You've probably heard the popular Christian chant, "God is good all the time." And all the time, God is good. Amen. Now, Christians often chant that, but uh do we really believe that that's true?
Do we really believe that God is good all the time? Well, if God is good all the time, why does he allow his people to suffer? Why does he allow his people trials and afflictions just because they are his people? If God is good all the time, why does he judge and punish people for not knowing him? Why does he punish them with everlasting destruction and shut them out from his presence? Now, if we're Christians who believe that God is good, we need to have biblical and theological reasons for believing that in the face of these and many other similar questions.
Today, we're going to look at the second letter of the Apostle Paul to the Christians in Thessalonica. We're going to look at chapter 1 and verses 1-2 which speak to this very issue. Now Paul's second letter to the Christians in Thessalonica is written in response to news that Paul receives of a deepening crisis in the church there. Persecution and violence against Christians is intensifying tremendously. Also, false teachers in the church are proclaiming that the end time day of the Lord has already arrived. And as a result of this teaching, many in the church are quitting their jobs and they've just become idle, doing nothing. The Apostle Paul's response and exhortation is for the Thessalonians to realize that the intense affliction they are suffering has a positive aspect of teaching endurance and they need to have a realization that they can grow through this experience in faith in hope and in love. Paul offers the encouragement of knowing that there will be punishment for those who are oppressing them while there will be a reward for faith and endurance for Christians when Christ returns in glory. He explains that the end is not yet as it will come in the future and it will be cosmic in scope. He also admonishes them to focus on their current Christian lives and to behave responsibly.
So let's go now to 2 Thessalonians chapter 1 and begin reading in verse one. Keeping in mind our question, is God good all the time? 2 Thessalonians chapter 1 verse one
2 Thessalonians 1:1-12
1 Paul, Silas[a] and Timothy,
To the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:
2 Grace and peace to you from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Thanksgiving and Prayer
3 We ought always to thank God for you, brothers and sisters,[b] and rightly so, because your faith is growing more and more, and the love all of you have for one another is increasing. 4 Therefore, among God’s churches we boast about your perseverance and faith in all the persecutions and trials you are enduring.
5 All this is evidence that God’s judgment is right, and as a result you will be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are suffering. 6 God is just: He will pay back trouble to those who trouble you 7 and give relief to you who are troubled, and to us as well. This will happen when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with his powerful angels. 8 He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. 9 They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might 10 on the day he comes to be glorified in his holy people and to be marveled at among all those who have believed. This includes you, because you believed our testimony to you.
11 With this in mind, we constantly pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his calling, and that by his power he may bring to fruition your every desire for goodness and your every deed prompted by faith. 12 We pray this so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.[c]
Footnotes
- 2 Thessalonians 1:1 Greek Silvanus, a variant of Silas
- 2 Thessalonians 1:3 The Greek word for brothers and sisters (adelphoi) refers here to believers, both men and women, as part of God’s family; also in 2:1, 13, 15; 3:1, 6, 13.
- 2 Thessalonians 1:12 Or God and Lord, Jesus Christ
Charities
Ross Jutsum State of the Heart – An inter-denominational ministry of music and worship.
New Life for Haiti New Life for Haiti - Home
Bengali Evangelistic Association Bengali Evangelical Association (bengalimission.org)
Bible Gateway BibleGateway.com: A searchable online Bible in over 150 versions and 50 languages.
GCI Grace Communion International (gci.org)