This summer, we have been studying the attributes of God, and this was our lesson from yesterday. The outline is mostly in complete sentences, so I think it can be profitable just from the handout...
I've pasted this from a .doc file, so I apologize for the loss of some formatting.
The Goodness and Sovereignty of God
16 August 2009
“Our aim in studying the Godhead must be to know God himself better. Our concern must be to enlarge our acquaintance, not simply with the doctrine of God's attributes, but with the living God whose attributes they are.”
J.I. Packer, Knowing God
“God has all life, glory, goodness, blessedness, in and of Himself; and is alone in and unto Himself all-sufficient, not standing in need of any creatures which He has made,nor deriving any glory from them, but only manifesting His own glory in, by, unto, and upon them. He is the alone fountain of all being, of whom, through whom, and to whom are all things;and has most sovereign dominion over them, to do by them, for them, or upon them whatsoever Himself pleases. In His sight all things are open and manifest, His knowledge is infinite, infallible, and independent upon the creature, so as nothing is to Him contingent, or uncertain. He is most holy in all His counsels, in all His works, and in all His commands. To Him is due from angels and men, and every other creature, whatsoever worship, service, or obedience He is pleased to require of them.
The Westminster Confession of Faith, Ch. 2.1 - “Of God and the Holy Trinity”
I. The Goodness of God – the sum of all His perfections
A. When scripture speaks of God's goodness, it is usually not of a particular attribute itself, but rather God's perfect goodness is seen through the expression of all His other attributes. What is the goodness of God, according to these passages?
Psalm 25:7 Remember not the sins of my youth and my rebellious ways; according to your love remember me, for you are good, O LORD. Good and upright is the LORD; therefore he instructs sinners in his ways.
Psalm 27:12-13 Do not turn me over to the desire of my foes, for false witnesses rise up against me, breathing out violence. I am still confident of this: I will see the goodness of the LORD
in the land of the living.
Psalm 31:18-20 How great is your goodness, which you have stored up for those who fear you, which you bestow in the sight of men on those who take refuge in you. In the shelter of your presence you hide them from the intrigues of men; in your dwelling you keep them safe from accusing tongues.
Psalm 52:8-9 But I am like an olive tree flourishing in the house of God; I trust in God's unfailing love for ever and ever. I will praise you forever for what you have done; in your name I will hope, for your name is good. I will praise you in the presence of your saints.
Psalm 69:16-17 Answer me, O LORD, out of the goodness of your love; in your great mercy turn to me. Do not hide your face from your servant; answer me quickly, for I am in trouble.
Psalm 73:1-3 Surely God is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart. But as for me, my feet had almost slipped; I had nearly lost my foothold. For I envied the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.
Psalm 85:11-12 Faithfulness springs forth from the earth, and righteousness looks down from heaven. The LORD will indeed give what is good, and our land will yield its harvest.
Psalm 86:4-6 Bring joy to your servant, for to you, O Lord, I lift up my soul. You are forgiving and good, O Lord, abounding in love to all who call to you.
Psalm 100:5 For the LORD is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.
B. The Difficulty of Language to Express God's Goodness
In all human examples, to call someone or something “good” is to compare a person or object to some standard outside of themselves. Michael Jordan was a “good” basketball player because he succeeded on a scale defined by the average skill of those who played around and against him. We can call a man “good” because he acts in accordance with the external demands of God's laws – he may be loving to his family, a diligent worker, and he acts humbly and compassionately toward others, etc. In this sense, it is right to speak of someone as “good.” But when we do this, we must recognize that we are laying a rubric, or a standard, over them and seeing if they match it. With God, may this never be!
It is a deadly, fallen trap for us to begin to test God's goodness according to our own comforts, or our own understanding of what God ought to be, ought to have done, or ought to do in the future. It is this fallen notion that leads to bitterness and anger toward the Lord in hard times. Instead, we must understand that a true belief in God's goodness is a humble acceptance that whatever scripture teaches about God, who He is, and what He has done, is the very definition of goodness. And with regard to other men, we must understand that one is good only to the extent that he imitates and reflects the character of God.
C. In Times of Trouble, We Must Know Two Things
1. God is good to His people, and this is reliable, unchangeable, eternal fact.
2. God is sovereign over all things, including the greatest disasters (Amos 3:6-7) and purposefully works in all things for His glory.
Therefore, may our response to all trials must be this twin thought:
Is God as good today, the day of pain and trouble, as He was yesterday, the day of comfort and ease? Was God surprised by the evil that befell me, or did He bring it for a purpose? Then I must trust, obey, and love Him in all things. To Him be glory forever and ever.
II. The Sovereignty of God – A Broad View
A. According to Webster's, a sovereign is “a person or group of persons having supreme power and authority.” What does this say about God?
1. God is a Law-Giver, defining good and evil (I John 3:4, Rom. 3:20).
2. God is a Prosecutor, having perfect record of all thoughts, actions, and secret things. (Ecc. 12:14)
3. God is a Judge, rightly dispensing punishment for violations of His law (Acts 17:31)
4. God is His own Messenger, having published His standards for all to see, and has placed the fundamentals of His law within all men without exception (Rom. 2:14-15).
B. God's reign extends far beyond a cosmic version of our civil authorities
1. He is our master, and we are His slaves (Rom. 1:1, Gal. 1:10) – meaning His authority, and His concerns, go far beyond our interaction with other men. He determines our waking and sleeping, our food, and our welfare in every respect. There is no wayward portion of our lives that escapes His rule.
2. He is the Author of our faith (Heb. 12:2), and all authors have all authority over the stories they tell. In the same way, He is our Potter, and we are the clay – and the potter has the right to determine the purpose and course of each vessel He creates (Rom. 9:21).
C. God's reign is active and involved (Rom. 8:28)
1. In all things great and small, God has worked in the life of every believer since before birth to prepare him for the trials God will bring. This can be clearly seen in the life of Paul, whose upbringing in the law as a “Jew of Jews” prepared Him to preach the gospel with tremendous power. With David, he was prepared as a humble shepherd-boy to suffer long under the tyranny of Saul, even while destined to be King. Jonah's trials and the discipline on his sin gave him great vigor in repentance. Wherever you find yourself, you can draw encouragement from the scriptures in the lives of past saints, knowing that God is never passive, actively bringing events together for His glory and our good.
2. How these concepts helped us in the recent loss of my job, and previous hard times.
Our God is not just a God of power, but of exercised power, and not one of abstract goodness, but of goodness in action. This is the only foundation of our hope, given the great strength and wiles of the devil and his angels, and the men who follow him in rebellion. In all times, whether we are wronged by the evil of men, or natural circumstances like storms and floods and hurricanes, God alone has determined our course and given those times to us. And it is by His grace that we can accept them with thankfulness and perseverance, because God works all things for His glory and our good. God has been faithful to His people since before time began, and no power on this earth can change that.
I've pasted this from a .doc file, so I apologize for the loss of some formatting.
