 2:16; Titus 3:5 Hesed by obedience "but showing (hesed) love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments." (Exodus 20:6; cp. Deut 5:10). God shows hesed to those who what? Love and obey! "Know therefore that the Lord your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of (hesed) love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commands." (Deuteronomy 7:9) 5

6 "and said: O Lord, God of Israel, there is no God like you in heaven above or on earth below you who keep your covenant of (hesed) love with your servants who continue wholeheartedly in your way." (1 Kings 8:23; cp. 2 Chron 6:14) "Then I said: O Lord, God of heaven, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of (hesed )love with those who love him and obey his commands," (Nehemiah 1:5) "All the ways of the Lord are (hesed) loving and faithful for those who keep the demands of his covenant." (Psalm 25:10) "Many are the woes of the wicked, but the Lord s (hesed) unfailing love surrounds the man who trusts in him." (Psalm 32:10) "But the eyes of the Lord are on those who fear him, on those whose hope is in his (hesed) unfailing love," (Psalm 33:18) "For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his (hesed) love for those who fear him;" (Psalm 103:11) "But from everlasting to everlasting the Lord s (hesed) love is with those who fear him, and his righteousness with their children s children " (Psalm 103:17) "the Lord delights in those who fear him, who put their hope in his (hesed) unfailing love." (Psalm 147:11) "I prayed to the Lord my God and confessed: O Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps his (hesed) covenant of love with all who love him and obey his commands," (Daniel 9:4) "Sow for yourselves righteousness, reap the fruit of (hesed) unfailing love, and break up your unplowed ground; for it is time to seek the Lord, until he comes and showers righteousness on you." (Hosea 10:12) Applications We have to give hesed to receive it: "For I desire (hesed) mercy, not sacrifice, and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings." (Hosea 6:6) We will never receive God s favor and all that He has for you if you keep running for worthless idols and what they promise you. " Those who cling to worthless idols forfeit the (hesed) grace that could be theirs." (Jonah 2:8). Tell others about His hesed on you Isa 63:7; Ps 92:2; 40:10 Trust Him that He will give His hesed Ps 52:8; 143:8 Sing to Him for His hesed Ps 59:16 Praise Him for His hesed Ps 69:13; 138:2 Put your hope in His hesed Ps 130:7 Thank Him for His hesed Jer 33:11 Give Him glory for His hesed Ps 63:3 Faithfulness We live in a day of unfaithfulness. Spouses walking away from vows. Employees always searching for the best offer. Athletes bouncing from team to team for the best contract. Consumers driven not by store loyalty but by the best sale. Congregants going from church to church in search of the best place to minister to them. How God stands in contrast. Deut 7:9 2 Tim 2:13 Psa 89:8 6

7 Isa 11:5 Psa 36:5 Pink (Attributes, 52) Everything about God is great, vast, incomparable. He never forgets, never fails, never falters, never forfeits His word. Num 23:19 Lam 3:22-23 Gen 8:22 God s timing isn t always ours. Gen 15:13-16 and Exod 12: years later. Gal 4:4 Heb 10:23 Isa 30:18 Psa 119:138 Psa 119:75 Psa 89:32,33 Pink (Attributes, 55) Chastening is not only reconcilable with God s lovingkindness, but it is the effect and expression of it. 1 Thess 5:24 2 Tim 1:12 Pink (Attributes, 56) To be full of care, to view our situation with dark forebodings, to anticipate the morrow with sad anxiety, is to reflect poorly upon the faithfulness of God. 7