We know there are many different attributes of God. Some divide these into two categories:
- Divine Attributes: such as His holiness, self-existence, eternality, transcendence, infinity, immutability, omniscience, omnipotence, omnipresence, and sovereignty.
- Moral Attributes: such as His faithfulness, longsuffering, righteousness, goodness, grace, mercy, love, and wisdom.
But can we really separate these attributes? He is all of them, all the time! Who are we to define Him?
Yet there is great encouragement in looking at who our God is—not only to see the things about Him that we may never fully understand but also to grasp what He has revealed in His Word. In our present day, surrounded by evil and immorality, I’ve been occupied with just how good our God truly is.
When we think of the word “good,” it probably means different things to each of us. So a good place to start is with a definition. A.W. Tozer defines God’s goodness as:
“That which disposes Him to be kind, cordial, benevolent, and full of goodwill 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.”
Let’s begin by turning to Psalm 34. This psalm was written by David when he pretended madness before Abimelech, who drove him away, and David departed. It begins with a heartfelt praise to God (vv. 1–3), then moves to God’s protection (vv. 4–7), His provision (vv. 8–10), His support (vv. 11–19), and finally His security (vv. 20–22). But right in the middle of this psalm, we see God’s goodness—one of the key blessings He supplies us! Let’s take a closer look at verses 8–10.
Taste and See That the Lord Is Good
Psalm 34:8 invites us:
“Taste and see that the Lord is good.”
The sequence here makes tasting the action and seeing the result. The Lord wants us to engage all our senses to discover His goodness. Three things are highlighted in these verses:
- We are to take refuge in Him and be blessed.
- We are to fear the Lord and lack nothing.
- We are to seek the Lord and not lack any good thing.
Taking refuge, fearing the Lord, and seeking Him are ways of tasting His goodness. The more we engage with Him, the more we come to know His goodness. He urges us to experience it! His goodness is the foundation for everything good—and a foundational truth for how we think about Him.
Goodness in Creation
God’s goodness is evident throughout His creation. Genesis 1:31 says,
“God saw all that He had made, and it was very good.”
Psalm 145:9 reminds us,
“The Lord is good to all; He has compassion on all He has made.”
Psalm 33:5 says,
“The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord.”
Matthew 5:45 tells us,
“…He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and the unjust.”
James 1:17 proclaims,
“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.”
Some may ask, “How can a good and loving God allow suffering?” That’s a hard question, and sometimes God is not quick to answer it. But His mercy and kindness are over all He has made. As Romans 8:28 reminds us:
“We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.”
Think of Joseph, who went through deep suffering. Yet later, he could say to his brothers—who caused much of his pain—“You meant it for evil, but God meant it for good.”
ሰናይነት ኣምላኽ ኣብ ምውዳቕ ሰብ
ኣዳምን ሄዋንን ሓጢኦት ምስ ገበሩ፡ ኣምላኽ ንሰብ ከጥፍኦም ምኸኣለ። ንኹሉ በረኸት፡ ምጽንናዕን ባህታን ከሊኡዎም ምኸኣለ። ኣብ ክንዲኡ ግና፡ ንሰናይነቱ ምፍሳስ ቀጸለ።
ያእቆብ 2:13 የዘኻኽረና፡
«ምሕረት ኣብ ፍርዲ ይዕወት።»
እቲ ሓጢኣት ናብ ዓለም ዘምጽኦ እከይ እኳ እንተኾነ፡ ሰናይነት ኣምላኽ ግን ይበዝሖ። ኣብ ዝወደቐ ዓለም እውን፡ ሰናይነቱ ኣብ ምስትውዓልን ምሕዋይን ከም ንዓቢ ይፈቅደልና—ከም ምምዕባል መድሃኒት ንሕማም ምላሽ።
ሰብ ካብኡ ምስ ዝርሕቕ እውን፡ ሰናይነቱ ክኽሓድ ኣይከኣልን። ጳውሎስ ከምዚ ይጽሕፍ፡
«ወይስ ንሃብቲ ሰናይነቱን ትዕግስቱን ምሕማሙን ትንዕቕ ኢኻ፧ ሰናይነት ኣምላኽ ናብ ንስሓ ኸም ዚመርሓካስ ኣይትፈልጥን ኢኻን፧» (ሮሜ 2:4)።
ሰብ ንሰናይነት ኣምላኽ እንተ ነጺጉ፡ ሓላፍነት ዝወስድ ንርእሱ ጥራይ እዩ።
ሰናይነት ኣምላኽ ኣብ ምምጻእ ወዱ
ሉቃስ 2:14 መልኣኻዊ ምፍላጥ ይገልጽ፡
«ክብሪ ንኣምላኽ ኣብ ላዕለይ፡ ኣብ ምድሪ ድማ ሰላም፡ ሰናይ ፍቓድ ንሰብ።»
እዚ ዓቢ ተግባር ሰናይነት ኣምላኽ፡ ንሕና ገና ሓጥኣን ከለና፡ ፍቕራዊ ልቡ ናባና ገሊጹልና (ሮሜ 5:8)። ንመዝሙራዊ ከምዚ ብምባል ንምስክር፡
«ኦ ሰብ ንእግዚኣብሔር ብሰናይነቱ፡ ብግሩም ግብሩ ድማ ንደቂ ሰብ የመስግንዎ!» (መዝሙር 107:8)
ግብሪ ሃዋርያት 10:38 የሱስ ብመንፈስ ቅዱስን ብሓይልን ከም እተቐብአ ይነግረና፡ «ሰናይ እናገበረ ይኸይድ ነበረ።» እቶም ዝረኸብዎ ሰባት ሰናይነቱ ብቐጥታ ረኣዩ።
ሓደ ገዛኢ ሓንሳብ ምስ ሓተተ፡ «መምህር ጽቡቕ፡ ንዘለኣለማዊ ህይወት ምእንቲ ኽወርስ እንታይ ክገብር ኣሎኒ፧» (ሉቃስ 18:18)፡ የሱስ መለሰ፡ «ኣነ ጽቡቕ ጓሳ እየ። ጽቡቕ ጓሳ ህይወቱ ምእንቲ ኣባጊዕ ይህብ» (ዮሃንስ 10:11,14)። ድሕሪኡ ድማ፡ «ብዙሕ ጽቡቕ ግብሪ ኻብ ኣቦይ ኣርእየኩም ኣሎኹ። ካብኡኸ ብየትስ ግብሪ ኢኹም እትውግርኒ፧» (ዮሃንስ 10:32)
ሰናይነት ኣምላኽ
ኣብ ሉቃስ 18:19፡ የሱስ ከምዚ ኢሉ ኣወጀ፡ «ሓደ ጥራይ እዩ ጽቡቕ፡ ንሱ ድማ ኣምላኽ እዩ።» እዚ እንታይ ማለት ምዃኑ ነስተንትነሉ፡
- ኣምላኽ ብመጀመርታ ጽቡቕ እዩ: ኩሉ ሰናይነት ካብኡ ይብገስ። ያእቆብ 1:17 ነዚ ሓቂ እዚ የረጋግጾ።
- ኣምላኽ ብባህሪኡ ጽቡቕ እዩ: ንሱ ጽቡቕ ጥራይ ኣይኮነን—ንሱ ሰናይነት እዩ። መዝሙር 119:68 ከምዚ ይብል፡ «ንስኻ ጽቡቕ ኢኻ፡ እትገብሮ ድማ ጽቡቕ እዩ።»
- ኣምላኽ ብዘይገደብ ጽቡቕ እዩ: ሰናይነቱ ገደብ የብሉን። መዝሙር 52:1 ከምዚ ይነግረና፡ «ሰናይነት ኣምላኽ ንዘለኣለም ይጸንዕ።»
- ኣምላኽ ዘይቅየር ጽቡቕ እዩ: ሰናይነቱ ፈጺሙ ኣይቅየርን፡ ምኽንያቱ ንሱ ፈጺሙ ኣይቅየርን።
ብሰናይነቱ ምብርትታዕ
ብሰናይነት ኣምላኽ ዓቢ ምብርትታዕ ክንወስድ ይግባእ። ኣብ ጸልማት እዋናት እውን፡ ተስፋ ንረክብ።
ናሆም 1:7 ከምዚ ይእውጅ፡
«እግዚኣብሔር ጽቡቕ እዩ፡ ኣብ መዓልቲ ሽግር ሓይሊ እዩ፡ ብእኡ ዚውከሉ ድማ ይፈልጦም።»
መዝሙር 84:11 የረጋግጸልና፡
«እግዚኣብሔር ኣምላኽ ጸሓይን ጋሻን እዩ እሞ፡ እግዚኣብሔር ጸጋን ክብረትን ይህብ፡ ንቕኑዕ ዝመላለሱ ጽቡቕ ነገር ኣይክልክሎምን እዩ።»
ሰናይነቱ ኣርኢ
ከም ክርስትያናት፡ ንኣምላኽ ክንመስል ተጸዊዕና ኢና (ኤፌሶን 5:1)። ሰናይነቱ ፈጺምና ክንበጽሖ እኳ እንተዘይከኣልና፡ እግዚኣብሔር ጽቡቕ ምዃኑ ኣብቶም ዝጠዓሙን ዝረኣዩን ህይወት ክርአ ይግባእ።
ገላትያ 5:22–23 ሓደ ካብ ፍረ መንፈስ ከም ዝኾነ ይነግረና፡ ሰናይነት:
«ፍረ መንፈስ ግና ፍቕሪ፡ ባህታ፡ ሰላም፡ ትዕግስቲ፡ ለውሃት፡ ሰናይነት፡ እምነት፡ ህድኣት፡ ምግታእ ርእሲ እዩ። ነዚኸ ዚጻረር ሕጊ የልቦን።»
እዚ ሰናይነት እዚ ኣብ ተግባር ዝርአ ፍቕሪ እዩ። እብራውያን 13:15–16 የዘኻኽረና፡
«ስለዚ፡ ብእኡ ገይርና ንኣምላኽ መስዋእቲ ምስጋና፡ ማለት ፍረ ከናፍርና፡ ንስሙ እናኣመስገንና፡ ብቐጻሊ ነቕርብ።ጽቡቕ ምግባርን ምምቕቓልን ግና ኣይትረስዑ፡ ምኽንያቱ ኣምላኽ ብኸምዚ ዝኣመሰለ መስዋእቲ ባህ ይብሎ።»
ሮሜ 15:14 ከምዚ ይምህር፡ «ብሰናይነት ምሉኣት» ክንከውን፡ ከም ጐይታና፡ ፍርያማት ኣገልገልቲ ክንከውን።
ነዚ ሰናይነት እዚ ንኣመንቲ ጥራይ ዘይኮነስ፡ ንዝጠፍኡ—እንተላይ ንዝጻረሩና—ከነርኢ ይግባእ። ጳውሎስ ኣብ ሮሜ 12:20–21 ከምዚ ይጽሕፍ፡
«ጸላእኻ እንተ ጠመየ፡ ኣብልዖ፡ እንተ ጸምኤ፡ ኣስትዮ… ብእከይ ኣይትሰዓር፡ ንእከይ ግና ብሰናይ ስዓሮ።»
ኣብ ገላትያ 6:9–10 ድማ፡
«ጽቡቕ እናገበርና ኣይንሰልኪ፡ ምኽንያቱ እንተ ዘይሰልኪና፡ ብግዜኡ ክንዓጽድ ኢና።ስለዚ፡ ዕድል ከም ዝረኸብና፡ ንኹሉ ሰብ፡ ብፍላይ ድማ ንኣባላት ቤት እምነት፡ ጽቡቕ ንግበር።»
እግዚኣብሔር ጽቡቕ ምዃኑ ብቐጻሊ ንጥዕምን ንርእን ክንከውን ንምነ። ሰናይነቱ ድማ ንዓና ክሳብ ዝመልኣናን ዝቕይረናን፡ ናብ ህይወት ካልኦት ክፈስስ ንምነ—ንኽብሩ።
