Contemplating God

"One thing I ask: to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord" (Psalm 27:4)

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  • The Same God, Clearly Revealed: Understanding the Old and New Testaments

    One of the most common objections to Christianity is the apparent contrast between the God of the Old Testament and the God revealed in Jesus. The Old Testament God is often described as violent, punitive, and severe, while the New Testament God appears gentle, forgiving, and self-sacrificial.

    But Scripture itself insists that this contrast cannot be real. If God does not change, then the difference between the Old and New Testaments must lie not in God’s character, but in humanity’s understanding of Him.

    • “I the LORD do not change.” (Malachi 3:6)
    • “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” (Hebrews 13:8)

    The God of the Old Testament is the exact same God revealed in Jesus. What changes across Scripture is not God’s nature, but the clarity with which humanity understands Him.

    Throughout Scripture, God consistently meets people where they are, working within their cultural, moral, and spiritual limitations in order to lead them forward. Jesus Himself affirms this principle when discussing divorce, explaining that Moses permitted it “because of the hardness of your hearts,” even though “from the beginning it was not so (Matthew 19:8).” This distinction between divine permission and divine ideal is crucial. God allows certain practices in a broken world not because they reflect His character, but because immediate moral perfection was impossible for people whose understanding of God was still deeply distorted.

    This same pattern appears throughout Jesus’ teaching, most clearly in the Sermon on the Mount. Again and again, Jesus says, “You have heard that it was said… but I say to you” (Matthew 5:21–48). In doing so, He is not rejecting the law or the prophets, nor is He portraying the Old Testament God as mistaken or cruel. On the contrary, He explicitly affirms, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them”(Matthew 5:17). What Jesus exposes is NOT a failure in God’s law, but a failure in how it had been understood. God’s commands were meant to change people from the inside out, but over time they came to be treated as rules that only governed outward behavior and were often enforced through fear and power. Jesus uncovers the deeper purpose of these commandments, revealing their concern for inner transformation rather than mere outward obedience. This is clearly seen in Matthew chapter 5-7. He explains that “You shall not murder” is not only about killing, but about anger and contempt in the heart (Matthew 5:21–22). “You shall not commit adultery” is not just about physical acts, but about lustful intent (Matthew 5:27–28). “An eye for an eye,” originally meant to limit revenge, becomes a call to refuse retaliation altogether (Matthew 5:38–39). And love, once limited to one’s neighbor, was revealed in its fullest depth when Jesus called His followers to “bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you.” (Matthew 5:43–44). Jesus makes explicit what had always been implicit: God’s concern has never been mere behavior modification, but inner restoration, truth written on the heart, not merely enforced in action (Jeremiah 31:33; Matthew 23:25–26). In this way, Jesus does not replace the law; He brings it to its intended depth and meaning. Paul writes that the law still serves an important purpose—through it we come to understand what sin is (Romans 7:7). Obedience was never meant to be driven by fear or external pressure. Jesus clarifies the intent of the Old Testament, showing that when we accept His commandments and allow Him to transform our hearts, obedience becomes an expression of love: “If you love Me, keep My commandments” (John 14:15), and “Whoever says ‘I know Him’ but does not keep His commandments is a liar” (1 John 2:4).

    A vivid example of this progressive revelation can be seen in the contrast between Elijah and Jesus. In 2 Kings 1:10–12, Elijah calls down fire from heaven to consume those who oppose him, and the text records that fire indeed falls at his word. Elijah does not claim this power as his own; rather, he appeals to God for divine validation. “If I am a man of God, let fire come down from heaven.” Elijah was acting within a world where authority was demonstrated through overt displays of power. Israel lived among nations whose gods proved themselves through violence and domination (cf. 1 Kings 18:24–39), and fire from heaven was the language by which divine authority was recognized. Yet when James and John later ask Jesus to do the same to a Samaritan village, explicitly citing Elijah as precedent—“Lord, do You want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them, just as Elijah did?” Jesus rebukes them sharply: “You do not know what manner of spirit you are of. For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives but to save them” (Luke 9:54–56). In doing so, Jesus does not condemn Elijah, nor does He deny the authority of Scripture. Instead, He reveals that such actions, though permitted within an earlier and limited framework of understanding, never fully reflected the heart of God. Now standing in the presence of God incarnate, the One who is “the exact representation of His being” (Hebrews 1:3), the disciples are accountable to a clearer revelation of divine character, one defined not by coercive power but by redemptive love.

    This contrast does not indicate a change in God, but an expansion of human understanding. The book of Hebrews states that while God spoke in many ways in the past, He has now spoken most fully through His Son, who is “the exact representation of His being.” Progressive revelation does not mean earlier generations worshiped a different God; it means they perceived the same God through incomplete lenses. With greater light comes greater responsibility. Elijah acted faithfully within the limits of his context, but Jesus’ disciples are called beyond fear-based power toward sacrificial love.

    Ultimately, the question is not whether God once ruled by fire and later by grace, but which moment most clearly reveals who God has always been. Scripture answers unambiguously: not through rules or displays of power, but the life, teachings, and self-giving death of Jesus. “No one has ever seen God,” John writes, “but the only Son… has made Him known (John 1:18).” When Jesus refuses to call down fire, He is not correcting God—He is revealing Him. The apparent difference between the Old and New Testaments, then, is not a shift in God’s character, but the unveiling of it. In Jesus, God does not become kinder; He becomes clearer.

  • A God Who Grieves, Part IV

    In the previous discussion, we explored the Biblical character of God, the risk of granting free will, and the question of why God does not intervene in the horrendous evils of this life. Now we turn to another profound question: Is this world the will of God? Is what we are experiencing what God planned or wanted?

    Answering this requires recognizing an important biblical distinction within God’s will and why God can be sovereign without being the author of evil. In other words, we must distinguish between what God desires and His response to the choices of a fallen world.

    God created humanity for love. From the very beginning, this is evident: Adam was not complete without someone to love, and God provided Eve. We see the same intention in Jesus’ prayer: “That they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us” (John 17:21). Scripture makes clear what God desires most from humanity: wholehearted love expressed freely.

    • You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets (Matthew 22:37-40)
    • For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings (Hosea 6:6)
    • You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart. (Jeremiah 29:13)
    • If you love me, you will keep my commandments (John 14:15)
    • And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways, to love Him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the commandments and statutes of the Lord… (Deut 10:12-13)

    This leads to an important distinction between God’s ideal will and His remedial will (Theodicy of Love). God’s ideal will is what He originally designed, where every creature would choose to love Him and follow His command. But when humans depart from that ideal, God acts within the world remedially. This is His remedial will which is His response in the most loving and redemptive way possible within the constraints that our free will creates. 

    God’s ideal vs remedial will can be illustrated by thinking in terms of God’s control over outcomes. If humans fully followed His commands, God’s will would be accomplished exactly as He intended. But even when humans choose freely against Him, God works within those choices to bring about the best possible outcomes. He can anticipate the decisions creatures will freely make and incorporate them into His plan, accomplishing His purposes without overriding their freedom (Romans 8:29; Acts 2:23; Isa 46:10).

    Understanding ideal and remedial will helps clarify difficult passages, such as the hardening of Pharaoh’s heart. Pharaoh freely chose to harden his own heart, yet God worked within those choices to bring about His purposes without overriding Pharaoh’s freedom. God is not passive. He is not watching events unfold but actively guides the moral landscape shaped by free creatures, bringing about outcomes that serve His redemptive plan.

    Scripture portrays God whose heart is deeply grieved by sin and suffering.  A God whose immense sorrow over our evil demonstrates that this world is not the result of His ideal will, but a tragic consequence of the freedom He gave out of and for love.  

    • “How can I give you up, Ephraim? How can I hand you over, Israel? How can I make you like Admah? How can I set you like Zeboiim? My heart churns within Me; My sympathy is stirred.” (Hosea 11:8-9)
    • The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And the Lord regretted that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart.” Genesis 6:5-6
    • How often they rebelled against him in the wilderness and grieved him in the desert! Psalm 78:40
    • O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!” (Matthew 27:37)
    • The instant I speak concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, to pull down, and to destroy it, if that nation against whom I have spoken turns from its evil, I will relent of the disaster that I thought to bring upon it. And the instant I speak concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it, if it does evil in My sight so that it does not obey My voice, then I will relent concerning the good with which I said I would benefit it. (Jeremiah 18:7-10)

    Most significantly, Scripture says that it was God’s will to crush Jesus Christ: He was “pleased to crush Him” (Gen 3:15; Isa 53:10). And yet Scripture also states that God has “no pleasure” in the death of anyone (Ezek 18:23, 32) and does not afflict willingly (Lam 3:33). God did not ideally desire or sadistically take pleasure in the excruciating suffering of the Son, but it was God’s “pleasure” or remedial will (not ideal will!) in the wider context of the plan of salvation. Christ desired to avoid the cross, if it were possible, but He desired to save humans more and thus “for the joy set before Him endured the cross” (Heb 12:2). 
    In this framework, the world as we see it today is not a pure expression of God’s ideal will, but rather the unfolding of God’s remedial will interacting with the free decisions of humans. God honors freedom because love demands it, and He works within the consequences of that freedom to bring healing, redemption, and ultimately the restoration of all things. While God does not always get what He ideally desires, He will ultimately accomplish His redemptive purpose without ever violating the freedom by which His love is expressed.

  • Isn’t God Still Responsible? Part III

    Even with the gift of free will why doesn’t God intervene in the horrendous things of earth’s history? Bart Ehrman raises this challenge: “the God who created this world is a God of love and power who intervenes with answered prayers and worked miracles. Where is this God now? If God intervened in the biblical narratives, why doesn’t he intervene now? Similarly, Roth argues that the God of Christianity must possess the power to prevent such evils. In his view, the God who raised Jesus from the dead “plausibly has the might to thwart the Holocaust long before it ended.”

    While these statements rightly note that God did intervene in the biblical narratives, they assume that God intervenes arbitrarily or inconsistently. But when we examine scripture closely, a different picture emerges: God intervenes purposefully, and His interventions always serve the movement of His salvation plan. It is true that God intervened dramatically in the Old Testament but notice who and what He acted for in a few examples:

    • God allowed Israel to be captured due to their covenant infidelity.
    • God destroyed the soldiers persecuting Elija the prophet
    • God saved Rahab and allowed the destruction of the rest of the Canaanites
    • Most significantly, God refused to intervene in the trial and crucifixion of Jesus, allowing the ultimate sacrifice to reveal His great, awesome love for fallen humanity and His free gift of salvation. 

    A clear pattern emerges. God’s interventions are not random. They are aimed at preserving faith, revealing truth, and sharing salvation. He seems to act when action best protects the eternal good of His children and refrains when intervention would undermine the purpose He is working toward. Often, it is in suffering that the heart becomes receptive to God. Scripture, history, and experience continually show that while God never causes suffering, He can and does use it to draw people closer to Himself. 

    But is suffering truly necessary for people to come to God? John Hick proposed the “soul-making” view of evil: that immature creatures are placed in an environment that is challenging to form their character. They have to live in a world that seems to be without God so that they might grow into God’s children through their own choices. The capacity to love would never be developed  in a world in which there was no such thing as suffering. The evils of this world are necessary for soul making.

    But this perspective raises a theological problem. It suggests that evil is necessary for good, that suffering must exist for God to accomplish His purposes.

    Paul directly addresses this in Romans 3:5–8. He rejects the idea that sin is needed to reveal God’s glory:

    • But if our unrighteousness demonstrates the righteousness of God, what shall we say? Is God unjust who inflicts wrath? (I speak as a man.) Certainly not! For then how will God judge the world? For if the truth of God has increased through my lie to His glory, why am I also still judged as a sinner? And why not say, “Let us do evil that good may come”?–as we are slanderously reported and as some affirm that we say. Their condemnation is just. (Romans 3:5-8)

    Paul’s point is clear: God does not need evil in order to bring about good.

    Therefore, Hick’s soul-making argument cannot ultimately explain why God allows evil.

    The question continues then: If God intervened so powerfully in the Old Testament, why doesn’t He intervene the same way today? There are numerous instances in the Bible where God used his power for destruction. Is this proof that God is easily angered, impatient or violent?

    Dr. Tim Jennings offers a compelling thought that helps explain the difference between God’s actions before and after the cross. 

    Jennings argues that if God’s Old Testament actions were punishments for sin, He would still be doing them since wickedness continues. “Has evil disappeared? Are there no longer problems of hedonism, idolatry, violence or abuse equal to what transpired prior to Christ’s arrival on earth?  Evil has continued unabated after the cross, just as it did prior to it. But despite all this God has not intervened as he did before the cross.”

    Then why, if not to punish, did God put so many people to rest in the grave during Old Testament times? Why do we see such a drastic difference pre- and post-cross?

    Jennings argues that God’s Old Testament interventions were not acts of punishment in the judicial sense but may have served another purpose entirely:

    • Humanity had severed the circle of love and was plummeting toward eternal death, a permanent, irreversible death. But God loved too much to let go. A Savior was promised, One who would reconnect the world to God’s circle of love. God had to keep open the channel for Jesus to come, and Satan, knowing full well the eternal consequences of that coming, fought furiously to obstruct him. Prior to the cross, God intervened to keep open the avenue for our Savior to make that journey from the courts of heaven to the manger in Bethlehem. But, once Jesus completed his mission on earth, God no longer needed to work in this way. The circle of love had been rejoined.

    We see this same question Biblically. During Jesus’ earthly ministry, people longed for Him to “do something.” To remove the wicked, to end evil immediately. Jesus answered this longing through the parable of the wheat and the tares (Matthew 13:24–30).

    • “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. When the wheat sprouted and formed heads, then the weeds also appeared. 

    The servants asked the very question we ask today:

    • “The owner’s servants came to him and said, ‘Sir, didn’t you sow good seed in your field? Where then did the weeds come from?’ “‘An enemy did this,’ he replied. 

    Jesus’ response is that an enemy had done this. Evil was not placed by God just as the weeds were not.

    • “The servants asked him, ‘Do you want us to go and pull them up?’  “‘No,’ he answered, ‘because while you are pulling the weeds, you may uproot the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn.’” Matthew 12:28-30

    But when the servants asked to remove the weeds, the Master refused. John Nolland comments, the tares “are to be removed with as much urgency as is consistent with the protection of all the wheat.” 

    According to Jesus’ own teaching, God restrains intervention not out of indifference but out of mercy. He waits because someone still has time to be saved. “The Lord is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9).”

    Scripture paints a consistent picture: God’s ultimate intention is our salvation. His interventions throughout history were not arbitrary acts of power but purposeful movements preserving a path for the hope of our salvation– Jesus Christ. His restraint today is not weakness but mercy. It seems at times God allows the weight of our circumstances to press upon us that we may “call upon [Him] in the day of trouble” (Psalm 50:15). Let us not be deceived by the enemy: evil is the work of the devil while redemption is the work of God. From the beginning, every act of God, whether intervention or longsuffering, has been an expression of love aimed at securing our eternal good. And one day, He will intervene mightily once again “and the God of peace will crush satan under your feet” (Romans 16:20).

  • Free Will and the Risk of Love, Part II

    If God is good, why is there so much pain in the world? Why does He let children suffer, wars rage, and hearts break? For centuries, believers and skeptics alike have wrestled with this question. The God of the Bible is described as all-powerful, all-knowing, and perfectly good. Why doesn’t He stop evil?

    This post explores what Scripture and many Christian thinkers reveal about how one of God’s greatest gifts–free will–granted humanity the freedom to love or reject Him. 

    The God of the Bible is omnipotent (all-powerful), omniscient (all-knowing), omnibenevolent (entirely good), and sovereign (in control of history). If that is true, why does evil exist? Some conclude that either God is not good or that He does not exist at all. But Scripture paints a different picture: a God who chose to limit His control in one profound way, by giving us free will.

    From the beginning, God set before humanity the freedom to choose. He didn’t program us to obey automatically; He invited us to love Him freely. But love always carries the risk of rejection.

    • I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live… (Deuteronomy 30:19)
    • And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve… But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” (Joshua 24:15)
    • “For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.” Hosea 6:6
    • And Elijah came to all the people, and said, “How long will you falter between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow Him; but if Baal, follow him.” 1 Kings 18:21

    Each verse echoes the same truths: love cannot be forced. God desires a willing relationship with Him. 

    God’s commandments aren’t chains but expressions of love. Jesus said, ‘If you love me, keep my commandments’(John 14:15). John writes that ‘His commands are not burdensome’ (1 John 5:3). True love expresses itself through trust and obedience. Yet even as God longs for our love, He allows us to disobey, holding us accountable to the choices we make.

    • Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one you obey—whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness? (Romans 6:16)
    • Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is the duty of all mankind. For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing. (Ecclesiastes 12:13–14)
    • For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad. (2 Corinthians 5:10) 
    • Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.” (Revelation 3:20)
    • O Jerusalem, Jerusalem… How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!“(Matthew 23:37)

    God longs for us to choose Him but He will by no means force us. This is the consequence of our freedom and God holds us accountable to choose Him or continue in evil. 

    Christian philosophers have long wrestled with how divine goodness and human freedom can coexist. Alvin Plantinga’s Free Will Defense states that God allows free will and therefore can still be omnibenevolent, omnipotent, omniscient, and sovereign while allowing people to exercise their ability to make their own decisions. 

    C.S. Lewis echoes that God is omnipotent but has intentionally limited His power to grant us the ability of choice. 

    • “God has established free will and therefore His power is limited by not being able to force someone to make the right decision– in fact, God frequently allows the wrong decision to be made based on that individual’s right to practice their free will.” 

    God shows us through His great risk that love cannot live without choice! A world of obedient robots would be painless but loveless! God chose to allow the possibility of evil for the sake of love. A love for Him and for our neighbor– on this is what stands His whole law (Matthew 22:40)!

    As John Peckham captures this beautifully in The Theodicy of Love:

    • “God is committed to respecting the free will of humans, what God can bring about will be limited by the free decisions of humans. If God grants free will to us, then how we perform those actions is up to us, not God. If God aims to produce moral good, then He must create free creatures. Thus is the power of an omnipotent God limited by the freedom he confers upon His creatures.”

    But what about when God does intervene, like freeing Israel from Egypt or saving Joseph’s family from famine? If He can stop evil sometimes, isn’t He responsible when He doesn’t? These are hard questions we’ll explore in a future post. For now, we see that the existence of evil is not the failure of God’s goodness, but the cost of genuine love.

    Peckham continues: 

    • “God’s allowance of evil is not moral freedom alone but love, which is perhaps the greatest good in the universe. If “God is love” what value could be greater? Love was the main aim of God in granting free will. “God wanted to create a world in which created rational agents would decide freely to love and obey God. As such, love itself might be God’s “overriding reason for allowing the amount of moral evil that exists in the world. Free will gives creatures the ability to reject God’s love and thus directly or indirectly oppose God’s desire for love. If opposition to God’s desire is evil then love itself requires the possibility of evil.” 

    CS Lewis expresses the same truth:

    • “Free will is what made evil possible. Why, then, did God give creatures free will? Because free will, though it makes evil possible, is also the only thing that makes possible any love or goodness or joy worth having. A world of automata– of creatures that worked like machines– would hardly be worth creating. The happiness which God designs for His high creatures is happiness of being freely, voluntarily united to Him and to each other.. And for that they must be free.”

    The freedom to love has a risk. God chose that risk because to Him our freedom to love is worth any potential evil. 

    The cross is the greatest proof of that truth. God entered the pain our freedom caused, bore its cost, and redeemed it. The existence of evil doesn’t disprove God’s goodness; it magnifies the depth of His love.

  • Is God Really Good? Understanding His Character, Part I

    This is the first blog in a series exploring one of the most difficult and important questions of faith. Scripture reveals God as all-powerful (omnipotent), all-knowing (omniscient), entirely good (omnibenevolent), and sovereign over history. Yet these very truths raise a troubling question: If God is truly good, would He allow the magnitude of evil we see in the world? Are we to conclude that such a God would not permit evil or that God Himself is not wholly good? 

    In this first part of a series exploring that question, we will begin by looking deeply into the character of God as revealed in Scripture. Understanding who God is, His love, His justice, His power, and His goodness, is essential before we can approach the problem of evil with honesty and hope. 

    God Himself reminds us that His ways exceed our understanding:

    • “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord…” (Isaiah 55:8–9)
      “For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men” (1 Corinthians 1:25).

    With humility and prayer, we begin by considering the character of God.

    God is Love (1 John 4:8). God’s whole being is love and His creation was an expression of His love. Scripture describes this love as patient and kind, self-giving and enduring. It is a love that does not seek its own and never fails (1 Cor 13:4-8). This love is most clearly revealed in Jesus Christ who freely gave His life for us. “Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends” (John 15:13). Even while we were still sinners, God demonstrated His love toward us through Christ’s sacrifice (Romans 5:8). 

    God’s love is not passive. It is not distant. It is a love that draws us to Himself. “Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn you” (Jeremiah 31:3). All of creation bears the imprint of this self-giving love. The world was originally designed to give, sustain, and serve life beyond itself, reflecting the character of God. Even now, we see the echoes of this selfless love in creation. “We see the circle of love, the law of life, in everything God creates. In every breath we demonstrate giving: we give away carbon dioxide to the plants, and the plants give back oxygen to us.” (The God Shaped Brain, Dr. Tim Jennings)

    This love is inseparable from God’s goodness. To encounter God is to encounter what is truly good: “Taste and see that the Lord is good” (Psalm 34:8). Jesus Himself said, “No one is good but One, that is, God” (Mark 10:18). Every good and perfect gift comes from Him (James 1:17). God’s goodness draws thanksgiving from our hearts, “for His mercy endures forever” (Psalm 107:1), and, more deeply still, it leads us to repentance (Romans 2:4).

    God’s goodness is joined to perfect knowledge. He sees every heart, every intention, every path we take. “Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O Lord, You know it altogether” (Psalm 139:4). Nothing is hidden from His sight (Hebrews 4:13), and yet His knowledge is accompanied by mercy. He declares the end from the beginning and knows all things perfectly (Isaiah 46:9–10). This love, goodness and perfect knowledge calls us to trust in the Lord: “trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths” (Proverbs 3:5-6). 

    The same God whose love draws us close, whose goodness transforms us, and whose knowledge never errs, is able to accomplish all His good will. “There is nothing too hard for You” (Jeremiah 32:17). No purpose of His can be withheld (Job 42:2). His presence fills heaven and earth alike, and His power knows no limit (Psalm 139:7–10; Matthew 19:26). And yet, this power is always exercised in perfect justice and righteousness.

    “All His ways are justice” (Deuteronomy 32:4). He shows no partiality and judges rightly, yet His justice is inseparable from His mercy. Though the wages of sin is death, God Himself provided the way for redemption through Christ (Romans 6:22-23). Though we deserved death,  God provided His Son for our salvation, demonstrating the ultimate source of love and sacrifice, even as we see glimpses of such deep love in human grief: as King David cried over his rebellious son, “O my son Absalom! My son, my son Absalom! If only I had died instead of you—O Absalom, my son, my son!” (2 Samuel 18:33). God provided His son for our redemption. In the same way, God gave His Son so that those who are willing might be redeemed. His judgment is never arbitrary or cruel, but flows from the same love that made salvation possible (Psalm 19:9).

    Finally, scripture reveals God as faithful. He is steadfast when we are not, constant in His promises, and rich in mercy. “The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness” (Exodus 34:6). His mercies are new every morning (Lamentations 3:22–23), and He is faithful to call us, keep us, and carry us through every trial (1 Corinthians 1:9).

    The Bible presents a God who is perfectly loving, completely good, infinitely wise, all-powerful, just, faithful, and sovereign. As the Creator of all goodness (Mark 10:18), He sees all things clearly, reads the heart, and shows no partiality (Romans 2:11). His justice demands righteousness, yet His love provided the way for us to meet it. All creation will one day recognize this truth and bow before Him (Philippians 2:10). Angels declare His holiness, and even demons acknowledge His authority.

    And yet, the question remains: If God is so good, so powerful, so loving, and sovereign over all, why is our world so broken? These are the questions we will explore over the next few blogs.