What is Good?

The aroma of fresh bread being baked in the oven, that is good. The first few sips of coffee that awaken your taste buds in the morning, that is good. Chocolate, no question, is good. Watching an early morning sunrise while fly-fishing on a river in the great outdoors, that is good. The comfort and warmth you feel when you stand with your back close to a fire on a cold winters day, that is good. Watching your child perform in their first play or concert, that is good. My mom’s homemade strawberry cream pie, well, that is very good.

Seven times in Genesis chapter 1 God calls his handiwork (creation) good (v.4,10,12,18,21,25,31). The word translated “good” here in chapter 1 is associated with other words like desirable, beautiful or right. This account of creation has a particular order and function that displays the sovereignty God has over all created things. Packed into 31 verses we read about the vast array of everything good before the fall of man. Not one created thing was without God’s touch of goodness, the sun and moon, stars, oceans and rivers, birds of the air, animals, mountains and valleys, and then at the climax of this great event, He created mankind in His own image.  An image that holds true, pure goodness.  In conclusion to His masterful plan “God saw all that he had made, and it was very good.”(Gen 1:31) Like an artist stepping back from the canvas, He was pleased with what He had created.

Everyday I am reminded of the good that was established through the creation in the very beginning. I have the privilege of living in a place where my morning commute can bring me to the foot of the mountain that towers over our city to the open road near the shores of the deep ocean waters. God continues to reveal his goodness through His creation, even in a world that has been marred by sin. We are His creation; we are called to reflect his goodness and love. When we put our hope and trust in God, we share in the confidence with other believers that His goodness will shine through in all our circumstances. “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.” (Romans 8:28). This is good.