Do you see God as weighing your heart against others on His scales of justice, providing rewards and penalties depending on who is more righteous?

How do we make sense of bad things happening to good people? Perspective Number Two is: God is good to all He has made. While that might seem contradictory to the question, if we are honest, we want God to grade on the curve. If we deem ourselves as more moral than someone else, we want less bad to unfold in our lives than theirs. God operates differently. David penned: “The LORD is good to all; he has compassion on all he has made” (Psalm 145:9). Jesus taught: “He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous” (Matthew 5:45). Theologians refer to this concept of divine generosity as God’s common grace. Whereas, the consequence of sin in our world mars us all, even evil people experience the undeserved love of the Creator. As a result, we often struggle as believers when we see someone outside Christ receiving His blessings of life and breath.

Still, as believers, our Heavenly Father showers us with His loving, eternal intimacy. Win, lose, or draw by the world’s standards, we can always continue to be shaped like Christ, which is God’s true definition of success (see Romans 8:29). There simply would be no good without God. In fact, good is a derivative of God. Everything good comes from Him: “For everything God created is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving” (1 Timothy 4:4). Any goodness in us is a gift of the Divine. Consequently, we should steward that good to be used by God to draw others to Himself.

This week, pray: “God, thank you for the good you show to everyone you have created, especially me, in spite of my sin. Please help me to reflect your light to each person I encounter.”

Episode 387: Restoration Theology | Theology Proper: The Study of God from mitchkrusetv on Vimeo.