Goodness of God
- Aug 2, 2024
- 6 min read
I'm sure you'll have seen, the series of books “For Dummies.” They began to appear in 1991 with the book, “DOS for Dummies”. Since then over 2000 more “for dummies” titles have been added and over 250 million books sold.
Their success has come not from insulting people but from tapping into that feeling of being totally lost and simplifying a way through. The writers say the books ‘transforms the hard-to-understand into easy-to-use.’
Today, it’s as if Jesus wants to do the same for us. Deep within every person there’s a longing to be loved, respected; to be heard; treated with kindness, patience, understanding and compassion... with grace.
Simply knowing the 'Goodness of God,' this is what Matthew 7:7-12 is all about!
So, this passage is extremely encouraging and is meant to fill us with hope, securing our life in God’s love. If you don’t believe me, check out verse 11: “how much more.”
Discover God’s extravagant love in unexpected places. "If, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned, how much more will those who receive God's abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ!" (Rom 5:17).
So, Jesus says, “Come to God, ask Him to intervene, to meet your needs”.
It’s kind of saying, “God, I can’t; but I know you can.”
You see, we need Him to do for us what we have no power to do for ourselves. "If we confess our sin (specks or logs) He’s faithful and just and will forgive us our sin and cleanse us from all unrighteousness."
It’s where the “how much more” of living the kingdom life really starts!
Therefore, we must come to Him. If we do, He gives us some great and precious promises. “Ask... seek... knock...” Then, “Everyone who asks receives, the one who seeks finds, and the one who knocks the door will be opened”
Frederick Bruner says, "Whenever this passage is read with simple faith, it will take one’s breath away. Six different times in six different ways Jesus almost begs us to pray, and promises solemnly that simple asking receives, simple seeking finds, and simple knocking opens."
What’s important is that our focus is on the Giver, not on the gifts. There are so many needs in life which our everyday resources can’t meet. Jesus is encouraging us to let those needs drive us to God and Him alone.
I love what John Piper says,“When we depend on organisation, we get what organisation can do. When we depend on education, we get what education can do. But when we depend on God, we get what God can do.”
Jesus teaches on the outworking of a transformed life. It’s what a 'normal' life, changed by Christ and empowered by the Holy Spirit, looks like.
Ask, seek, knock. All of these verbs are, what theologians call, ‘present imperatives’, which means, 'ask and keep on asking', 'seek and keep on seeking', 'knock and keep on knocking', and know the goodness of God.
Jesus is addressing those issues in our lives that really cause problems.
The first one is DOUBT (v7).
Jesus says, "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you." Here’s the thing, God loves to answer. Jesus says, “Everyone who asks receives…” What an encouraging statement on your prayers, so don’t doubt Him when you pray.
Ask – is an act of faith. We must know that to live this new norm’, we must ask Jesus for the equipping, and power to act in faith. Remember, we don’t go alone, we are inviting God into the situation and God gives!
Note however, some things are not always granted. We've all prayed for something which we didn't receive! This passage says that whatever explanation lies behind the requests God does not grant, the reason will never be that God doesn’t care, or that He didn’t hear you.
Tim Keller -"God will either give us what we ask or give us what we would have asked if we knew everything he knew. More than that, however, we know as we pray for good things that we already have the ultimate good thing. In God himself we have the headwaters and source of all we desire."
Jesus’ point is not that God will give us whatever we ask for, but rather that because God loves us and is good, He will give good gifts to His children. He will meet our spiritual needs by the supply of divine help.
Another issue in our lives is FEAR.
The spirit of trust, not fear, in which we ask is a key to an effective Kingdom life. To make His point Jesus tells the story of a child coming to his dad with a series of requests. Each time the father gives good things to his child. He doesn’t say that the little child always gets exactly what he/she wants, but the point of the story is to show that if earthly, loving parents still know how to care for their children, ‘how much more’ will Father God!
John Piper says,"'Father' was not a throw away label for Jesus. It is one of the greatest of all truths. God is our Father. The implications is that he will never, never give us what is bad for us. Never. He is our Father."
His love drives out FEAR! In recognising His Father, Jesus deals with these worries and doubts with illustrations of a fish, a snake, an egg and a scorpion! Jesus said, 'how much more good gifts come to those who ask Him!’ He who made the greater can easily provide for the lesser.
Is this how you think of God, ready for you to ask, wanting you to seek Him, and listening for your knock, eager to bless beyond your desire? He wants to hear from us far more than we want to call on Him.
Asking, seeking, and knocking is also about loving God with all we have, which is the greatest commandment. Loving others as ourselves is the second, which begins by seeking the Lord on their behalf. We seek God in order for Him to bless and change others as He is blessing and changing us.
The third issue is about being TRUE!
To understand Jesus’ teachings, we must realise we can’t have one posture toward God and a different one toward other people.
“So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.”
This verse is the most practical teaching one can imagine: treat people the way you would like them to treat you. How true are you? How do you feel when people ignore you, or blame you? It makes you feel awful. Do you know, God is the world’s only perfect forgiver and forgetter.
There are others who are crippled by hate and bitterness. If they would live this way, they too would be set free and have “life to the full’ (John 10:10).
J.C. Ryle wrote,“There is a common, worldly kind of Christianity in this day, which many have, and think they have enough—a cheap Christianity which offends nobody, and requires no sacrifice—which costs nothing, and is worth nothing.”
If Christ means anything at all to you, He should mean absolutely everything to you. It’s in this context of Kingdom togetherness, that we’re created to thrive in.
Check it out!
Are you being true to God and yourself?
When we realise that we are coming to our heavenly Father, who loves us even in our sin, who gave His Son to save us, and who has adopted us into His family, allowing us to call Him Abba, is there any reason in the universe why we wouldn’t come to Him over and over to ask, seek and knock?
"If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?" (Rom 8:31 ).
It’s a God-centred rule for grace-filled people. Out of hearts that have been radically transformed by the grace of Jesus. ‘In everything’ must mean that grace-filled people are TRUE and assume the best of others. Grace-filled people always point others toward the source of all grace.
As the body of Christ, we should celebrate and live grace-filled lives and not spend an inordinate amount of time offering “non-grace.” Grace increases in our life as the love of God is more present in our hearts and actions.
May it be so for His Glory!
What a powerful message for self examination this has been, with other readings and devotionals the past few days. In my journal I wrote God you know exactly what to place in front of me at the right time. Reading this, it began with oh heck how bad am I, how much do I fall short of everything God created and called me to be. As I read on, read Matthew 7:7-12, listened to the words of the songs, my mindset moved to this being more about the grace of God, that I belong to Him and that he has transformed me, I need to just come before Jesus with all I am, therefore moving from relying on the natur…