13 Oct 2022
Christians often say that God is always good and faithful; but what does this really mean in the life of the believer and what does it entail and encompass? We need not only have to understand this, particularly in these times of chaos and calamities, but also to see this being practiced in the life of believers and in our lives, in varying circumstances.
God’s sovereign redemptive love is one facet of the quality that Scripture calls God’s goodness (Psalm136:1; Mark 10:18).
C.S. Lewis wrote that there is kindness in Love but Love and kindness are not synonymous – when kindness is separated from the other elements of Love, it involves a certain fundamental indifference to its object, and even at times something like contempt of the object. Kindness consents very readily to the removal of its object. Lewis cited that kindness to animals for instance leads constantly to killing animals lest they suffer; in that sense, kindness cares not whether the object becomes good or bad, provided it escapes suffering.
If God is Love, Lewis added, He is, by definition, something more than mere kindness; though He, God, has often rebuked us and condemned us, He has never regarded us with indifference and contempt. God has paid us the intolerable compliment of loving us, in the deepest, most tragic sense – this is surely the goodness of God, loving the unlovable, even His enemies, and caring for their ultimate well-being. It is unexplainable why creatures like us should have a value so precious in the Creator’s eyes that we are the objects of His Love.
Besides the glorious kindness and generosity of God to all His creatures and creation, the supreme expression of God’s goodness is still the amazing grace and inexpressible love that show kindness by saving sinners who deserve only condemnation, saving them, at the great cost of Christ’s death at Calvary.
God’s faithfulness to His purposes, promise, and people is a further aspect of His goodness and praiseworthiness. Humans lie and break their word (we see this even manifested at the ‘world’s stage): God does neither. In the worst of times it can still be said, “His mercies never came to an end….great is your faithfulness (Lamentations 3:22-23). Though God’s ways of expressing His faithfulness are sometimes unexpected and bewildering, looking indeed to the casual observer and in the short term more like unfaithfulness; the final testimony of those who walk with God through life’s ups and downs is that not one word has failed of all the good things that the Lord our God promised concerning us (Joshua 23:14).
The times we are in surely present moments when we are puzzled, at times distressed, as to what God is doing in our lives and in this world. When we queried, “Why are you doing this to me God?”, “Why are you abandoning me and rejecting all our prayers?”, let us pause and realise that we are questioning the goodness and faithfulness of God – we are in fact saying that God does not love us – in fact, He seems to hate us and turn against us.
We must remember that our faith and hope rest on the solid ground of God’s faithfulness and gracious goodness as set forth in the Scripture, in His Word and promises.
Helmuth Von Moltke was drafted to work in counterintelligence for Nazi Germany; yet his Christian faith made him resolute opponent of Hitler. Although he believed it would be wrong for him to use violent force against the Nazis, he used his high position to rescue many prisoners from certain death. Eventually, he was accused of treason and sentenced to die.
Before the trial judge. he shouted, in response to the tirade against his Christian faith by the judge, “only in one respect does the National Socialism resemble Christianity, we demand the whole man”. He had put all his hope and trust in Jesus Christ. His faith had enabled him to act wisely in government service, and now it enabled him to act wisely when he faced his final hour.
In the last days of his life on earth, Helmuth von Moltke experienced the comfort of knowing Christ. In his last letter home to his wife, he was filled with joy and confidence in the goodness of God. He was able to tell his beloved wife, Freya that “the agony of parting, the terror of death, and the fear of hell” had no power over him. Instead he was overwhelmed with faith, hope and love. He said, “I know that I am living only in His grace”. He quoted a line in his favourite hymn, “He for death is ready, who living clings to Thee.”
Do we cling to God in our living, and are we ready for death in Him? Are our faith and hope fully grounded on the faithfulness and gracious goodness of our living God? We can then fully understand and experience the statement, “God is always good and faithful”.