THE DEPTH OF GOD’S GOODNESS

God reveals His goodness to humans in many ways and facets because He is gracious, merciful, kind, and benevolent.

But we also need to understand and appreciate the depth of the most relevant aspect of His goodness, namely that which God has accomplished for us in the Person of His Son, the LORD Jesus Christ. This goodness of God is therefore REDEMPTIVE GOODNESS – goodness that rescues us from sin, its consequences, and its effects!

SUPERFICIAL GOODNESS…

If we fail to genuinely understand and humbly appreciate the true goodness of God, we tend to develop a superficial and worldly perspective on it. In such a case, the concept of the “goodness of God” closely resembles similar concepts in other belief systems, including those present in other religions, philosophies, and humanistic ideologies. No, the BIBLICAL definition of “goodness” lies on a completely different level as that of goodness in a general moral sense…!

THE KEY TO GRASPING GOD’S PROFOUND GOODNESS

As we’ve highlighted in Parts 4 and 5 of this blog series, the most compelling approach to comprehending the profound goodness of God in Christ is to examine it in the context of humanity’s predicament of sin. One has to grasp the goodness of God against the background of what will be a person’s fate if he/she doesn’t embrace God’s goodness as revealed in Christ and offered to every human being (Rom. 2:4; 11:22)!

GOD’S ASSESSMENT OF THE SINNER

To recap the preceding sections in this blog series, the human sin dilemma entails God personally assessing everyone as:

• Lawless, rebellious towards God, a mocker and hater of God, disobedient to Him, immoral, unbelieving, evil, and treasonous, etc. (These are all descriptive of the true nature and essence of what the Bible calls “a sinner”).
• Bound to spiritual darkness.
• Living in and loving darkness.
• Falling short of God’s required perfect standard.
• Separated/cut off from God, morally and relationally.
• An enemy of God.
• In a state of perishing.
• Guilty of committing sin, and therefore deserving of the everlasting death penalty – condemned to severe and everlasting punishment (wrath of God).
• Under the Judgement of God.
• Destined for hell/lake of fire.

We could include more aspects of people’s lost state in the list above, but for now, we will stick with these. All these aspects are different facets of people’s lost state.

With all this said, it doesn’t mean that God doesn’t love the sinner. On the contrary, He loves the sinner so deeply that He invested all of Himself into redeeming the sinner and saving him/her from the horrific consequences of sin (Joh. 3:16; Rom. 5:8; Eph. 2:4-5; Tit. 3:4-5; 1 Joh. 4:9-10).

CHRIST’S ONCE-FOR-ALL SACRIFICE SOLVED IT ALL

Christ’s once-for-all sacrifice on the cross made redemption from all aspects of sin possible and available to all human beings (Heb. 9:26; 10:10, 14; 1 Pet. 3:18). Thus, the hindrance for anyone to be saved and reconciled with God has been permanently and thoroughly removed by Christ.

To bring more clarity and to inspire appreciation for God’s great work in Christ, we will now explain how Christ’s accomplishment addressed the multifaceted nature of humanity’s sin predicament.

APPROPRIATION BY FAITH

Christ has accomplished everything necessary for people to attain deliverance from their lost state before God. However, each person must still appropriate by faith that which God in Christ has done for them.

John 3:14-21, with particular emphasis on verse 16, is probably the most appropriate passage in the Bible that vividly illustrates appropriation of salvation by faith. It also explains the contrast between those who have appropriated Christ’s work for themselves and those who haven’t:

14  And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up,

15  that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.

16  For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

17  For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.

18  “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

19  And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.

20  For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed.

21  But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.

In this passage, it’s evident that a person appropriates all that Christ has done for them by believing in Him, i.e. believing/trusting in His Name (v.18; Joh. 1:12; 20:31; Acts 10:43). Every individual has a choice. Those who opt not to place their faith in Christ for salvation continue to exist in their condemned (lost) state before God, rendering none of what Christ has done beneficial to them.

WHAT ABOUT REPENTANCE?

Verses 19 to 21 emphasize also another aspect which is part of putting one’s faith in Christ. It involves the process of bringing one’s sin into the open before God, and that is what the Bible calls REPENTANCE. Repentance involves genuine remorse for one’s sins, a turning away from them, and a commitment to follow God’s ways (Ezek. 18:30; Matt. 4:17; 9:13; Mark 1:15; Luk. 13:3; 24:47; Acts 3:19; 17:30; 2 Cor. 7:10; 2 Pet. 3:9). Genuine repentance is essential for God’s forgiveness and salvation, emphasizing a change of heart and a turning away from sinful behavior to receive God’s grace and mercy.

Therefore, when we explain in this article the change in one’s state through Christ, it’s important to understand that these benefits are relevant only to those who have repented and placed their faith in Christ, not to those who haven’t.

HOW CHRIST DEALT WITH MAN’S SIN DILEMMA THROUGH FORGIVENESS

NO FORGIVENESS, NO SALVATION

The most important thing about sin is that it needs to be forgiven by God. If that doesn’t happen, the person is doomed to everlasting destruction in hell, and eternally separated from God…!

Fortunately, because of what Christ has accomplished for us, forgiveness by God for all our sins is possible! By His forgiveness God clears the sinner from all guilt before Him, thereby changing the person from a state of guilty to innocent. The record of transgressions against the sinner has been wiped clean (canceled) by God (Col. 2:14). This means that at the time of death, the believer doesn’t die in his/her sins, but dies as sinless/innocent (forgiven) human being, and will therefore not be held accountable for any sin before God (Ps. 116:15; Joh. 3:36; 6:50, 57; 10:28; 11:25-26; 1 Thess. 4:16; Rev. 14:13; 20:6).

FORGIVENESS IS REMOVAL

The biblical concept of God’s forgiveness means the REMOVAL of sin by God (Ps. 103:12; Isa. 43:25; 44:22; Jer. 33:8; Mic. 7:19; Acts 3:19). From the moment of God’s forgiveness, that person is no longer held accountable by God of the sin that he/she has committed – God has legally and formally dismissed that sin.

GOD CANNOT FORGIVE… UNLESS…

But, here is a very important truth to understand, which the average Christian does not always clearly comprehend. Grasping this will reveal the depth of the beauty of God’s forgiveness (salvation):

Unlike us humans, God CANNOT merely forgive just because He feels sorry for the person, or because the person was very penitent and/or sincere when he or she asked for forgiveness, or because God prefers/likes this specific person more than another, etc.  No, God is not only very compassionate, gracious, merciful, and kind, but also righteous and just (fair). He cannot let any sin/crime, no matter how seemingly small or great, go unpunished (Ex. 34:7; Num. 14:18; Deut. 25:16; 32:4; Josh. 24:19; 2 Chron. 19:7; Job 8:3; 10:14; 34:10-12; Ps. 33:5; 67:4; 89:14; 92:15; Nah. 1:3).

ATONEMENT

The Bible is clear that sufficient compensation (payment) for sin is needed for God to forgive that sin. The Bible calls this payment for sin: ATONEMENT, and the “currency” (the means) by which this payment for sin is made, is BLOOD.

In both the Old and New Testaments the shedding of blood in sacrifices was required by God as the means of atonement (payment/compensation) for sin (Ex. 12:13; 30:10; Lev. 8:15; 16:27; 2 Chron. 29:24; Matt. 26:28; Eph. 1:7; Col. 1:14; Heb. 9:11-14, 22; 1 Joh. 1:7; 2:2; Rev. 1:5; 5:9; 7:14). Atonement involves covering, canceling, cleansing, disannulling, pardoning, purging, and putting away of sin, thus the MEANS by which the sinner is reconciled with God.

WHY BLOOD?

Two very specific verses in the Bible give us a clear understanding of why God chose blood as the means for atonement (forgiveness of sin):

Lev. 17:11  For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul.

Heb. 9:22  And according to the law almost all things are purified with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no remission.

The blood of animals and humans carries life-sustaining elements to all parts of the body; therefore, blood represents the essence of life, and the shedding of blood represents the shedding of life, i.e., the death of the one whose blood is shed (Gen. 9:4).

THE SUBSTITUTE

Thus, shed blood (DEATH) from an innocent substitute atones for or covers the sinner, who is then allowed to LIVE. It’s the giving of an innocent life (not guilty of sin) as a SUBSTITUTE for the life that deserved punishment (death) because of sin – another life given in place of the sinner’s life (Isa. 53:5-6; Rom. 5:8-9; 2 Cor. 5:21; Gal. 3:13; 1 Pet. 2:24; 3:18).

Therefore, as seen in Hebrews 9:22, the “shedding of blood” refers to the death of the innocent one so that the guilty person can stay alive. “Remission” means forgiveness of the sins of the sinner based on the life that was given (death through the shedding of blood) in place of the life of the sinner. The one has died in the place of the sinner.

PERFECTION

The one dying (shedding blood) had to be himself innocent of sin, as one who is himself guilty of sin couldn’t be regarded as qualifying to make payment (atonement) for the sin of the guilty party (sinner).

Therefore, in the Old Testament God’s prescription for sacrifices for sin was very specific. Animals were to be used as these were themselves not guilty of sin. And they had to be perfect (without defect or blemish) which symbolized sinlessness and purity (Ex. 12:5; Lev. 1:3; 22:21; Deut. 15:21; Mal. 1:8). Yet, these could only symbolize and foreshadow what Christ would accomplish later in human history as these animal sacrifices in the Old Testament only provided a temporary covering for sins, but a permanent solution. They were symbolic and could not actually remove the guilt of sins. The repeated nature of these sacrifices highlighted their insufficiency (Heb. 9:13; 10:1-2, 4, 11).

Christ would eventually be brought as God’s perfect LAMB (innocent substitute) which would pay (atone) for all our sins. Christ Himself is God’s perfect LAMB which He gave to take away (remove/atone for) the sins of the whole world (whole human race) (Isa. 53:5-10; Joh. 1:29, 36; Rom. 3:23-25; Heb. 9:12-14; 1 Pet. 1:8-9; 1 Joh. 2:2; Rev. 5:9, 12; 7:9-10, 14).

“IT IS FINISHED!”

Because Christ’s sacrifice of Himself on the cross for our sins was not merely symbolic (like the sin sacrifices in the Old Testament), but was the truly perfect, pure, and acceptable sacrifice before God, He only had to sacrifice Himself ONCE, as no further sacrifice would ever be needed (Heb. 7:27; 9:12, 26, 28; 10:10, 14; 1 Pet. 3:18 – see also Jude 1:3).

SUFFICIENCY CONFIRMED BY THE RESURRECTION

God the Father gave undeniable witness to His acceptance of and the perfection of Christ’s sacrifice for sin by raising Him from the dead. Thus, through the resurrection, God was proving the sufficiency of Christ’s sacrifice for the redemption of humanity’s sins (Rom. 1:4; 4:25; 1 Cor. 15:17; Col. 2:13-15; Heb. 9:12; 10:12).

PART 7

We will continue in Part 7 with the amazing way Christ has redeemed sinful man from his horrible sin dilemma.