Our God is a Good God
Mat 19:16 And, behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?
Mat 19:17 And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God:
Our God is a good God. Sounds like an Oral Roberts sermon doesn’t it? That simple revelation has only recently been reclaimed by the church. It seems that as humans acquire more authority and power they become more oppressive and abusive, but God who IS all power came to the earth to serve and to give His life as a ransom for many. There is none to correct God, no power restrains Him from doing anything He chooses, but He chooses to love and to bless.
What is the meaning of the word good? God’s character is it’s definition. His character is reflected in "the fruit of the Spirit".
Gal 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, GOODNESS, faith,
Gal 5:23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.
Eph 5:9 (For the fruit of the Spirit is in all GOODNESS and righteousness and truth;)
What would it benefit man if God had the knowledge and the power to heal but not the will to heal. We are guaranteed that it is His will by His very nature. You see, the character of God matches all His other qualities such as His omniscience and His omnipotence. It exceeds our ability to comprehend. Who has ever plumbed the depths of God’s love? Our God IS love!
Rom 8:35 Who shall separate us from the LOVE of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
Rom 8:36 As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.Rom 8:37 Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.Rom 8:38 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,
Rom 8:39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the LOVE of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
One day Moses asked God to show him His glory.
Exo 33:18 Then Moses said, "Now show me your glory."
Exo 33:19 And the LORD said, "I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the LORD, in your presence.
The Hebrew word for glory means heavy or weighty. Moses really asked to see the heaviest or weightiest thing about God, His very essence, and God let His goodness pass before him. Unfortunately, many have forgotten what goodness is. Is it good to relieve pain and suffering, to restore health, to reunite a husband and wife, a mother and child? We have no problem with this question in everyday conversation but in religious realms the answer sometimes eludes us. The answer never eludes God.
Acts 4:8 Then Peter, filled with the Holy Ghost, said unto them, Ye rulers of the people, and elders of Israel,
Acts 4:9 If we this day be examined of the GOOD DEED done to the impotent man, by what means he is made whole;
Acts 4:10 Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand here before you whole.
The Holy Ghost called the healing of the man crippled from birth at the gate called beautiful a "good deed". Peter did not even heal that man, Jesus did. Jesus isn’t dead! His ministry never ceases. Jesus is God. If you want to understand what good is watch Jesus.
(Acts 10:38 KJV) How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about DOING GOOD, AND HEALING all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him.
Jesus went about "doing good and healing". I want to set one thing straight right now. Jesus did not heal to prove His divinity, Jesus healed because of His great compassion. He couldn’t help himself. It is God’s very nature to heal and nurture, to love and comfort. To do otherwise would be to deny His very self.
Notice that Peter called sickness oppression and he identified its source.
Acts 10:38 "Healing all who were oppressed OF THE DEVIL".
Notice also Jesus’ words.
John 10:10 The THIEF cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have LIFE, and that they might have abundantly.
God is the source of life and health, the devil or thief is the source of sickness and death. The devil may act through another spirit but he is the ultimate source of all evil.
Luke 13:11 And, behold, there was a woman which had a SPIRIT OF INFIRMITY eighteen years, and was bowed together, and could in no wise lift up herself.
Luke 13:12 And when Jesus saw her, he called her to him, and said unto her, Woman, thou art loosed from thine infirmity.
Luke 13:13 And he laid his hands on her: and immediately she was made straight, and glorified God.
Luke 13:14 And the ruler of the synagogue answered with indignation, because that Jesus had healed on the sabbath day, and said unto the people, There are six days in which men ought to work: in them therefore come and be healed, and not on the sabbath day.
Luke 13:15 The Lord then answered him, and said, Thou hypocrite, doth not each one of you on the sabbath loose his ox or his ass from the stall, and lead him away to watering?
Luke 13:16 And ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, WHOM SATAN HATH BOUND, lo, these eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the sabbath day?
Luke 13:17 And when he had said these things, all his adversaries were ashamed: and all the people rejoiced for all the glorious things that were done by him.
Mat 8:16 When the even was come, they brought unto him many that were possessed with DEVILS: and he cast out the SPIRITS with his word, and HEALED ALL THAT WERE SICK:
Mat 8:17 That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, Himself took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses.
It may not be "scientific" or fashionable to believe in spirits as a cause of sickness but it is scriptural. I could sit here and write example after example from both testaments to support this assertion but I feel you would gain more by seeking them for yourself.
In a later chapter I will discuss the link between sin and sickness. That word sin is another "antiquated" term but I want you to realize that whole societies have come and gone but the Word of the Lord stands forever. It has outlasted many proud and powerful empires. They have gone down to the dust but His word will always be exalted. Who is like unto thee O Lord? Thou art God!