Of this we have a need to know. My thoughts first wanted to say, “There is one that has a need to know,” but the Spirit checked me and said, “All have a need to know.” The Lord our God is goodness and is goodness forever. King David understood that as he proclaimed, “Preserve me, O God, for in You I put my trust. O my soul, you have said to the LORD, ‘You are my Lord, my goodness is nothing apart from You’” (Psalm 16:1-2). Apart from God our goodness is nothing. Without God goodness does not exist, it is nothing. Proclaiming the blessing of the Lord’s house and His seed David wrote, “And now, O Lord GOD, You are God, and Your words are true, and You have promised this goodness to Your servant. Now therefore, let it please You to bless the house of Your servant, that it may continue before You forever; for You, O Lord GOD, have spoken it, and with Your blessing let the house of Your servant be blessed forever” (2 Samuel 7:28-29). That goodness was born out of the Word (the promise) of God to a young virgin named Mary.

The scriptures tell us that a time is coming that is unlike any time before on the earth. First a time of great tribulation is coming to the earth and then the kingdom of God is coming to the earth. The days are coming of which it was written, “For in those days there will be tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the creation which God created until this time, nor ever shall be” (Mark 13:19). The day will come of which it was written, “After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, saying, ‘Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!’” (Revelation 7:9-10). Let no one deceive you, in the kingdom of Heaven will be many who go through the great tribulation.

Between this day and the great day to come that has no night and shall never end, there will be tribulations. Even those that escape the great tribulation will know tribulation in their walk with God. It is written of Paul and Barnabas, “they returned to Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch, strengthening the souls of the disciples, exhorting them to continue in the faith, and saying, ‘We must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God’” (Acts 14:21-22). Jesus foretold, “Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you” (Matthew 5:12-13). Hold to the knowledge that, the Lord our God is goodness and is goodness forever.

The Word of God Himself has promised and cannot lie. He has said, “I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world” (John 6:51). The prophet Isaiah wrote, “Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end, upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, to order it and establish it with judgment and justice from that time forward, even forever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this” (Isaiah 9:7). The promise is forever. The death of our Lord Jesus could not stop the promise, but served to establish it! Praise God! Let no one deceive you, the death of the saints will not break the promise of God that is forever. The martyred saints will live again and the zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this and He has already when He gave His flesh.

Look around at a world that wants to exist without God. The wicked prowl on every side, when vileness is exalted among the sons of men (Psalm 12:8). Goodness is nothing apart from God, it does not exist. To establish goodness, you must exalt God; the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. It is His goodness that will remain forever, when the wickedness has come to an end on this earth. All that die in the Lord will raise up and be established forever. Jesus the Christ did not remain in the tomb and the saints of God are the body of the Christ. Jesus the Christ did not rise without His body. The Lord our God is goodness and is goodness forever.

© 2006, Tim D. Coulter Sr.