Here are some recent highlights from reading The Everlasting God, by Broughton Knox, on God's wisdom and goodness...
God’s covenant relationship with creation, when expressed in personal terms, means that he is faithful; he fulfills that which he promises. He is the faithful God and we are to reflect his faithfulness in our relationships, not only with God, but with one another.
The faithfulness of God is the most important aspect of his goodness.
First, there is the relationship, then there is the responsibility of that relationship. From this flows the authority which God has over all, and which leads in turn to the obligation on all of obedience, thanksgiving and honor.
Knowledge applied purposefully but not towards the good of others is not called wisdom but cunning. Wisdom must always be good.
His infinite knowledge coupled with his infinite power and infinite goodness mean that he has infinite wisdom.
God’s wisdom is marvelously displayed in the created world. As the psalmist exclaims, “O Yahweh, how many are your works! In wisdom you have made them all.” The world has been created to accomplish ends of blessing, of joy and of fellowship with God. It marvelously achieves these ends. Take for example our body, that aspect of creation about which we know most. It has plainly been created in order that we might enjoy life. Our five senses all are vehicles of pleasure, as we see the beauty of the world, as we hear the sounds of music, as we taste the food which we need to sustain our life, as we enjoy the fragrance of a flower, as our bodies feel the sensation of the surf or of the wind. All these things are aspects of God’s wisdom in conferring on us joys. Looked at from another point of view, the body is marvelously contrived to accomplish its ends of relationship, with all the pleasure—physical, mental, emotional, spiritual—that relationship brings. The eye, the face, the language structure of our brain, are designed to express our inner being to one another. Our sexual natures, both psychological and physical, are marvelously designed to relate us in joyous fellowship.
God’s covenant relationship with creation, when expressed in personal terms, means that he is faithful; he fulfills that which he promises. He is the faithful God and we are to reflect his faithfulness in our relationships, not only with God, but with one another.
The faithfulness of God is the most important aspect of his goodness.
First, there is the relationship, then there is the responsibility of that relationship. From this flows the authority which God has over all, and which leads in turn to the obligation on all of obedience, thanksgiving and honor.
Knowledge applied purposefully but not towards the good of others is not called wisdom but cunning. Wisdom must always be good.
His infinite knowledge coupled with his infinite power and infinite goodness mean that he has infinite wisdom.
God’s wisdom is marvelously displayed in the created world. As the psalmist exclaims, “O Yahweh, how many are your works! In wisdom you have made them all.” The world has been created to accomplish ends of blessing, of joy and of fellowship with God. It marvelously achieves these ends. Take for example our body, that aspect of creation about which we know most. It has plainly been created in order that we might enjoy life. Our five senses all are vehicles of pleasure, as we see the beauty of the world, as we hear the sounds of music, as we taste the food which we need to sustain our life, as we enjoy the fragrance of a flower, as our bodies feel the sensation of the surf or of the wind. All these things are aspects of God’s wisdom in conferring on us joys. Looked at from another point of view, the body is marvelously contrived to accomplish its ends of relationship, with all the pleasure—physical, mental, emotional, spiritual—that relationship brings. The eye, the face, the language structure of our brain, are designed to express our inner being to one another. Our sexual natures, both psychological and physical, are marvelously designed to relate us in joyous fellowship.
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