the kindness of our God

We always talk about God's grace, His mercy, love, truth, and justice. But for some reason, I don't often hear the word kind spoken to describe God.

That's a mistake. The Bible uses this word for God, and so should we: "For His merciful kindness is great toward us" (Psalm 117:2a). "For He is gracious and merciful, Slow to anger, and of great kindness;" (Joel 2:13b).

What do you think of when you hear the word kindness?

I think of unexpected, undeserved goodness.

I think of a microloan associate who invites you to sit down on a chair, even if they have to remain standing--and offers you a glass of water and a snack. I think of the random person on the street in Santo Domingo who warned my roommate to let the stranger who was following pass on ahead, because he was probably a thief. I think of the girl at the retreat last weekend in Sosua, who found me sitting alone and introduced me to all of her friends, thus guaranteeing that I would have a wonderful time. I think of a coworker sharing their lunch with another loan officer who is short on money.

The women in these experiences in the Dominican Republic showed unexpected, undeserved goodness to a stranger. In a way, it came out of nowhere--but in another way, it came out of hearts willing to sacrifice to serve others.

If you think about it, we were all strangers to God: "that at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world" (Ephesians 2:13)

But the next verse tells how God showed His goodness to perfect strangers: "But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ" (Ephesians 2:14).

But now in Christ Jesus the verse says. God's kindness is first and foremost shown in sending Jesus to save us from our wretched lives of sin. Jesus is the ultimate expression of God's kindness to humankind.

Ephesians 2:4-7 "But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus."

The word "kindness" makes me think of a smiling father, looking down on His children. The greatest kindness God has shown His children, is not any material gift. It's Jesus Christ--because it's through Jesus Christ that we are His children, and He Himself is our greatest treasure. Enjoying a Father like YHWH is what Jesus died for us to be able to do.We are His precious children, and there's nothing more comforting. If you don't know quite what I'm talking about, close your eyes and listen to this song.

I'll close with one of my favorite passages, Isaiah 54:6-10:

For the Lord has called you
Like a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit,
Like a youthful wife when you were refused,”
Says your God.
“For a mere moment I have forsaken you,
But with great mercies I will gather you.
With a little wrath I hid My face from you for a moment;
But with everlasting kindness I will have mercy on you,”
Says the Lord, your Redeemer.
“For this is like the waters of Noah to Me;
For as I have sworn
That the waters of Noah would no longer cover the earth,
So have I sworn
That I would not be angry with you, nor rebuke you.
For the mountains shall depart
And the hills be removed,
But My kindness shall not depart from you,
Nor shall My covenant of peace be removed,”
Says the Lord, who has mercy on you.