In the mid to late 90’s people in the church began to use this phrase: God is good — all the time — all the time, God is good. It’s easy to proclaim and to shout aloud the goodness of God when things are going great! It’s easy to brag on Jesus when circumstances in our life are going well.
It’s easy to proclaim the goodness of God when our family life is almost perfect. It’s easy to proclaim the goodness of God when our finances are doing well and we just got a promotion at work. It’s easy to proclaim the goodness of God when my church life is great and my relationship with the Lord is wonderful.
But you know, just as I do, that there are times in our lives when we allow our circumstances to dictate to us how we feel about God’s goodness. I mean, where is the goodness of God when:
A tornado touches down in your community claiming 9 lives and destroying 100’s of homes and businesses?
- A mother loses her baby after 4 months of pregnancy.
- A loved one is seriously injured and is told they’ll never walk again.
- A teenager is killed in a car accident.
- You’re told you have cancer and only have a few months to live.
- A friend turns their back on you, and you realize they weren’t really your friend.
My prayer: Holy Spirit of God, you are our teacher. Father, you know the struggles that each one of us faces from time to time. Often, we begin to question Your goodness. But as we look into your Word and as we look upon Your face, may we be reminded of just how good You are. We pray this in Your precious name. AMEN.
Notice with me in vs. 16 of our text that James says, “Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren.” That word deceived means to be led astray. James is getting ready to talk to us about the goodness of God, but before he does this, he issues a warning. He says do not be deceived; do not be led astray. Notice that at the beginning of this chapter James is talking about trials and temptations.
But as he moves from talking about trials and temptations, he reminds us not to let the circumstances — the trials and temptations of this life — cause us to be deceived or led astray or cause us to question God’s goodness.
There are times when you will experience temptation and you may come to God and say, “God, if you are good, if you love me, if Your intentions toward me are good, then why do I have to keep struggling with this temptation? Why don’t you just take it from me? Why must I keep fighting against this?
The Word of God says, “Do not be deceived,” do not be led astray. Don’t let that temptation fool you into thinking that God is not good.
There will be times in your life when you’ll experience trials and heartbreak. And you’ll look deep inside of yourself, and your heart is broken, and you’ll begin to question God. It’s when we focus on our circumstances and allow them to lead us astray that we say things like — “You know if you’re good and you love me and Your intentions toward me are good then why am I having to struggle so much and why is my heart broken? How can I possibly find Your goodness and Your hand of blessing in these circumstances?” The Word of God says, do not be deceived. Do not be led astray. Do not let the circumstances you’re in cause you to question the goodness of God! And so as James talks to us about not being deceived, he gives us some reasons that we can know that God is good.
There are several reasons from this passage of Scripture that we are taught that God is good. The first reason you can know God is good: because God’s gifts are good.
In verse 17, James writes, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above.” According to the Scripture everything good in this world is from God. If it comes from God, it is good. If it’s not good, it doesn’t come from God. The Bible says that every good gift and every perfect gift is from above.
I want you to look at the word gift in verse 17. You’ll notice it’s used two times, and it’s the same word in the English language, but in the Greek language it’s two separate words that have a separate meaning to convey concerning the gifts that God gives to us. The first word gift (every good gift) stresses the action of giving.
In other words, God’s intention, His motivation, His action in giving to us is always good! Now that’s not true for us as human beings, is it? You and I can go out and give someone a gift and yet not really have a good motivation in giving it to them. We do it every Christmas! Am I right? You’ll go out and buy them a gift, take it home, wrap it in some beautiful wrapping paper and place a bow on the top, out of obligation or because you know that they are going to give you a gift, too. So, your motivation is not pure. You are not giving from the heart.
That’s the way we do things sometimes, but that’s not the way God works. God’s motivation for giving to us always flows out of His love for us. So the usage of the phrase, “Every good gift,” conveys the act of giving. Then the next phrase says “and every perfect gift.” This second word for gift focuses on the thing that is given. And the Bible says that every perfect gift is from above. Now that word perfect means complete. We could say it this way: every completed gift; that is, when God gives you the completed gift it will always be good. Sometimes we don’t see the goodness of God in our lives, because we don’t see the completed gift. We’re just seeing a part of it.
And so, we wonder: God, how can all of this be good. Rest assured that God’s Word says every perfect — every completed gift — is from above. And it is a good gift because it comes from a good God.
In Matthew 7:9-11, Jesus was speaking to His disciples, and He assures them that God gives His people good gifts. He said in verse 9: Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? (10) Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent? (11) If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!
How do I know that God is good?
Because His gifts are good! Chocolate Cake Illustration: Imagine if your children or grandchildren come into the house after playing in the backyard. And as they enter the kitchen they look at you and say, can we have a snack? And you say, sure! How does
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour sound?
- What about 2 teaspoons of baking soda?
- Here are 3 large eggs — eat these!
- Would 3/4 cup of vegetable oil satisfy your hunger?
- How about a heaping teaspoon of baking powder for a snack?
- Or what about 1 1/2 cups of well-shaken buttermilk to quench your thirst?
They would respond by saying “Yuk! We don’t want that! That’s gross!” But what if you were to say, “Sure you can have a snack. Sit down at the table and I will bring you a piece of chocolate cake!” They would be so excited, because that would be the ultimate snack!
Listen, sometimes God gives you the cake and other times He gives you one ingredient at a time. And you’re standing there with a mouth full of stuff and you’re thinking “God, if you’re good then why is my mouth full of this stuff?”
And after He gives you each ingredient, He begins to mix you up a little bit in the mixing bowl. You say, “God, if you’re good why am I getting so stirred up?” Then after He has mixed you up a little bit, He turns on the oven to about 350 degrees and then He slides you in the oven. And you shout, “God if you’re good why is the heat turned up so high in my life?”
That is when by faith we look not at our circumstances — our feelings — but we look at God’s Word — His Son — His intentions, God’s character, and by faith we say God, I know that you are good and ultimately Your gifts are good.
We can say those words which are recorded in Romans 8:28, “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.”
And we know the Bible says this. However, it does not say, “and we feel that all things work together for good...”, because we don’t always feel that way. It doesn’t say, “and it appears that all things work together for the good...”, because it doesn’t always appear that way. But by faith in God and the Word of God, I can say and I can know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.
I know that God is good today and that He is good all the time because His gifts are good. But I want you to notice with me in this passage of Scripture a second reason why God is good.
God’s character is changeless
How do I know that God is good? Because His character is changeless. Look again at verse 17 of our text. James says, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.”
Look at how the Word of God describes our God. It describes Him as the Father of Lights. He is the One who gave birth to every sparkling star in the entire universe. He grouped those stars into their constellations. He assigned their individual brightness. He framed the physical laws of the universe that keep those stars in their courses.
He sustains them day by day; He orders the motion of all the planets and all of the moons of the solar systems and galaxies. He is the Father of Lights and He knows you personally. He knows your first, middle and last name; He knows the number of every hair on your head.
Notice again how James describes our God in verse 17: He calls Him the Father of Lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning. There is no variation with Him. The stars Change; they change in their brightness. But God never changes, He never varies.
Let’s look at what else God’s Word says about our Father of lights. The Bible tells us there is no shadow or turning with Him. As bright as the moon is, there are times when we see only its dark side. As brilliant as the sun shines, there are times when it is eclipsed by the moon. It’s in the shadows. But there is no shadow of turning with our Father — He does not change. The hymn writer said it this way:
Great is Thy faithfulness, O God my Father;
There is no shadow of turning with Thee;
Thou changest not, Thy compassions, they fail not;
As Thou hast been, Thou forever will be.
God never changes! Now we change all the time. We are all changing! Do you realize that at a cellular level you are constantly changing? Listen, you’re changing! I’m changing at a cellular level. But the God we serve doesn’t change. The Bible says, there is no variation or shadow of turning with Him.
A Theologian would say God is Immutable — He never differs from Himself. He is unchanging and unchangeable. He says so in His Word. He says, I am the Lord, I do not change! (Malachi 3:6)
Our God is not evolving, He is not becoming, He’s not becoming wiser, because He already knows everything. He never takes notes on my sermons, because He already knows everything! He never looks don on earth from heaven and says, “Oh my goodness! I never saw that coming! I had no idea that was going to happen.” He doesn’t say that.
He could never be more holy than He was, is, or always will be, because His holiness is perfect. His power could never be increased or diminished because it’s perfect power!
He is changeless in His character and that means if our God has ever been good, then He will always be good. His character is changeless, and so when life is not good don’t ever be led to question God’s goodness or His love or God’s wonderful intentions toward you. He is good, and He is good all the time.
So we can know that God is good because His gifts are good — we can know God is good because His character is changeless, but we need to realize also one more reason why God is good.
God’s salvation is sure
Look with me in verse 18 of James chapter 1. Here James points to the salvation we have in Jesus Christ as the ultimate expression, the highest example of God’s goodness toward us. The Word of God says, “Of His own will He brought us forth by the word of truth, that we might be a kind of first fruits of His creatures.”
Salvation through Christ is the greatest example — it’s the perfect example, the forever example of God’s goodness toward you! If God never did anything for us after His death on the cross, if He chose never to do anything for you after He saved you, that would be enough to fully and forever prove that He is good to you!
His salvation is sure! Notice what the Bible says about this sure salvation. Notice that this salvation is of His own will. Of His own will He brought us forth. Nothing forced God to give us salvation through His Son. He wasn’t lonely, He wasn’t deficient, He wasn’t lacking in anything, but simply out of His own good pleasure, out of His own good nature, out of His own gracious heart, out of His own love, He chose to save sinners!
This sure salvation is of His own will, but not only that; this sure salvation brings us forth. Of His own will He brought us forth. That’s birth imagery. That’s the picture of a baby being born. Verse 18 stands in glorious contrast to verse 15 of this same chapter. Look with me in James 1:15. The Word of God tells us, “Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.”
Sin brings forth death, but God brings us forth to eternal life! He chooses to bring us forth. Notice also that this sure salvation comes by the Word of Truth. Of His own will He brought us forth by the Word of truth. Here James is talking about the Gospel message — the saving message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Those words that we find in 1 Corinthians 15:3-4, “(3) that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, (4) that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures.” We heard that Word and believed in that Word and by that Word God has brought us forth into a new life! He has shown us His goodness by bringing us forth unto His salvation. By the Holy Spirit we are conceived and born again. By the scriptures we are brought forth to new life.
And the fact that God requires a second birth proves that our first birth isn’t good enough. We see that illustrated throughout the Old Testament. We see how God rejects the first birth but receives the second birth. He accepted Abel the second born, not Cain the first born. He accepted Isaac the second born, not Ishmael the first born. He accepted Jacob the second born, and not Esau the first born.
And He has announced in His Word that He requires a second birth and that He has made the way for us to experience a second birth! We can praise His name! His sure salvation has proved His goodness. Why has He brought us forth? Why has He worked in our lives by the Word of Truth. Look at the end of vs. 18. Here is why: "that we might be a kind of first fruits of His creatures."
The first fruits are the initial harvest that comes from the fields. And so it was with these scattered, persecuted Jewish believers to whom James wrote. They were the original, privileged sample of what was to come. They were the first fruits, and today we stand in succession behind them as a further harvest from God’s field. He has called us to take the good news of salvation, that sure salvation, to whitened fields, ripened unto harvest all around us.
One day His perfect goodness will be demonstrated when all of His creation is transformed at His return. We know that God is good because His salvation is sure.
It’s so easy for us to take the gifts that God has given and to forget the God who has given them to us. It’s so easy for us to stop looking to Him and start looking at our situations or start looking inside of ourselves and to forget how good our God is. But when we look at His Word and when we look at His character and when we look at His Son who loved us and gave Himself for us upon the cross then we will know that God is good. And so I say—God is good. And you can say—all the time, God is good!
He is good because:
- His gifts are good
- His character is changeless
- And His salvation is sure!
Goodness Of God - Song By: CeCe Winans
I love You, Lord, for Your mercy never fails me
All my days, I've been held in Your hand
From the moment that I wake up, Until I lay my head
Oh, I will sing of the goodness of God