The goodness of God

My son has just turned eight, and the nostalgia is creeping in: my eighth birthday is the earliest one I can still distinctly remember. On that day, I made my entire family climb the closest thing that northern New South Wales has to a mountain in the height of the Australian summer. It’s become the stuff of family legend.

The other thing I remember about that year was hearing the dulcet tones of David Attenborough telling us the story of Life on Earth. It was the mainstream breakthrough for a whole new genre of television: the nature documentary. My family eagerly awaited each new episode, and sat, spellbound by the combined wonders of the creation and the ingenuity of the camera operators. What I didn’t understand at the time was that Attenborough’s story of life on earth was a story about purpose and meaning, good and evil.

Not that those watching at the time were necessarily aware that he was telling the story of good and evil, but I think that the events of the intervening 30 years have made it clear that he was. The atheistic, evolutionary story of life on earth is a story that claims to be the whole truth about who we are and our purpose on this planet. But it is a story that has developed and grown: in recent times, we have been encouraged not just to accept atheism because it is true (with the rather unfortunate consequence that life becomes pretty much meaningless), but to see atheism as the only way to live the good life and to become truly moral people. The argument has moved on from the truth of atheism to the inherent goodness of atheism.

The natural corollary of the goodness of atheism is the evil of God. And while most people find Dawkins’s description of the God of the Old Testament as “a misogynistic, homophobic, racist, infanticidal, genocidal, filicidal, pestilential, megalomaniacal, sadomasochistic, capriciously malevolent bully"[1. Richard Dawkins, The God Delusion, Bantam Press, London, 2006, p. 51.] a little over-the-top, the question of God’s goodness is becoming a live one for Christian apologetics. Can Christians still stand up and claim that they believe in a good God when he allows suffering, believes in judgement and sent his own Son to the cross?

In the face of a world obsessed with lifestyle, and in light of the growing approval for the atheistic explanation of our origins, it is essential that we grapple with the question of God’s goodness. What does it mean to call God good? How can we talk to our non-Christian neighbours about the goodness of God? And perhaps a little more uncomfortably, do we really believe in a good God?

What is good?

Let’s begin by asking the obvious question: what do we mean when we say that something is good? It’s a tricky question that has plagued philosophers since Plato was a boy, but it’s also a very basic question that everyone answers for themselves. Life is full of decisions—decisions about how to treat other people and how to spend our time and money—and all of these decisions reflect and reinforce what we think of as good. If you were to survey shoppers in your local mall, you would find lots of agreement about what ‘good’ is: it’s things like enough food for all people in the world, and treating others with courtesy and respect. Even ice-cream would probably score a pretty high ‘goodness’ rating.

But if you were to ask your shoppers, “What should the young woman do, who finds herself unexpectedly pregnant with a baby who has been diagnosed as severely disabled?”, I suspect that you’d get a very mixed and very passionate response. Is the ultimate good the life of the woman, the life of the baby, the removal of potential suffering or … (fill in the blank)? All of a sudden, in spite of our previous breadth of agreement, a massive question arises: whose good is really good?

For many, the answer is that every person decides for themselves: you choose your version of good and I choose mine. On the surface, this is an attractive solution, but it hides a real problem. Societies tend to function on the basis of a certain agreement about what is good, making laws that support that agreement, but whether or not it is intended, our modern ‘tolerant’ world ostracizes those who don’t agree with society’s vision of the good. I know couples who have been strongly encouraged to abort their babies when the babies were diagnosed with disabilities. I have also known others who have gone for IVF treatments and been chastised for only wanting to fertilize the number of eggs that they were going to implant. When push came to shove, these couples’ understanding of the good collided powerfully with the perceived good of the world, and they were told (respectfully) that they were wrong.

Here we see the problem in stark relief: the one who decides on good and evil is the one with authority and power in the world. And as the politicians will tell you, the one with the most acceptable vision of the good is the one who is invariably elected to power.

This connection between authority and the nature of good and evil should not surprise us. It’s found in the opening pages of Scripture. When Adam and Eve are placed in the garden, all things are good, and they are invited to enjoy the full riches of God’s creation. But there is one thing that was not good: eating the fruit and becoming like God (Gen 2:16-17; cf. 3:1-5). Not surprisingly, the fruit in question concerns the knowledge of good and evil.

The only thing that will be truly bad for the creation is for humanity to seek to become like God. But Adam and Eve do not resist temptation, and the rest of the biblical narrative concerns the story of conflict between human authority and the rightful authority of God. From the moment of the Fall, human beings have taken the power of deciding on good and evil into their own hands, challenging God’s right to tell us what we should do.

That the new atheism has moved the battleground from the question of truth to the question of good and evil ought to be no surprise; they are just repeating the strategy of their forebears. But it does present us with some problems that I think many Christians feel quite keenly: how do we reconcile the biblical picture of an angry God who punishes sin with the declaration that God is good? And how do we talk about the goodness of God to those we love?

Understanding the problem

Here we come to the heart of the problem. Good evangelism requires two things: a clear declaration of God’s truth, and thoughtful, gracious interaction with others. The issue of God’s goodness puts these two requirements in tension with each other in a very uncomfortable way.

Questions about the goodness of God—about his justice, righteousness, fairness and the like—occur at a number of points in Scripture. But as far as I can see, the Bible’s answers to these questions are not particularly palatable. I don’t think it would be any exaggeration to suggest that the Bible’s answer to our questions about God’s righteousness, holiness and goodness can be summarized as something like “Pull your head in, you worm”. If you don’t believe me, let me show you.

Job, unaware of the satanic machinations that lie behind his predicament, responds to his friends’ accusation that he is somehow to blame for his disastrous circumstances by demanding an audience with God. He wants God to explain himself (Job 13:3, 23:2-5). But when Job finally gets his hearing, it’s nothing like he expected: instead of Job questioning God, God questions Job (Job 38ff). God is the eternal creator and mighty ruler of this world; he doesn’t have to answer Job’s questions. By the end of the book, Job acknowledges that God is in the right, without knowing any of the heavenly reality. Part of the point is that he doesn’t need to.

Then there’s the book of Romans, where questions about God’s righteousness are raised on two separate occasions. In Romans 3:1-8, when it is suggested that God might be unrighteous for inflicting wrath on Israel, Paul responds by saying God can’t be unrighteous because he’s going to judge the world (v. 6). To us, the logic seems all wrong: Paul should show that God is truly just, and therefore rightly qualified to judge the world. But that’s precisely what he doesn’t do: he asserts that God will judge the world, and therefore he must be just. The uncomfortable truth for us is that, by virtue of being the creator and judge to whom everyone owes their existence and before whom we will all be judged, God is the source of all goodness in our world—the very definition of righteousness.

That’s why, when we get to chapter 9, Paul tells us that the pot can’t talk back to the potter. God has authority to harden whom he wants to harden, and to have mercy on whom he chooses, because he is the sovereign God and creator of all things (Rom 9:14-18). That is the end of the story; there is no more argument to be entered into. We answer to God; he doesn’t need to answer to us (Rom 9:20; cf. Isa 45:9-10).

The simple point that the Bible makes again and again is that there is no standard of goodness, human or otherwise, against which God might be measured and found wanting. God is in himself the very definition of what is good, right and true. The human accusation that God is evil doesn’t even begin to make sense.

But there lies the discomfort. What should you say to your friend who says, “How can you believe in a God who punishes people? Don’t you think it was evil of God to command that his people stone adulterers to death in the Old Testament?” Should you respond with, “God is God and you are not, so pull your head in”?

The goodness of justice and mercy

I’m going to suggest, perhaps surprisingly, that this is exactly the kind of thing we should say. We might not choose to use those words, but it is vital to grasp that this is the essence of the answer God requires us to deliver. In order to understand this answer and the kinds of things we might say, I want to go back and look again at the goodness of God as it is revealed in the Bible. For, while the Bible responds very strongly to those who would question God’s goodness, it also speaks clearly about the nature of God’s goodness.

The starting point is God’s revelation of himself to Moses at Sinai. As Moses intercedes for the sake of God’s rebellious people, he asks God to show him his glory (Exod 33:18). In response, God says, “I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name ‘The Lord’” (Exod 33:19a).

What is God’s goodness made known to Moses? It is his name:

“The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.” (Exod 34:6-7)

God’s goodness consists in the twin qualities of justice and mercy.

There is obviously much that could be said about these two aspects of God’s character, but for the sake of the argument, let’s cut right to the chase: Jesus comes precisely because of these twin characteristics of God’s goodness. In Christ, God reveals how it is possible for him to be just and gracious simultaneously. In Christ, God does not overlook the sins of his people, but deals with them at his own expense. God pays the price for our forgiveness. And God is just, even as he declares righteous the unrighteous who trust in Christ (Rom 3:21-26).

However, it would be wrong of us to leave the story here, because it is not the end. God’s goodness is not just displayed in his current creation of a forgiven church; it will also be displayed when the creation is liberated from its bondage to sin and death on the last day (Rom 8:18-25). While we may not often think about it like this, the final judgement is an expression of the goodness of God. Christ’s return to judge the world according to righteousness will be the ultimate unveiling of what God has already achieved through Jesus’ death and resurrection. The new creation, currently coming to pass in the lives of God’s people by the work of the Holy Spirit, will become a cosmic reality, and we will live in a world of eternal perfection because God’s rule will be fully revealed in all its goodness. On the last day, God’s mercy and justice will be displayed in all their fullness, and the whole of creation will acknowledge his goodness.

Before we move on to talk about the implications of all of this for talking to our friends, there’s one more thing to point out: in light of the display of God’s goodness in Christ and the revealing of his ultimate plan to reconcile the world under Christ’s lordship, God’s good for his people here and now is made very clear. God works for the good of those who love him by conforming them to the image of his Son for the sake of his glory (Rom 8:28-29). Our good as God’s people is not to live a trouble-free life, or even a reasonably happy life; it is, rather, to love Jesus as our saviour and king, and to be made like him in every way as we learn to live joyfully under his loving rule.

What, then, shall we say (and do)?

Having put all of these pieces in place, let’s stop and reflect on the kinds of things we need to be sharing with our non-Christian friends and family. Before all else, we must be persuaded of their need to hear that God is God and we are not. Whatever else we might say, this is the truth that will set them free so they can see God’s goodness. They need to come to the point where they are willing to accept that God is rightly God—creator, sustainer, rightful ruler and saviour of the world—and that their greatest need is relationship with him. This is an activity of God’s Spirit and word in people’s hearts. Any answer that lets go of this reality will be ultimately counterproductive.

However, that is not to say that we should answer their questions about God’s judgement by dismissing their queries as irrelevant. The question of the goodness of God is raised within the pages of the Scriptures, and it is okay to acknowledge that the answers are not comfortable. The Apostle Paul, as he wrestles with God’s sovereign control and judgement of the world, is not overwhelmed by happiness (e.g. Rom 9:1-2). In fact, God himself tells us that judgement is not the source of his joy (Ezek 18:32). So it is important to acknowledge the sense of emotional discomfort associated with the biblical answer.

Indeed, we should point out that God himself experiences our pain. If the sovereign ruler of the world planned for Christ’s coming from before the foundation of the world (1 Pet 1:20; 2 Tim 1:9), then we know that God planned for himself to be affected by the sinfulness and fallenness of the world. Whatever else we might say (and God has not made all things known to us), we can say that God does not stand at a distance like some sadistic tyrant, taking pleasure in our pain. He knew that the world he created would bring about the suffering of his Son. So while we might not be able to explain all the details, Christians can confidently say that suffering serves a real and wonderful purpose in God’s creation. God himself suffered in his Son for the sake of the future of the entire created order. In a created world, suffering has a purpose that is lost entirely if you believe in an accidental world.

But having acknowledged the place of suffering in God’s plans for the world, we must point out that the solution to suffering involves judgement. Part of God’s goodness is his justice displayed in judgement. This presents another apologetic opportunity. I think most people can see the goodness of judgement. We feel angry and betrayed when the guilty walk free, and when we hear news stories about the kinds of evil humans inflict on one another. Our longing for justice is not explained easily by our accidental nature and purposeless future. But it is both explained and fulfilled by God’s promise, declared in the resurrection of Christ, to one day judge the world in perfect righteousness (Acts 17:30-31).

However, I suspect that the most difficult thing of all for many of us is not so much explaining these things to others, but believing them ourselves. I can’t help thinking that our testimony to the goodness of God is undermined by our desperate striving to find goodness in the things of this world. We want to be like Jesus, but we also want comfort; we long to trust in God’s provision, and yet, like our neighbours, we run after the things of this world.

The solution is not just to preach these things to others, but to keep preaching them to ourselves. If we are to speak prophetically and believably to our world about the goodness of God, we must experience it for ourselves—not just in some joy-filled ecstatic moment, but in the day-to-day reality of knowing the depth of the riches of the knowledge of God. It is only as we plumb the depths of God’s power and sovereign rule, wrestle with the many facets of God’s love displayed on the cross, and reflect deeply and prayerfully on the perfect future revealed in Christ that we will know the goodness of God in our own lives.

The crux of the issue is that God’s goodness is fundamentally tied up with the judgement and rule of Christ. This is why coming to know the goodness of God is a spiritual issue. We will only know God’s goodness when we see Christ as he truly is. So will you pray with me that God would make known in our world the goodness of his sovereign rule and the loving-kindness of his mercy displayed in the death and resurrection of Jesus? God knows we need it; do we? 

Discussion questions

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1. To what extent do you think you can know God’s goodness by looking at (a) creation; (b) the circumstances of your life; and (c) the death and resurrection of Jesus? Which of these is the clearest declaration of God’s goodness?
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2. Does your life reflect the fact that God’s ultimate good involves you knowing Christ and becoming like him? What might you seek to prayerfully change in this regard?
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3. Where do your friends and family agree with God’s ideas of good and evil? How do they rebel against them? How could you show your friends and family why their rebellion doesn’t make sense and why knowing Jesus as saviour and Lord makes more sense of life in this world?

Pray

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• Ask God to help you see his goodness revealed in Christ. Ask him to help you see the goodness of both his mercy and his righteous judgement.
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• Ask God to give you opportunities to talk to your friends about the ultimate goodness of knowing him.