“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.” James 1:17
What is it about the gospel of Christ that makes it so good? The answer to that question begins with the definition of “goodness.” What is goodness, and what is not only a definition of it, but the very point of reference, and basis, for us as human beings, and sinners, to comprehend something of it?
From the very first pages of Scripture we are confronted with this matter of not only the creation of God being “good,” but with the One who in every aspect of His being, is not only filled with goodness, but IS goodness itself. That which was made by God was declared by Him to BE good, and this, because in every creative thought of that which God would bring into being, to the full realization and completion of it, and this before the fall of man, every detail and aspect was the very expression, demonstration, and proclamation of the fact that the Creator was, and is eternally good. What was the essence of that goodness? How does God reveal something of its inexpressible beauty and power?
If we begin with the beginning and then the process of creation, we are faced with the fact of Christ’s declaration of what He IS. In the Old Testament, and especially in the New, He reveals Himself as the “…Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending.” (Rev. 1:8) The God of the beginning, who is Himself THE beginning, directs our attention to Him first and foremost as being the means by which we can begin to understand something of His goodness. So, in the process of creation, He in essence takes mankind by the hand and leads us forth to consider the perfect purity, and enormity of His creative wisdom, might, power, beauty and wonderfulness. We are called upon to look at His handiwork in its detail, grandeur, and perfect balance of color and uniqueness, then to fall down, overwhelmed at Him, to worship. This is why in John’s Revelation, he writes of the worship of the Creator in heaven: “Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power: for Thou hast created all things, and for Thy pleasure they are and were created.” (Reve. 4:11) When James the apostle wrote his letter, he spoke of “every good and every perfect gift” which is from above and cometh down from the Father of lights. He goes on to speak of the unchangeableness, the invariableness of God. Not only is Jesus Christ the same as on the day of creation, but He is revealed to mankind today as the same God who gives that which is the expression of His holy, good nature.
With regards to the gospel, this message of “good tidings,” we are brought face to face with the goodness of God, only this time, revealed with the backdrop and context of a sinful, dying world of men, who for the most part do not know God. It is into this context of that which is the opposite of all that is good, that God in Christ came to give not only a message of hope, but the very power of God to realize that hope. To Moses, in expressing His goodness, God would proclaim: “The Lord, The Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth.” (Exodus 34:6) To the Apostle Paul, thousands of years later, God would reveal to him that not only can fallen man come to know “peace with God” (Romans 5:1), be accepted in Christ before the Father, with a hope that is sure, know also, the very “love of God (which) is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit which is given unto us.” (Rom. 5:5) The immaculate goodness of God is revealed to mankind by the commending of His good, perfect love towards us. What a revelation of goodness after mankind had become the enemy of God!!!
Dear Father, Open our blinded eyes. In Jesus’ name, Amen.