Well I'm back. It's been a while since I last made a post, and I apologize to anyone who reads this blog. I wish to continue on the subject of God's goodness because it is such a large and misunderstood subject. This post will kind of jump around but it is connected!...loosely... I plan to make a couple of points. I plan to point that God is good, that we must trust in Him, and that our condition is ultimately one of choice.
I remember reading C.S. Lewis' The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe years ago, and there was a part when the four main characters; Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy (all in age order), went to a mysterious world through a wardrobe, and found themselves in the country of Narnia. They had been mysteriously transported by Aslan, the Emperor's son, by magic to save the country of Narnia by defeating an evil witch that had cursed the land. She had declared herself the queen of Narnia, and ruled the country merciless. She and other Narnian's-she wasn't an actual Narnian- were aware of an ancient prophecy regarding two son's of Adam, and two daughters of Eve were to conquer the witch and were to rule Narnia afterwards having Peter as the high king.
Before they were to defeat the self-declared queen they met Mr. and Mrs. Beaver, a lovely beaver couple that were supporters of Aslan- he was the true king of Narnia- and the Beaver's were telling the kids- they were still kids at the time-about Aslan the king, and that he was a lion. Lucy was uncomfortable with the idea of meeting Aslan because she learned about lion condition. She then tried to comfort herself by confirming that he wouldn't be frightful, and Mr. Beaver confirmed that she was wrong, she then asked if he was tamed, this also proved unfruitful, she finally asked if Aslan was at least safe-and I quote Mr. Beaver here because he said it eloquently-“Safe?" said Mr. Beaver."Who said anything about safe? 'Course he isn't safe. But he's good. He's the King, I tell you.”
And I present to you Aslan! C.S. Lewis in his genius subtly presented Christ by using Aslan, and he beautifully presented Christ in that small section. To me this is possibly one of the most beautiful writings in literature outside of the Christian scriptures.
A few months earlier this year I had lost my Dad to cancer. This was one of the most confusing times of my life, everything I had known was in question. I thought I understood God's goodness-I already knew how to reason I realized long ago that God is good, and that we would not have any concept of goodness without God, but this was different. I still have problems coping with my dad's death, but I remember praying one morning, and I was hurting. I couldn't understand God's goodness and how it pertained to me. Who wants syllogisms, and deductive logic when one's heart is hurting? Then I remembered Mr. Beaver telling Lucy "Safe? Who said anything about safe? ' Course he isn't safe. But he's good. He's the King, I tell you." And I immediately asked myself who said life wouldn't hurt? He's good. He's the King, I tell you.
I had to trust Christ the King because He is good. No matter if I hurt or not He is still good. St. Paul wrote this in his letter to the Roman church "And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God. And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose."
As humans we have difficulties separating what is good and evil. The writer of Hebrew's wrote "it is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.", this can only be dreadful to those that rejected him, but is this not goodness? We must remember that God is immutably good.
I remember discussing God's omnipresence- which is a fascinating subject! and it is one that i will enter in the future- that involves time, and eternity, and even a pen! I was almost labeled a heretic developing my idea...sigh...it was fun- and the person I was discussing with believed that God could not be omnipresent because he would have to also be in hell, but he forgot that God isn't confined to space. He also misunderstood the goodness of God, as believers we recognize that God is also just, which is also good. We forget at times that God's goodness isn't just grace, or redemption. It is also righteousness. It is difficult to accept that we must give ourselves to a completely good God, yet I would rather give myself to a just God, and die a thousand deaths because he is good. Yet we really want to reject that.
When man had fallen in the Garden he fell because he ate from the forbidden tree. Specifically the tree of knowledge of good and evil. It is remarkable that they chose to eat from the tree, because they already knew goodness. God had declared that everything was good, and He Himself was ultimately good. Yet, man chose to also know evil. And now we are misdirected in our understanding of good and evil. We are still trying to trying to act as a god, trying to determine what is good and what is evil. If we know God than we will know goodness.
