Very Good

Genesis 1:31 “And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.”

Goodness is a term that has been used quite loosely. Often giving credit to a person, place, or thing, to declare something as good is to give your approval. It’s like attributing a moral measure to someone or something just because you like it.

Some people take a little more caution but for most the idea of a good meal, a good movie, or a good song tends to water down the meaning and leave things that truly are good in the background.

When God created the heavens and the Earth, He completed His work and on the 6th day He stepped back and declared it “very good”. Something good can be pleasant or agreeable, it can be a lovely scent or a beautiful flower. How many times have people gazed at the beauty of God’s creation and forgot to recognize the One behind it all?

With each step of God’s creative revelation He would exclaim…”it is good”, but on the 6th day, it became “very good”. What was it that changed the narrative from excellent or praiseworthy, to exceedingly excellent?

God created man.

Creation is wonderful, beautiful, and declares God’s glory, but man is different. Man bears God’s image, walks in His presence, and proclaims His glory. Some would argue, if mankind is so special why is he so evil? How could a key part of God’s creative genius be so calloused to murder, steal, and destroy?

What God created is good but sin has brought corruption.

Ecclesiastes 3:11 “He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men, yet they cannot fathom the work that God has done from beginning to end.”

The Fall

It didn’t take Adam long before the purity of innocence was corrupted by the treachery of deceit. Actually, it was Eve who was prone to deceit, it was Adam who simply went along with his wife and sinned. What’s good for the goose is good for the gander, they say, but in this instance it was bad for both.

The opposite of good would be bad. Bad is likened to a sore tooth, or a rancid smell. Bad milk turns sour, and bad meat infects and kills. To liken something as bad is to attribute a negative element to something that is just doing what it was created to do. But attribute being bad to a person, now you change the inflection. The bad person is someone who acts badly, thinks badly, or speaks in a way that another claims is offensive.

Luke 6:45 “The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.”

Bad behavior begins in the heart, and only God truly knows this, for He is the maker of the heart.

Some people see the evil in the world and think God must have lost control. Others will claim that if there is a God, He can’t be good with all wickedness they see. But what they miss is that God didn’t form mankind to be evil, He made him very good, and then he gave him freedom to choose.

When men acted with bad intentions, the Lord called them to return to holiness. God judged their hearts and still gave them time to repent.

Zechariah 8:16-17 “These are the things that you shall do: Speak the truth to one another; render in your gates judgments that are true and make for peace; do not devise evil in your hearts against one another, and love no false oath, for all these things I hate, declares the LORD.”

If God hates the wickedness of man so much, why did He give mankind the choice to rebel?

Could it be that for mankind to have a relationship with God, he had to be able to love Him in return. God loved first. But to reciprocate God’s love comes with a choice; will I show love in return or will I place myself on the throne and rebel against God?

Sin is nothing more than rebellion.

The Redeemed

All of creation was made by God, for God. The first 5 days of creation was composed of all that cannot reciprocate love, but man was made different. Animals will respond in obedience when trained, they respond in companionship when fed and treated well, but they cannot love. This is a misnomer to many who try to make animals into people. The trees, oceans, valleys, all display God’s glory, but God inhabits the praises of His people and they bear His resemblance.

For those who give their hearts to God, God’s presence inhabits their soul. They are transformed from sinners into saints. The debt of sin has been paid by Jesus and His people now bear His name.

Romans 1:20 “For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood from His workmanship, so that men are without excuse.”

Creation is a revelation of God’s workmanship. His mastery and genius are displayed in all that He has formed. The evil heart does not reflect God, but rather the one who deceived man into the fall. But when a person turns to Christ, they become a new creation, the old is gone, the new has come. The workmanship of God is now revealed in mankind.

Ephesians 2:10 “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”

This is very good.

Goodness in man brings reward. Goodness reflects God. When God leads and His people respond in obedience, there are good works that come forth.

Let’s not confuse mankind’s failures with God’s glory. The Lord is glorious, He alone is good, and He chose to make His people very good by the amazing glory of His grace.

Jesus did it all. One day we will all bow before Him and give credit where it is due.