David Pool

If God does not exist, then it’s logical to conclude that all life is completely meaningless. In fact, it’s not just logical, it is an unavoidable conclusion. For if God does not exist, then certain realities follow. For one, if God is not real, then there can be no immortality, no life beyond the grave. People just pass out of existence forever. Going further, if God does not exist, then there is no ultimate significance to anyone’s life. Someone might choose for themselves a relative purpose to pursue, but then when they die it evaporates into nothing. 

A third reality comes from God’s nonexistence. Without God, there can be no way to define good and evil or right and wrong. Who’s to say what is morally good and what is morally evil? There can be no categories for good and evil without God. So, no one would have a basis for condemning slavery or corruption or any kind of abuse. And there would be no basis to praise love and generosity.

God’s nonexistence leaves us with a hopeless and bleak outlook. However, we can take heart because there are good reasons to believe that God does exist. My purpose is not to outline the many philosophical arguments or the strong collection of scientific arguments for God’s existence, although that would be fascinating and encouraging. Instead, my purpose is to highlight the character of the God who does exist. 

How we think about God is vitally important. Our understanding of God informs our grasp of purpose, significance, destiny and value. The point that I want to make is that not only does God exist, but he is good. And yet, so many struggle to view God as benevolently involved in their lives, as truly wanting to bless and care for them, as one who desires what is best for them. But that is just the picture we see in the pages of the Bible.

Consider Psalm 145:7-9: “They (God’s mighty acts) celebrate your abundant goodness and joyfully sing of your righteousness. The Lord is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love. The Lord is good to all; he has compassion on all he has made.” Careful reflection on your life will show his goodness, even in the midst of major difficulties and hardships. 

A.W. Tozer once wrote, “The goodness of God is that which disposes him to be kind, cordial, benevolent, and full of good will toward men. He is tenderhearted and of quick sympathy, and His unfailing attitude toward all moral beings is open, frank, and friendly. By His nature He is inclined to bestow blessedness, and He takes holy pleasure in the happiness of His people.” I encourage you to think deeply about those words.

If you want proof of God’s favor and kind intention toward you, all you have to do is look to Jesus Christ. Jesus showed God’s favor to people in every stratum of the social pecking order. Think of rich Nicodemus, the woman with a hemorrhage, the Canaanite woman and her daughter, and blind Bartimaeus. In John 10, he calls himself the Good Shepherd who cares for, leads, and lays down his life for the sheep. In Galatians we read that God makes the one who believes in him an heir of his kingdom! All of Romans 8 is an exposition of God’s favor. In Romans 8:31-32, it’s clear that since he died for you, he already done the hard thing. So it follows that he is going to keep on showing you his favor and blessing throughout your life. 

That fact is that God is for you, for your welfare, for your flourishing because he is kind and good. That truth was supremely demonstrated in mission of Jesus: “For God so loved the whole that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have everlasting life.” God exists. He has favor toward you. Won’t you lean into to him and trust him with your life?

(Dr. David Pool is the senior pastor at Grace Point Church.)