Series: The Book of Romans 11/21/2004
The Goodness of God
Text: Romans 2:4-5
Introduction: How do you respond when someone asks you, “how are you doing?” Most of the time you probably give the common answer, “I’m doing fine.” We answer “fine” even if we really aren’t fine don’t we? We do that because we know that asking “how are you?” is really just a cultural greeting and people don’t really care how you are. Most of the time people would be shocked if you tried to tell them how you are really doing.
I began several months ago responding to this greeting by saying “I’m doing better than I deserve.” That is not my original saying; a man named Dave Ramsey uses that on his call-in radio program. I love that response because it acknowledges that we receive blessings everyday that we do not deserve. If we truly got what we deserved we would be in a lot worse shape than we are. In fact if we got what we deserved we would immediately experience the wrath of God.
You know God’s timing is perfect. I mean here we are for the last several weeks, studying the book of Romans, and on this week of Thanksgiving we come across a verse on which is perfect for us to focus. A verse that deals with God’s goodness to us and all for which we have to be thankful. A verse that reminds us not to take God’s goodness toward us for granted.
Read with me Romans chapter 2 beginning in verse 4
Pray
I want you to think this morning about how lightly you regard God’s goodness toward you. What affect does God’s goodness have on you?
The first thing about God’s goodness that I want us to see this morning is Two Aspects of God’s Goodness. When the Bible speaks of God’s goodness to us, it refers to his goodness in two different aspects. First of all it tells us that God is Good in His Nature. God’s very nature is to be good. All that he does is good. In fact because goodness is one of his attributes, he can’t do anything bad or evil. Listen to how the Psalmist describes the Lord God in several places:
PSALM 52:1 The goodness of God endures continually.
Psalm 14:1-3 The fool has said in his heart, "There is no God." They are corrupt, They have done abominable works, There is none who does good.The LORD looks down from heaven upon the children of men, To see if there are any who understand, who seek God. They have all turned aside, They have together become corrupt; There is none who does good, No, not one.
Psalm 25:8 Good and upright is the LORD
Psalm 34:8 Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good; Blessed is the man who trusts in Him!
Psalm 100:5 For the LORD is good
Psalm 106:1 Praise the LORD! Oh, give thanks to the LORD, for He is good!
Because God is always good we can know that all that we face in life is for our good. We know that even the bad things that happen to us are in some way for our good. We may make bad decisions but God’s disposition toward us is always good, and when we seek him he “works all things for the good.” God cannot do evil.
The scripture not only speaks of the fact that God is good but also that he is good to us. A second aspect of God’s goodness is that God is Good in His Actions Toward Us. James 1:17 tells us that “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights,..”
The second thing about the Goodness of God that I want you to see this morning is The Riches of God’s Goodness. And as we look at the riches of God’s goodness toward us, I want you to consider what effect does God’s goodness have on you. Are you grateful for His goodness toward you or do you take it for granted or even despise it by your lack of regard for his goodness? Paul lists for us some of the riches of God’s goodness toward us in verse 4. (Look at it again).
The first of the riches that he lists for us is God’s general goodness toward us or his kindness. God is kind toward us. Just think of all the ways that God has been kind to you. God’s kindness is shown in creation. God has created the sun to keep us warm and to light our way. He has created animals and plants for food. He gives us rain and sunlight to make the crops grow. He has made us with hands that can grip things and can do our work. Legs on which we we can walk. Eyes with which we can see. Listen the way that God has created us and all of his creation shows his goodness toward us. We did not just evolve into the way we are, God created us the way we are, and he is so good to us. You remember that the creation account in Genesis says that after each day of creation God said “it is good.” Do you thank him for his goodness to you in creation? Or do you take it all for granted and even despise his goodness to you?
God’s kindness and goodness toward us is not only shown in creation but also in his everyday dealings with us. God’s kindness is shown in providence. God is actively involved in our world today. He did not just create and then sit back and watch how everything plays out. He is involved in our lives and he directs the events that take place. That is why the Christian can say that “all things work together for the good, for those who love God and are called according to his good purpose.” God has a plan and it is good. All of the events of history are working out that good plan. He even takes our bad decisions and works them out in his good plan. Remember Joseph when he was sold into slavery later said to his brothers that “they had meant it for evil, but God meant it for good.” Do you acknowledge God’s goodness in the hand of providence? Think about this. All that you have achieved and all that you possess is from the hand of God. Your success in your career, the friends and family that you have, your possessions, your good health. All of these things are from the hand of God. Yet do we, by the way that we live, show contempt for His goodness. God multiplies his mercies everyday upon us who often rebel against him. The story is told of a man who went out to his garden and planted a watermelon seed but then did nothing to make it grow. In fact after he planted the seed he did not return to his garden for many weeks. He did not water it. Or fertilize it. Or weed the area around it. But another man decided to come along each evening and water the seed. He would fertilize it regularly and keep the weeds away. Weeks later the man who had planted the seed comes back to his garden to see the largest watermelon that he has ever seen. He takes it to the state fair and receives first prize for the record setting watermelon. The second man sees him at the fair and asks him how he grew such a big watermelon. To which the man replies that it was his great skill at gardening.
The man in that story is like so many of us. God is so good to us, yet we take all the glory; even forgetting his goodness to us. Is that true of you?
But God’s goodness and kindness toward us is not only shown in creation and providence. God’s goodness is shown in both the physical and spiritual realms. God’s kindness is shown by the proclamation of the gospel to us. There are so many people around the world that have never heard the gospel message. They are perishing without Christ. But every single one of us have heard the message of the gospel repeatedly and have been given many opportunities to respond to God. Do you treat God’s kindness with contempt by refusing to submit to Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior? God’s kindness to you is that you have had pastor’s in this church that have constantly reminded you that we are all sinners in need of God’s grace. But have you responded to that message? Some of you have been treating God’s kindness to you with contempt by rejecting Christ. You refuse to admit that you need a savior. You are still lost in your sins. You are like the man who fell in a river and is drifting down river toward a massive waterfall. He is thrown a life preserver, but he refuses it because he sees no danger. Later a boat comes by and warns him to climb in the boat, but he still refuses to see the danger. One last effort is made to save him before he falls over the waterfall to his death, but he still refuses to admit the danger, and he goes over the waterfall and is smashed on the rocks below. My friend is that you. God is so kind to you to let you hear the gospel message. You are in danger. Listen to verse 5 again. The greatest kindness that God has shown is his sending of his son to die on the cross for our sins. God has sent a life preserver. The questions is will you place your faith and trust in him?
Paul names a second on of the riches of God’s goodness toward us. Not only is God kind towards us, God is also forbearing or tolerant. Today when we hear the word tolerance, we think of acceptance. We are told that we must be tolerant of those who think or believe different than us. I remember when I worked for a division of Sara Lee Corporation they had us go through what was called “diversity training” so that we could appreciate the differences of our co-workers. We should be able to tolerate and work with people of all kinds, but that does not mean that we need to accept their beliefs as true. I could work with a homosexual at a job but I would never accept their lifestyle as an acceptable alternative lifestyle, God calls it sin.
You see, that is the way God is with us. He tolerates our sin and our rejection of Him or our little regard for Him. He may tolerate but he never excuses or accepts our sin. But how long will he tolerate our sin and our lack of regard for him. We see God’s tolerance shown towards mankind after Adam and Eve sinned. It was a long time before he destroyed the world with a flood. He was tolerant of man’s sin for many years although “the inclination of man’s heart was only evil all the time.” There came a point where God was no longer tolerant of their rejection of Him. They would not repent of their sin and he sent the flood to destroy them.
We see the same thing in the case of God’s chosen nation of Israel in the Old Testament. They continually rejected to follow after him and he tolerated their insolence for many years although he promised destruction for refusing to repent of their sins. And we see eventually God stopped tolerating them and sent them into exile and Jerusalem was destroyed. My friends if we do not repent of our sins and turn to follow the Lord we are only laying up for ourselves wrath in the coming Day of Judgment. Think about this: Would you keep a dog that would not follow you but instead always growled at you and tried to bite you. You would either get rid of that dog or have it put to sleep, wouldn’t you? Well think hard about what you would do. Are you biting back at God, refusing to follow him? If we will not submit to him, his wrath will come. When will that wrath come? No one but the Lord knows. But what we do know is that although he is tolerating our sin now, one day he will tolerate it no longer.
Related to God’s tolerance or forbearance of our sin is the third of the riches of God’s goodness that Paul mentions. That is that God is Patient with us. God is tolerant of us because he is patient with us. I am so glad that God is patient with me. I mean I do stupid things often, sinning against Him. In fact one area of sin that I struggle with is the area of patience. I sometimes do not have the patience that I need to have with my children. But God amazes me with His patience with us. I mean just think of all that God has put up with because he is patient. I mean if he wasn’t patient he would just get angry and pour out his wrath upon us. But he has a plan and he has set a time when he will pour out his wrath. But how we waits until that time I do not understand, because I can not relate to that kind of patience.
Why is he so patient with us? Well verse 4 tells us why. He is good to us to lead us to repentance. That is The Reason for God’s Goodness. To lead us to repentance. The bible says that:
9 The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is patient toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.
He is patient with us to give us an opportunity to repent and turn from our sin. But that same passage goes on to warn us:
10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up…
And then verse 5 back in our Romans passage we are told that if we do not repent we are just laying up wrath for ourselves in that Day of Judgment. He is good to us to save us from His wrath. How long he will continue to have patience with us, I do not know? But what I do know is that the longer we go without repenting the greater his wrath will be upon us.
Well by now the response that we should have to God’s goodness should be evident to us all. What should be the Response to God’s Goodness? There are two different ways that we can respond to the goodness of God. We can respond in repentance, faith, and thanksgiving. Or we can respond with unbelief, contempt, and no regard for the goodness of God. The one brings further blessing in our lives, the other just adds to the Lords wrath on the Day of Judgment.
I hope this week of Thanksgiving you will really consider these things. If you have committed your life to follow Christ, I hope you will truly acknowledge to God all of the ways that He is good to you. Thank Him for leading you to repentance. If there has never been a time when you have repented of your sin to God and began to follow Him, I hope you will do that today. God is patient with you. No matter how long you have lived, God has been good to you so that you might turn to Him now- before you die, before you lose your opportunity for salvation. Unlike other countries that have a pay-as-you-use toll system on major roads, Switzerland expects drivers using its autoroute system to pay an annual fee of 40 Swiss Francs. When you pay, you get a windshield sticker you display for the rest of the year. Traditionally, traffic police give motorists the whole month of January to purchase the sticker. There is no penalty for driving without it during that month—it is a month of grace. But when the first days of February come, expect to see the traffic police on the autoroute exit ramps checking for cars without the sticker. No more excuses are accepted; no more time is given. The grace period has ended.
Citation: Alan Wilson, Switzerland
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Bulletin Outline
Series: The Book of Romans 11/21/2004
The Goodness of God
Text: Romans 2:4-5
I. Two Aspects of God’s Goodness
God is good in His NATURE.
God is good in His ACTIONS toward us.
II. The Riches of God’s Goodness
God is KIND toward us.
· God’s kindness is shown in CREATION.
· God’s kindness is shown in PROVIDENCE.
· God’s kindness is shown by the PROCLAIMATION of
the gospel to us.
God is also forbearing or TOLERANT with us.
God is PATIENT with us.
III. The Reason for God’s Goodness
He is good to us to give us an OPPORTUNITY to repent.
He is good to us to SPARE us from His wrath.
IV. Two Responses to God’s Goodness
1. Repentance, Faith, and Thanksgiving
2. Contempt, Unbelief, and no regard for His goodness
