What’s So Good About Our God?!

I came across these “letters” to God from children this recently: Nancy Dear God, I bet it's very hard for you to love all of everybody in the whole world. There are only four people in our family, and I can never do it. Dear God, My Grandpa says you were around when he was a little boy. How far back do you go? Love, Dennis. Dear God, What does it mean you are a jealous God? I thought you had everything, Jane. Dear God, I didn't think orange went with purple until I saw the sunset you made on Tuesday. That was Cool. Eugene

King David said it this way in Psalm 8, “O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens. From the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise.” It doesn’t take too long however for those infants and children to get older and sadly to change from saying God is so good to what so good about God. You know what I mean, don’t you? In fact many of us reading this column, if we are being honest, have at one time or another ask ourselves, if God is so good why…?

As believers we know that God is good. We have tasted and seen His goodness in our lives, but still, at times we are confused about Him and wonder about the goodness of His plan. The Apostle Paul after being guided by the Holy Spirit to write the first 11 chapters of Roman, summarizes well this tension and encourages us to praise our Lord and God all the more even though we do not understand all of His ways.

Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments,and his paths beyond tracing out. “Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor?” “Who has ever given to God, that God should repay them? For from him and through him and for him are all things. To him be the glory forever! Amen. (Romans 11:33-36, NIV).

As I read this “doxology” (a statement of praise to God), I find myself summarizing Paul’s praise in this way, “God, I can’t figure you out but one thing I do know is that You are good!” The Apostle Paul teaches us three things about God that prove His goodness. First of all, Paul teaches us that...

• He Knows Everything! Romans 11:33

What He knows is practically good. Paul uses two terms to describe God’s omniscience that are significant to distinguish in meaning. “Wisdom” (Greek: sophia), literally means “knowledge applied.” The second term, knowledge conveys the idea of gaining information or learning. We cannot have wisdom without knowledge, but you can have knowledge without wisdom! Albert Einstein is likely the most famous theoretical physicist of all time. While working as a patent clerk, he did research that revolutionized thinking in modern physics. He is famous for the theory of relativity, and he is also a winner of the Nobel prize in physics. Though a brilliant man, his lack of wisdom in applying that brilliance is well documented. His social skills were non-existent. He is reported to have worn the same green slippers to work as a patent clerk, never bathing or combing his hair. Anthony Williams wisely said: “Knowledge comes from learning. Wisdom comes from living.”

The one true God we worship is so good because He is really, really intelligent but He is also street smart as well. There is no circumstance of our lives that our God does not know about and know how to practically handle. He knows everything good and right both in theory and in practice!

What He decides is unquestionably good. The term “unsearchable” could be translated “unfathomable.” This meaning is not in the negative sense of confusing or “what were you thinking God,” but rather unquestionably good. Our Lord’s judgments (literally His decisions or his verdicts--used in the New Testament in a legal setting) are beyond criticism. Though we might not be able to fathom them at times, over time (and this is where we struggle), we come to understand how awesome they are! Because He knows everything and we do not, the more we truly know of Him the more we will find ourselve sconcluding, “Wow, You are good!

What He knows and does is incomprehensibly good. The term Paul uses means “beyond tracing out” and could be translated inscrutable or incomprehensible. This term carries the idea of following footprints, like a hunter tracing the footprints of the prey, but then losing the trail. It is the of idea of following to a certain point but then losing it. It has the idea of mystery! Though we cannot fathom fully what He does, it blows our minds so to speak, but overtime we come to see that it is good.

Most of us don’t like know-it-alls because we know that just because they think they know it all doesn’t mean they do know it all! However God really does know everything there is to know. He is not a fake or a fraud. He is the real deal. There is nothing that He does not know, and that knowledge does not go to his head but rather He pours it out with love to those who trust in Him. This is what’s so good about our one true God! But notice secondly, Paul answers, what’s so good about our God by teaching us...

• He Owes No One Anything! Romans 11:34-35

What He thinks is not dependent on outside counsel! Paul in his praise to God uses a rhetorical question that has an obvious answer—"who has known the mind of the Lord? Obviously, none of us do! While we are wise to seeking the advice of many others as Proverbs 15:22 states, God is not in debt to anyone when it comes to advice. He is the Wonderful Counselor, the mighty God! We never inform God of anything.

What He gives is not a debt He owes. Paul is quoting, the Lord’s own words to Job. In Job 41:11, as the Lord spoke to Job out of the storm, He asks“Who has a claim against me that I must pay? Everything under heaven belongs to me. How I wish our political leaders would figure this out. We have come to accept that debt is a normal part of life. “If you want to have the good life, you got to be in debt” is the mantra of our culture. Let me show you how wrong this thinking is: If a person at age 22 with a salary of $25,000.00 would invest just 5% of their income each year (around $100/month). By the time that person reached the age of 65 do you know how much they would have in the bank? $530,000.00 (based on an average interest rate of 8% over that time).

When it comes to managing our money God’s way, He sets the example--He owes no one anything! You know why God gives His grace so lavishly--because He can--He not in debt to anyone .

How great is our God! What God gives us is never what we are owed. There is such a sense of entitlement in our culture that sometimes we as people of faith find ourselves thinking: “Well I have served you Lord, you owe me.” There is only one thing that we are owed! According to Romans 6:23 we are facing the penalty or wage of separation from Him eternally because of our unwillingness to follow Him. However since He’s not in debt, He owns the cattle on 1000 hills and the wealth in every mine (Ps 50:10). He owns it all (Psalm 21; I Corinthians 10:29--the earth is the Lord’s and everything in it). He is not encumbered with debt, and He paid our sin debt in full on the cross! So, He lavishly gives that which is eternal--the gift of eternal life to any who will believe. How great is our God? Well, He knows everything, and He owes no one anything. Notice one final thing that makes Him so good...

• He is the Only Reason for Living 36

He is the source of our lives--“from Him.” John 1:1-3 teaches us that God the Son (the Word) was involved in creation. In Genesis 1:1, God the Father and God the Holy Spirit were involved in creation. He is the source of our life. Apart from Him, the baby does not form in a mother’s womb. Psalm 139 teaches us that He knits us together there.

He is the agent of our lives --“through Him.” Not only are we from Him, we originate from His mind and His word, He is also the means by which we exist. For all of my married life and even before I was married, I have been insured by an unnamed insurance provider. Though it may be hard for some of you to believe if you drive with me sometime, by God’s grace this provider has never had to pay an insurance claim due to my driving. The source of my insurance is this provider--a huge national business that was worth $104 billion in 2023. However I would not be insured with this provider without our local insurance agent. He is the means by which I drive my car with the backing of a $104 billion! You know what so great about our one true God? He is not only the source of our eternal insurance, He is the agent! He is the means by which each day I live as His child! How great is that! From Him we exist, through him we exist and…

He is the only satisfying purpose for our lives--‘to him.” In this simple prepositional phrase “to Him” every person reading this column can find the true purpose and meaning of life. We have no satisfying purpose in life apart from Him. Success in business can be meaningful. Happiness in marriage can be fulfilling. Accomplished children can bring joy. Good grades in school can be a grand goal accomplished. However, none of these temporary successes have any lasting satisfaction without doing them for His pleasure and purposes. We have been designed for His glory and when we live for anyone else’s glory besides Him, there will be a void and emptiness that no pill or bottle or person can ever fill. TO HIM BE GLORY FOREVER, AMEN! “Amen” is term of emphasis that literally means “so let it be” or “truly” “yes that’s right.” To bring into today vernacular “amen” means, “I’m down with that!” Are you down with Him today?

Every American that’s graduated from Elementary School should know these famous words found in the Declaration of Independence: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” I submit that our founding fathers missed it a bit! Our creator has given us the right to life ,liberty and the pursuit of His glory, for only in that pursuit will any of us find true and lasting happiness.

So what’s so God about our God? Even though our God cannot be figured out, but He is still the only One worth living for and with forever!

Dr. David Ley is the President of Alaska Bible College.