What God’s Work Says About Him

Creation & Creator

To look further into the character of our God and to further our insight into theology proper, we are going to discuss this week what our Lord’s work says about His nature. How does the creation point to the creator? We are going to look into a few examples from both the Old and New Testaments to see not just multiple works of God, but to see how these works are similar, for Hebrews 13:8 says, “8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today, and forever.” God’s work isn’t just limited to the creation account in Genesis, but it is seen all through His word from the deliverance of Israel, to the miracles performed by Christ, and even to the repentant hearts that believe in the gospel today. All of these are works from our God that couldn’t have happened without His providential hand being at work. And while all these situations express a vast amount of different tasks being accomplished, they all point to the same, perfect characteristics of our God that we see all throughout scripture as well. Let’s start at the beginning of the Old Testament and see what we find. 

Old Testament

Right away in the book of Genesis, when we take a look at the creation account, we can see directly at the end of chapter 1, what God says about His work. Genesis 1:31 says, “31 And God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good.” After all of the universe, planets, animals, and even mankind were made, God looked at His creation and noted that it was ‘very good’. As discussed a few weeks ago, the word ‘good’ may not mean exactly what you think it means. Normally I would recommend you go back and read up on what we have previously discussed about this topic, but the idea of God’s work being good isn’t just one aspect of His work, it is the focal point of His work. Once again, the word ‘good’ in its original Hebrew text is the word ‘tob’, and it means ‘beautiful, right, and worthy’. All that God creates is good. This may seem difficult to accept the more we read into His word, but we are going to see how even God’s wrath is good when He puts it into play. All we have to do is go one book over to see how this is explained. When God is commanding Moses to lead his people out of Egypt, we see God’s wrath poured out on Pharaoh and all of his people, in a plethora of ways. When we look specifically at the plagues that God is about to pour out on Egypt for Pharaoh’s stubborn heart, what do we see God say? Exodus 7:17 notes “17 This is what the Lord says: “By this you shall know that I am the Lord:…” Before each plague and each act of wrath is poured out by God, we see that it is His goal to not just punish Pharaoh but to make Himself known to him. 

Yes, even justice and wrath are good works of our Lord because they are done so and used in manners that point the lost back to God. This concept is seen everywhere in the Bible. You can pick almost any book and find a person if not groups of people who are rebelling against God, and our Lord will justify their acts, not just to punish them, but to lead them back to Himself. If you have ever read through the major and minor prophets of the Bible, you know exactly what I’m talking about. God uses this method so much that it seems so repetitive! Yet this is exactly what He needs to do in order to justify His people for their sin, while at the same time, leading them back to His heart. God’s creation, blessings, and love that He gives us are definitely a part of His good works, but when we look at the whole picture, we must realize that so is His wrath, justice, and discipline. If you’re asking yourself right now, ‘How can God’s wrath and justice be good when the people that He created are the ones who brought evil into this world in the first place?!’ This is where I would recommend going back and reading last week’s blog posts on this exact issue, but for now, we can clearly see that throughout the Old Testament, from creation to the fall, and even through all of the prophets, God’s work is good. 

New Testament

What about the New Testament? If God is the same, do we see this same example of His character throughout the second half of the book as well? We do indeed. While we won’t be seeing a universe born, or mankind come into being like we did in the first half, we do see this same good creator at work through Jesus Christ Himself. You can pick literally any miracle that Jesus performed, and see how this act was a beautiful, right, and worthy act from God. Let’s take the miracle of the paralyzed man in Luke chapter 5 for example. Right after Jesus forgives his sins and tells him to stand up and walk, look at what Luke 5:26 says, “26 And they were all struck with astonishment and began glorifying God. They were also filled with fear, saying, “We have seen remarkable things today!” Notice any similarities from the Old Testament? God’s good work in healing a paralyzed man was not just done in a manner to benefit the paralyzed man but was done in a way that would spread the news about Jesus like wildfire, benefiting all who heard about Him. Whether it’s using wrath to confront sin and show the power of God, or using mercy to forgive sin and show the love of God, all of His works are good and worthy of praise. 

Even to the point where Jesus knows He is going to die on the cross for the sins of the world, He doesn’t walk away or abandon His calling because He knows He is about to experience the full wrath of the Father, He fulfills this duty, knowing that the gospel must be accomplished, and that this too, is indeed good. Talk about humility! Look at Jesus’s own response to Peter when he cuts off the ear of a guard who came to arrest Him. John 18:11 says, “11 So Jesus said to Peter, “Put the sword into the sheath; the cup which the Father has given Me, am I not to drink it?”’. Indeed, even wrathful acts that were poured out on Jesus Himself, were still good. As a matter of fact, the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ is the most good work that has ever been done and ever will be done. Again, whether it’s using wrath to confront sin and show the power of God, or using mercy to forgive sin and show the love of God, all of His works are good and worthy of praise. It is impossible to look at the work of our Lord and not see that He is good. Even though we are a sinful people, God continues to justify us, discipline us, love us, and show mercy to us, because He and He alone is good. This attribute is not just seen throughout God’s word, but it is seen in every act and work that He has ever ordained. It may almost seem cliche to say that the number 1 thing God’s work reveals to us is that He is good, however, when we take a step back and view these acts in all of their majesty, we can see that only God could ever work in a way that is good all of the time, despite His action. And that is a pretty flawless resume.

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Sources

[1] “Access Your Bible from Anywhere.” BibleGateway.Com: A Searchable Online Bible in over 150 Versions and 50 Languages., www.biblegateway.com/. Accessed 2023.

[2] “The Strongest NASB Exhaustive Concordance.” Zondervan. Grand Rapids, MI 1995