OPEN: Is God Good? (wait for a reply) Of course He is. That’s what the Bible tells us and that’s what we believe or we wouldn’t be here. But, there are many out there who don’t like God. There are many agnostics and atheists work very hard at painting God as an evil and wicked God – unworthy of our praise.
ILLUS: I read the story about a university professor who challenged his students with this question: “Did God create everything that exists?”
One student replied: “Well, of course he did!”
The professor answered, “If God created everything, then God created evil. And since evil exists, and according the principal that our works define who we are, then we can assume that God is evil.”
Do you see what the professor was saying? He was saying God was evil because God created everything, including evil, and thus God was evil. Now this teacher had done several times over the years. This approach was one of the ways he would attack and undermine the faith of his students so that he could remove God from their lives and begin to build his own philosophy on their hearts and minds and remake them in his own image. And it’s a scene that is repeated over and over again in college classes across the nation.
But this time, another student raised his hand, ‘May I ask you a question, professor?”
“Of course,” replied the professor.
“The student stood and asked “Professor, does cold exist?”
“What kind of question is that? Of course cold exists. Haven’t you ever been cold?”
The young man replied “In fact sir, cold does not exist. According to the laws of physics what we consider cold is in reality the absence of heat. Absolute zero (-460 F) is the total absence of heat; and ALL MATTER becomes inert and incapable of movement at that temperature. Cold does not exist. We’ve simply created this word to describe how we feel when there’s no heat.”
Then student said, “I have another question Professor: does darkness exist?”
The professor laughed, “Of course it does.”
“Once again you are wrong sir,” the student responded. “Darkness does not exist either. Darkness - in reality - is the absence of light. Light we can study, but not darkness. How can you know how dark a certain space is? You measure the amount of light present. Darkness is a term men use to describe what happens when there is no light.”
Finally, the young man asked the professor: “Sir, does evil exist?”
Now uncertain, the professor still responded, “Of course, as I have already said. We see it every day. It is in the daily examples of man’s inhumanity to man. It is in the multitude of crime and violence everywhere in the world. These manifestations are nothing else but evil.”
To this the student replied “No sir. Evil does not exist - or at least it does exist unto itself. Evil is simply the absence of God. Evil is the result of what happens when men don’t have God’s love present in their hearts. It’s like the cold that comes when there is no heat, or the darkness that comes when there is no light.”
Now I have no idea if that story is true… but the point of the story is dead on. Evil is the absence of God, just like cold is the absence of heat and darkness is the absence of light.
The Bible maintains that God is not only GOOD, but that He is the source of our morality. That’s why Ephesians says: “Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children.” (Ephesians 5:1) God is the measuring stick of what is moral. That’s why we’re told to imitate Him. And Ephesians describes what imitating God looks like. We’re told to:
Put away “… all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander… along with all malice.” Ephesians 4:31
“Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God (we’re told to imitate Him in this) in Christ forgave you.” Ephesians 4:32
“… walk in love, as Christ loved us (again – imitation) and gave himself up for us.” Ephesians 5:2
“… sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you...” Ephesians 5:3
“Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving.” Ephesians 5:4
Now, this is just a sampling of what Christian morality should look like. But ALL this morality is based upon imitating our God. God sets the standard (He’s the measuring stick) for what is righteous and good. In Mark 10:18 Jesus declared, “No one is good except God alone.”
When we properly “imitate” God in our lives we end up pointing back to the God’s goodness. That’s partly what Jesus was talking about when He said: “…let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and GIVE GLORY TO YOUR FATHER who is in heaven.” Matthew 5:16
Lately, I’ve been intrigued by a series of videos by a man named Frank Turek. He rightly maintains that everybody can be moral (Godly and unGodly), but without God - man has no standard - no measuring stick - of what’s moral and immoral. Turek quotes CS Lewis:
“(As an atheist) My argument against God was that the universe seemed so cruel and unjust. But how had I got this idea of just and unjust? A man does not call a line crooked unless he has some idea of a straight line. What was I comparing this universe with when I called it unjust?”
Turek expands on this by saying “You wouldn’t know what a crooked line is unless you knew what a straight line is. In the same way you can’t know what injustice is unless you know what JUSTICE is and you wouldn’t know what Justice is unless there was a STANDARD of justice (a yardstick – a standard that is dependable and consistent).
But without God morality ends up being based on my personal opinion of right and wrong. And if morality is based upon your opinion vs my opinion then morality and immorality is changable depending on who you talk to. You end up with one person’s viewpoint about morality (right/wrong) being as valid as any other person’s viewpoint.
ILLUS: I once read the true story of a man who was trying to share his faith with a University student... but the student wasn’t receptive to hearing about Christ. At one point during their discussion, the student said: “Whatever is true for you is true for you and whatever is true for me is true for me. But no one should force his or her views on other people since everything is relative.”
The Christian realized that he wasn’t making any progress with this guy as long as he hid behind this rather bizarre form of logic (which is present on almost college campus in the nation) so he decided to try something different. He thanked the student for his time and began to leave his room. But on his way out, he picked up the student’s stereo and started out the door with it.
The student shouted at him: ‘Hey, what are you doing?’
“I am leaving your room with your stereo.’
“I can see that, but that wrong. You can’t do that.”
The Christian replied “I happen to think it is permissible to steal stereos if it will help a person’s religious devotions, and I myself could use a stereo to listen to Christian music in my morning devotions. Now I would never try to force you to accept my moral beliefs in this regard because, as you said, everything is relative and we shouldn’t force our ideas on others. But surely you aren’t going to force on me your belief that it is wrong to steal your stereo, are you?”
Then he continued: “You know what I think? I think that you embrace relativism in areas of your life where it’s convenient, say in sexual morality, or in areas about which you do not care, but when it comes to someone stealing your stereo or criticizing your own moral hobbyhorses, I suspect that you become a moral absolutist pretty quickly, don’t you?”
A few weeks later that student became a Christian.
(J. P. Moreland, “Apologetic Reasoning and the Christian Mind”)
Without God, there’s no measuring stick to say something is moral or immoral. But if I admit there’s real evil in the world, then I have to admit that there’s a standard of what is good. And that standard (scripture tells us) is GOD!!!
Right now I want to have you watch this 3 minute video where Frank Turek explains this
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WMtrMrI8BgE (time stamp 1:12 thru 4:44)
This is one of the foundational truth of our faith: God is good and holy and righteous. And He has the right to tell us what to do because He is the one who sets the standards. In fact - He IS the standard!
ILLUS: One person noted that you can’t have GOOD without GOD. If you take GOD out of GOOD, you know what you end up with? “O”. (Get it? “G O O D” minus “G O D” leaves “O”)
At the beginning of this series I told you we’d repeat same phrase over and over again: “We don’t have to APOLOGIZE for our faith. We don’t need to rally to God’s defense. Our God is bigger than we are – and He doesn’t really need our help. But in spite of that… God calls us to contend for the faith…” (Jude 3)
And contending for the faith on God’s being good isn’t that hard for us because we have the MORAL high ground. We have that moral high ground because God’s morality is superior to anything man would try to substitute for it:
ILLUS: Back in 1929, there was a debate in Oklahoma between a non-instrumental Church of Christ preacher named W. L. Oliphant and Charles Smith who (at the time) was the President of the “American Association of the Advancement of Atheism.”
The proposition for the debate was that Smith (the Atheist) had to prove that “Atheism is Beneficial to the Race, and is Most Conducive to Morality of any Theory Known to Man” (in other words – Atheism sets a higher moral standard than Christianity), Toward the end of the debate, the Oliphant said this:
“I want you people to remember that, though Mr. Smith is supposed to be affirming that atheism is conducive to good morals, he has not said one word in defense of the morality of atheism. He has done nothing but attack Christianity. This method of debating is in harmony with the whole program of atheism; it is entirely destructive. In the few minutes I have left, I shall introduce a few of the principles of morality taught in the New Testament. Christ teaches that we should:
Avoid hatred (Matthew 5:21-22)
Not be lustful (Matthew 5:28)
Not engage in unfair judgments (Matthew 7:1-2)
We should love our enemies (Matthew 5:44)
We should work toward Reconciliation (Matthew 5:24)
We should avoid anxiety (Matthew 6:25, 29)
We should be a people of self-examination (Matthew 7:3-5)
Respect for government. (Romans 13:1-7)
We believe in the equality of man (James 2:1-4)
And the universal brotherhood of mankind(Matthew 23:9)
We believe in thrift and industry (Ephesians 4:28)
Progress (Hebrews 6:1)
The value of truth (2 Corinthians 13:8)
And truth as the basis for freedom (John 8:32)
We should be a people of forgiveness (Mark 11:25)
Of humility (Luke 14:11)
Of unselfishness (Romans 12:10).
Of benevolence (Acts 20:35)
And of honesty (Romans 12:17)
“I am willing to risk the whole proposition ON THIS CHALLENGE: I challenge Mr. Smith to name any principle of morality that I cannot read in the Bible. Let him mention any virtue he may think of, and I will read it in this Book.”
(Donald R. Fox – Glad Tidings of Good Things 5/6/10)
You see, you don’t have to defend the idea that God is good. That truth is self-evident.
So God IS good.
But what difference does that make? Why should I even consider this as being important?
Well, the difference that it makes is this: It gives us something to be excited about. In fact, that’s what prompted Jude to write: “Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints. Jude 1:3
Did you catch that… Jude was EAGER to tell the Christians in this church about what God had given them. But why was Jude excited? And why should WE be excited?
Well 1st, our God is our constant and unchanging standard of right and wrong. Have you ever heard the expression “Moving The Goalposts”? It means someone changed the rules in the middle of the game. Somebody has moved the goals/objectives so they’re not where they should’ve been. Folks use it to talk about someone just arbitrarily changed an agreement, or changed the rules of a contract. When someone is said to “move the goalposts” – that’s not a compliment. It’s a declaration that someone has cheated… they’ve been unfair and dishonest.
The Bible firmly declares God that never changes the goalposts. His righteousness and His moral standards have always been the same.
James 1:17 “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not CHANGE like shifting shadows.”
Numbers 23:19 “God is not a man, that he should lie, nor a son of man, that he should CHANGE his mind.”
In other words – God doesn’t change the goalposts and His morality IS ALWAYS the same. The problem of course is that our morality isn’t always as dependable. As Romans 3:23 tells us “All have sinned and fall short of glory of God”.
Does that mean YOU have sinned and fall short? (yep)
Does that mean I have sinned and fall short? (yep)
ILLUS: A week or so ago I heard about a high school football team that lost 80 to nothing. Now why did they lose? Did they lose because someone moved the goal posts? Of course not. Then why? Because they weren’t a good enough team. Remember this is High School – the kids are out there doing their best… but it just wasn’t good enough. In the same way, when it comes to being righteous, we can do our level best, but we’re just never going to be good enough to be good enough to impress God. The Bible is very clear that neither you nor I nor any other person on earth will ever be righteous enough to be able to earn our way into heaven.
But then Psalm 103:14 tells us “… he knows our frame; he remembers that we are dust” and this is where Jude felt Christians should be so excited! Just before the verse Psalm 103 tells us:
“The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. He will not always chide, nor will he keep his anger forever. He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us. As a father shows compassion to his children, so the LORD shows compassion to those who fear him.” (Psalm 103:8-13)
Psalm 34:8 says “… taste and see that the LORD is good!”
God tastes good because He is good. And He is good, not just because He is righteous and holy. He tastes good because He’s “gooder” to us than we deserve. He is gooder because He is willing to be merciful and forgiving in spite of our failures and shortcomings by the blood of Jesus. And He is gooder… because He loves us SO MUCH.
CLOSE: I want to close with this simple story that says it all:
While praying one day, a woman asked God “Who are you God?
He answered: “I am”.
“But, Who is ‘I am.’” She asked
“I am Love, I am Peace. I am Grace. I am Joy. I am Strength. I am Safety. I am Shelter. I am Power. I am the Creator. I am the Comforter. I am the Beginning and the End. I am the Way, the Truth and the Light.”
With tears in her eyes, she looked toward Heaven and said “Now I understand. But who am I?”
And God tenderly wiped her tears from her eyes and whispered: “You (pause) are Mine.”
INVITATION
