The Goodness of God: In Genesis

While some will look at the events in the Book of Genesis as displays of God’s judgment, I only see His goodness.  I’m not blind to the curses in the Garden, the hailstones that reigned on Sodom and Gomorrah, or the men who left their brother for dead; I just don’t see those things as coming from a harsh, judgmental God.  

I see goodness.

Let me explain.

The Goodness of God in Genesis

As a student of God’s word, I am curious to the point of spending hours in one section until I can get a grasp on what I believe He wants to communicate to my heart.  So, when I read Genesis 3, I don’t see Him cursing the man or the woman, but the serpent (verse 14) and the ground itself (verse 17).  Will there be pain in bringing life from the woman’s womb?  Yes.  Would there be labor and toil for the man who now has to work for the food he was once given freely?  Yes.  Did the people of Sodom and Gomorrah have warnings and revelations of God before they met their demise due to their disobedience?  Yes (Romans 1:20).  Were the brothers of Joseph responsible for his presence in the pit and imprisonment in Egypt, or was that God? (And, for most, this is the biggie). I think we ultimately want to blame God with this one because we’ve always been taught that God is sovereign and reigns over the whole earth.  So then, we say:  If He is sovereign and powerful enough to change every circumstance, why does He allow His people to suffer?

Underneath the Translation

Can I come at this question from a different angle?  Instead of questioning the goodness of God, could we just take a pause and look at what else is happening in this book?  

From the very beginning, the Lord walked into man’s circumstance with the sole purpose of rescue (Genesis 3:8).  He clothed the sin that Adam and Eve could not. He sent them away from a tree that would leave them eternally in their sin (until He would provide another tree that would remove it forever).  In each of His acts in the Book of Genesis, I see a theme of goodness and forgiveness (and the latter is the one I want to leave with you).

As we move to the end of Genesis, we read the words of a man who delivers a powerful speech to the brothers who have done nothing but wrong him (having just contrived a story that would make Joseph think that their father spoke words he actually never did).  They were guilty of the emotional pain they had brought to their father after leaving their brother to die in a pit (bringing his bloodied coat home to Dad to prove his death).  They are the ones who had allowed years of separation between Joseph and his Jacob, sharing life with their father and taking those moments away from the brother they were so desperately jealous of.  What Joseph does at the end of Genesis not only sets a legacy for his sons but, I think, mirrors the same legacy our Father leaves His children when he says to his brothers:  As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good to bring about this present result, to preserve many people alive.  

Since the beginning of the book, God has been moving towards man; a good Father providing all that is good to His children (Romans 8:28).  It was man’s disobedience to God’s good plans that brought the discontent and separation of fellowship with the Father.  And let’s be honest, we’re no different than they were.   Like Cain (Genesis 4), we allow the hurt of missing out on what we think we deserve to fester until the bitterness becomes malice (Ephesians 4:31).   And we also Jacob-wrestle with the Lord (Genesis 32), desperate to be known as anyone other than how our sinful nature defines us.  Could we all just stop and consider this:  at the core of who we are lies our own unwillingness to forgive others, and that comes from our unwillingness to forgive the Father we expect to deliver on what we consider to be good.

How Can We Trust God’s Goodness?

When I consider Joseph’s final words—steeped in forgiveness—I realize this theme has permeated the entire Book of Genesis.  The choices of men that led to their pain and suffering—knowing the behavior was against a God who is good and therefore can only create what is good—could have ended with a bitter, resentful Father who was left with nothing to give his children other than a legacy of an eternal separation of that goodness. Instead, we are left with the message of a good God who works all things (the good and the bad) together for good (Romans 8:28).  

And, like Joseph, isn’t that the message you want to leave your children?  Isn’t it the message of affirmation to a God who is faithful in His care for His children? (Genesis 50:24)? 

Maybe all you have today is to simply read this post.  And maybe the thought of forgiving the one who has deeply hurt you is just too far from your grasp. Are you willing to change your focus?  And could you just do one more thing before you stop reading?  With one short sentence, repeat Genesis 50:20 as a prayer to the Lord today.  Just say:  When evil comes against me, I will rest in knowing that You do all things good. 

Now, say it again.

(And, when you’re ready, let Him show you just how good He is in the remaining sixty-five books).

Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow.  (James 1:17)