The Glory And Goodness Of God
Why is it that the word of god can be read in public and one man will be enriched by the spoken word while another man can’t wait till they’re done? When you think of the glory of God, one can see with his or her own eyes the scope and wonder of God. One can stand on the Ocean shoreline and see nothing but water as far as one can see. From a mountaintop one can see miles of hills and valleys in awe of the sheer size of the world. At night gaze at the stars and think how insignificant you are to God’s creation and ponder why would God want a personal relationship with you when his creation is so huge?
The designer of the creation can not be denied because the earth declares the glory of its architect and builder. From the beginning of time the whole creation has been groaning as they wait for the sons of God to be revealed. The vastness and order of creation has spoken to every man on the face of the earth giving glory to God. What on earth would men do if the sun were to stop producing light and heat to the earth? Ironically that is what God has planning to do.
God has foretold what would come to pass in the future.
God has made the end of time known before it will come to pass. On the day Jesus Christ returns he will be glorified among all those who have believed. 2 Thessalonians 1:10 Because of God’s unsurpassing power every Christian expects to be raised from the dead and live in heaven with God. That may be the day every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess that Jesus is Lord. On that day he will be coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him; and all the peoples of the earth will mourn because of him. Revelation 1:7 Colossians 1:27 speaks of another glory, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. Just as Christ had the fullness of God dwell within him, you have the fullness of God dwelling in you.
From the moment Jesus Christ enters your heart the fullness of God dwells with in your heart. Through Christ you become members of God’s household and have access to the father. Jesus Christ becomes the cornerstone and in him the promises of God are fulfilled so that the father is glorified. God reveals his glory to you by making you holy and in him, your body becomes a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.
God receives glory when each one of his promises comes true in your life and God’s children benefit from taking advantage of his promises. Each of those promises was given from the goodness of his heart and his desire for you to partake of his divine nature. All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, but his divine nature will help you to overcome the corrupted state the world has fallen into.
The goodness of God is an outcome of a disposition of holiness. Goodness is a praiseworthy attribute that comes from moral excellence. In reality goodness is an act of being good to others without considering how others are to you. Jesus said, do to others what you would have them do to you, as a basic rule to live by. When you consider what goes around, comes around, it’s not a bad precept to live by. Being good to others is sowing the seeds that produce the crop of goodness in return.
God disposition of love and his moral ethics go hand in hand with goodness. God wants you to become aware that your love and morality must consider how your actions effect your associations. When you consider the Ten Commandments, don’t they tell you how to treat others with respect and how to love one another? Respect is an important ingredient in relationships and those you love have your respect. In the same regard, showing respect to everyone has to come from the goodness of your heart.
Jonah knew that God was a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love and relents from sending calamity. God also said, I will have mercy on those I will have mercy on, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. Out of his goodness he maintains his love to thousands, forgives our wickedness, rebellion and sin. At the same time, he won’t let the guilty go unpunished.
Out of his goodness God has spoken of what he detests and that he rewards those who seek his face by faith. He also forewarned man that he would reward man according to his deeds. However, it is man’s responsibility to seek, find, and adopt the precepts that leads to the works God appreciates. When you live according to God’s will, the quality of goodness will follow and be seen by God.
By doing God’s good and perfect will, you will receive God’s blessing.
You will again obey the LORD and follow all his commands I am giving you today. Then the LORD your God will make you most prosperous in all the work of your hands and in the fruit of your womb, the young of your livestock and the crops of your land. The LORD will again delight in you and make you prosperous, just as he delighted in your fathers. Deuteronomy 30:8-9
God wants you to become prosperous so you may be a blessing to those in need. God does not in someone who gives grudgingly but delights in those who give from the heart expecting nothing in return. God expects his children to act in like manner and according to his instruction. Like father, like son. God wants his children to become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.
Having the fullness of Christ dwell in you gives you a responsibility to live by God’s standards and guide sinners into the love of God. The goodness of God has instructed you to walk according to God’s will and by doing God’s will you have a better life. God wants you to share your experience with people that don’t know him. Your experience may give you a lump in your throat every time you tell it, but your story can give hope to the lost and the joy you have with Christ.
The goodness of God comes in many forms and is as diverse as God’s character. Gaining the knowledge of God’s character gives you a foundation to imitate in your walk with Christ. God could make a distinction between the righteous and the unrighteous but has chosen to love his entire creation. Out of the goodness of his heart God sought a way to reconcile the unrighteous man to him and through Jesus Christ canceled the debt of sin once and for all. Yet, God would not force his way of life on others and offered man a choice to accept life through his Son. Though many refuse the life God wants to give and though God may not agree with your choice he will accept the choice that you make.
You may not think that life treats you fairly, but as God’s child you are taught to overcome evil with good. Inside, you may be churning with the desire to get even, but peace is your priority because vengeance belongs to your father in Heaven.
Developing the goodness of God takes time but is well worth your time and effort. In the long run your productivity for your father will reap benefits beyond measure. Being effective for your father requires that you overlook the faults of other while you improve the areas of your character that God is working on. By working with God he develops your character of goodness to his standard.
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