Genesis 1:1-31
In the Beginning God Saw Goodness
1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.
3 And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. 4 God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness.5 God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.
6 And God said, “Let there be a vault between the waters to separate water from water.” 7 So God made the vault and separated the water under the vault from the water above it. And it was so. 8 God called the vault “sky.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the second day.
9 And God said, “Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear.” And it was so. 10 God called the dry ground “land,” and the gathered waters he called “seas.” And God saw that it was good.
11 Then God said, “Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds.” And it was so. 12 The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. 13 And there was evening, and there was morning—the third day.
14 And God said, “Let there be lights in the vault of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark sacred times, and days and years, 15 and let them be lights in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth.” And it was so. 16 God made two great lights—the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars. 17 God set them in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth, 18 to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good. 19 And there was evening, and there was morning—the fourth day.
20 And God said, “Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the vault of the sky.” 21 So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living thing with which the water teems and that moves about in it, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 22 God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the water in the seas, and let the birds increase on the earth.” 23 And there was evening, and there was morning—the fifth day.
24 And God said, “Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: the livestock, the creatures that move along the ground, and the wild animals, each according to its kind.” And it was so. 25 God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.
26 Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”
27 So God created mankind in his own image,
in the image of God he created them;
male and female he created them.
28 God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”
29 Then God said, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. 30 And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds in the sky and all the creatures that move along the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food.” And it was so.
31 God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day.
Romans 8:28
Goodness and God and Love Are Together
28 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.
Galatians 5:22-26
Fruit of the Holy Spirit
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. 24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. 26 Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.
John 14:6
Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life
6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
John 14:15-31
Jesus Promises the Holy Spirit
15 “If you love me, keep my commands. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever—17 the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. 18 I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.19 Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. 20 On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. 21 Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.”
22 Then Judas (not Judas Iscariot) said, “But, Lord, why do you intend to show yourself to us and not to the world?”
23 Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. 24 Anyone who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me.
25 “All this I have spoken while still with you. 26 But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. 27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.
28 “You heard me say, ‘I am going away and I am coming back to you.’ If you loved me, you would be glad that I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I. 29 I have told you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe. 30 I will not say much more to you, for the prince of this world is coming. He has no hold over me, 31 but he comes so that the world may learn that I love the Father and do exactly what my Father has commanded me.
“Come now; let us leave.
John 16:7-15
The Holy Spirit Will Guide Us to the Truth
7 But very truly I tell you, it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. 8 When he comes, he will prove the world to be in the wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment: 9 about sin, because people do not believe in me; 10 about righteousness,because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; 11 and about judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned.
12 “I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. 13 But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth.He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. 14 He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you. 15 All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will receive from me what he will make known to you.
John 17:16-19
God's Word is Truth
16 They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. 17 Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. 18 As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. 19 For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified.
Where did morals come from?...Why does man think goodness is a quality he should strive for?...Why is being evil and having evil in the world, something that most of mankind shun and would like to end?...Do we really know where goodness comes from?...
From the first moment of creation, we find goodness...In the beginning, God saw that the Light was good, and He separated the Light from the darkness...And God saw that the water and land was good...And God saw that the trees, vegetation, and plants were good...And God saw that the livestock and wild animals were good...God saw all that He had made, and it was very good...
So God saw everything that He created in the beginning and said that it was good...At that point in time all things were good...
There is something about man and inside man that thinks that we should have goodness...We think about things like human rights and good morals and good ethics...Goodness somehow permeates the world...We should not only treat each other in a very proper way, we should treat animals in a proper way...Children are to be treated with respect and have rights...The man that believes in God, thinks that the world wants to be better and that man’s good moral thinking and ideas and thoughts come from and are based in and founded in God...God for believers, then is our Moral Lawgiver and He is also our Moral Judge, as the Moral Lawgiver (since He is the One giving us our moral laws and is this Moral Lawgiver)...And through goodness and this goodness-type thinking we can better see God...
Non-believers do not see God as well and coming from this goodness point of view...They do not believe that good moral thinking ties us to God...They do not see the goodness in the created world that God has given us...The atheist does not believe in a Moral Lawgiver or a Moral Judge...The non-believer must start out with their facts that man is here through evolution and this is where man's thinking has evolved and taken us so far....Man is the non-believer's moral judge...And therefore, the non-believer must believe that man randomly came up with the idea that the world should be morally good and that we should treat everyone with kindness and be forgiving over a long period of time as we got here...Now how man came up this idea is an interesting one to study and think about...The fruits of the Holy Spirit are not fruits at all to the non-believer...These fruits of the Spirit are just randomly here and are things that have evolved over time and came out of nowhere and the randomness of evolution...The Holy Spirit did not come up with love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control...It is man who has come up with these ideas...But why does almost all mankind believe in goodness, instead of evil?...The atheist cannot tell us why evil has not evolved...And this is a great rub in their thinking and not believing in God, (at least it is for me)...Why did man and how did man come up with good moral thinking idea on his own?...Why did he choose the goodness?...Did one man or one ape in the evolutionary chain suddenly realize goodness was better than evil?...Did a group of men or group of our ape ancestors just come to see that goodness is better than evil?...Why is goodness better than evil in a random world?...Why didn’t evil evolve over time and above goodness and the human rights of man?...Was it just luck of a fifty-fifty draw that man evolved and trended toward goodness, instead of evil...
And this argument about evil in our world comes up quite often...And it often goes like this: If there really is this Moral God, why has He let evil come into our world?...Why is there so much evil if there is this Moral God you write about?...But let me say one thing here, we cannot unhinge God from goodness and from good morality...But we can see that there is evil in man...As we read about the news headlines across the globe almost each and everyday, we read about the evil in man...
These are very good questions, but where did the goodness come from, I would ask...Why does man try to be good, and try to be become better than what he is?...Is there a Better Way or a Better Place?...Is there an eternity, with a Kingdom of Heaven, with a Moral Source?...So the atheist (for me to change my mind on believing in God) must tell us where both goodness and evil originated...Often their standard answer is evolution and randomness just come and appear over a long period of time, including good and evil...One atheist, Richard Dawkins says, “Darwinism is not a theory of random chance...It is a theory of random mutation plus non-random cumulative natural selection. . . . Natural selection . . . is a non-random force, pushing towards improvement. . . . Every generation has its Darwinian failures but every individual is descended only from previous generations' successful minorities. . . . [T]here can be no going downhill - species can't get worse as a prelude to getting better. . . . There may be more than one peak.”...
So it seems there is a non-random force pushing towards improvement...Every individual is descended only from previous generations successful minorities...Species cannot get worse as a prelude to getting better...Now I would agree with the statement that there is a Non-Random Force pushing and guiding us toward improvement...And this Non-Random Force is in heaven...But the rest of this atheistic answer does not resonate with what I believe or feel...I do not think we come from previous generation successful minorities...And sometimes evil seems worse than at other times..I am also sure my thoughts do not resonate with many who do not believe in God...What I believe is that the reason mankind has and wants and strives for good morals, has to do more with God and how He created the universe and also with the Holy Spirit, He gives to us...And that there is this good fruit coming from the Holy Spirit...Good morals and Perfect Morals are from God, who sends us the Holy Spirit...And these guiding goodness thoughts are guiding us to the Truth...And when we talk about the Truth, I think of Jesus...I think of Him, because He is the Only One that I am aware of who said He is the Truth, and came to testify to the Truth...And He said that God's Word is Truth...So being guided by the Holy Spirit guides me to the Truth about Jesus...It guides me to a Moral Lawgiver...Jesus is tied to our morality in wanting us to be good and forgiving...There is the Spiritual and there is this Spiritual Guidance...So the Holy Spirit brings this compassion, and the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control...The indwelt Holy Spirit is our reason for believing in goodness...Jesus sent us the Holy Spirit to guide us to the Truth and guide us about this fruit...There is evil in this world we can see it and read about it...But those that love God, feel and believe that somehow He will work for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to his purpose...There is this Goodness in the world and it is His Goodness...