Lie #1: God is Not Good!

Text: Psalms 119:68a - You are good and do good.

The belief that “God is not good” often arises from witnessing the suffering and evil in the world—cancer affecting the young, wars, hunger, natural disasters, and rampant corruption that leaves many destitute. People may wonder, “If God created everything and is capable of all things, why does He allow such evils to persist? He must not be a good God.”

But this is a misconception—a profound misunderstanding. God is good. He is exceedingly good.

From the very beginning, we see evidence of His goodness in Creation. In Genesis 1:1, we learn that when God created the heavens and the earth, darkness covered the deep. Yet, in His goodness, He commanded, “Let there be light” (Genesis 1:3). His goodness dispelled the darkness, bringing forth light and life.

James 1:17 states, “Every good gift and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.” As the Father of lights, He produces only what is good (Genesis 1:4). His goodness is unwavering—there’s no variation or shadow of doubt; He is eternally good. David Guzik, in his James 1 commentary, notes that “God’s goodness is constant. There is no variation with Him. Instead of shadows, God is the Father of lights.” He never changes. From the beginning of time, He has been good and will remain so until the end.

Returning to Genesis 1, we see that as God began creating, He performed a sort of User Acceptance Test on each creation. He examined them and likely thought, “What do I think?” His consistent response was, “Oh yes, this is good.” After creating light, He saw that it was good (Genesis 1:4). After separating land from seas, He declared it good (Genesis 1:10). After creating trees and grasses, He again saw that it was good (Genesis 1:12). When He created land animals, He saw that it was good (Genesis 1:25). Finally, after creating humans, He remarked that we were very good (Genesis 1:31). He infused His goodness into everything He created, resulting in sheer goodness.

SO WHY ARE THINGS NO LONGER GOOD, AS GOD INTENDED?

Sin

After God created humans (male and female), He assigned them tasks and provided clear instructions. One critical instruction was to refrain from eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Genesis 2:15-17). This indicates that God granted humans the ability to make choices. Adam and Eve made the wrong choice and ate of the tree (Genesis 3:6). Some might ask, “Why did God place the tree there if He knew eating from it would lead to sin?” or “Why give humans a choice when He foresaw their potential failure?”

To answer the first question, it’s essential to understand that it wasn’t the tree itself that introduced sin into the world. The real issue lay in disobeying God’s explicit command. The instruction could have pertained to any tree; the tree was not the problem—rebellion against God’s instruction was.

Disobedience to God is always problematic. It signifies a disregard and dishonor toward Him. When someone disobeys God, they diminish His worth and authority. Essentially, they convey, “You may be God and Lord, but You are not my God or my Lord.”

Disobedience disrespects God’s nature, character, and authority. A true Lord should never be disobeyed; the response is always “Yes, Lord” (Luke 6:46). Therefore, disobedience carries consequences. When Adam and Eve chose to disobey, they implicitly rejected God’s authority over them. That act was sin—disobedience.

And disobedience leads to curses (Deuteronomy 28:15; Romans 6:23; 1 Samuel 15:23).

This leads us to the second question: “Why would God give us a choice when He knows we could fail?”

First, choice inherently means that a person has an equal opportunity to make both wrong and right decisions. With choices come the potential for failure.

Second, God’s goodness would be called into question if He didn’t provide us with choices. Without the ability to choose or exercise our will, we couldn’t truly describe Him as good, kind, or loving. He would simply be a god—a controlling, dictating, and tyrannical one.

In His goodness, God created humans with the capacity for decision-making. He had the power and authority to program us as He wished, but instead, He made us in His image (Genesis 1:26), endowing us with self-will and the ability to create just like Him.

We were designed as beings capable of making choices because of who God, our Creator, is—Good. Even animals exhibit a form of self-will.

Now, returning to our original question: Why are things no longer good? The answer is clear — sin. Sin entered the world and corrupted everything.

What is sin? Sin is a deviation from the will of God, and it brings about death (1 John 3:4; Romans 6:23).

What is death? Death is the absence of life.

What is life? Life is the presence of God (John 1:4, John 14:6, 1 John 5:20, Genesis 2:7).

If life is the presence of God and death is the absence of life, and death was produced by sin, it means sin separates us from God. When Adam, who was given dominion over the earth (Genesis 1:26-30), disobeyed God and introduced sin into the world, he effectively removed God from the equation.

The presence of God—His life, which sustained and revitalized all creation—was withdrawn, and death entered the scene (Romans 5:12, Romans 8:20-23). Everything became corrupt, except for God Himself.

God was never under Adam’s dominion, so He could not be corrupted. Despite the chaos in the world, God remained unchanged; He was and still is God.

Sin corrupts. We live in a fallen world where bad things can happen, even to “good” people. In a fallen world, individuals make poor choices that can negatively impact others. In a fallen, corrupt world with Satan—who originated sin—as the god of this world, satanic things happen; evil occurrences are inevitable. (2 Corinthians 4:4; 1 John 5:19).

Side Note

Wait! I just mentioned that God made Adam the god of the world. So why am I now saying that Satan is the god of this world? Yes, Adam was initially the god of this world, having dominion over everything. However, when Satan deceived Eve (Genesis 3:1-6) and Adam chose to join her in disobeying God, he committed high treason and unknowingly surrendered his dominion to the devil. Essentially, he signed over his property—the earth—into the hands of God’s archenemy for a mere bite of fruit. This is how Satan became the god of this world. In a world where Satan holds sway, we can expect varying levels of evil to manifest daily. The good news, however, is that God cannot be controlled or influenced by the devil (John 14:30). He remains good for all time. That is His nature, that is who He is, and nothing can change that.

One other good news

Because God is good, He offered humanity a chance to be free from the influence and control of Satan’s evil ways. He came in the flesh as Jesus to pay the price for sin and reclaim what the devil had stolen (John 1:14; John 3:16). All it takes is believing in Jesus and accepting the salvation that He offers to partake in God’s godship once again—becoming even greater rulers than Adam was. We can reign on the earth without being influenced or controlled by the devil any longer (James 4:7; Luke 10:19; 1 John 3:8; Luke 4:6; 1 John 4:4; 1 Peter 5:8-9; Colossians 1:13; John 14:12).

Lastly, what about those who are saved and still face hardships? To answer succinctly, we live in a fallen world where even good people can encounter adversity. Nevertheless, this does not alter who God is. He is Good!!!

Nourish Your Spirit