One of my favorite scenes from the movies is from the holiday classic: “A Christmas Story,” when little Ralphie discovers the BB gun his father had bought him for Christmas. The dad watches with delight as Ralphie opens the box, and he carefully follows his son’s every move as he pours the bb’s into the gun. To me, that scene is just a touching picture of a father who delights in giving something good to his child.

The Bible says that our Heavenly Father is like that. Jesus said in Matthew 7:11, “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him?” The Bible teaches us that the One True God is a GOOD God, who loves to give His children good things. Psalm 119:68 says of God: “You ARE good, and DO good.” (Literally, “GOOD You are, and do”!) The giving nature of God is preeminently seen in the gift of His Son Jesus Christ to purchase our salvation: “For God so loved the world that He GAVE …”. People have a lot of different ideas about God, but in James 1:17-18, the Bible teaches us that “Real Faith” puts its trust in a good, giving God.

I. A Benevolent God: He IS Good, and GIVES Good
:17 “Every good thing bestowed, and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of Lights, in whom there is no variation or shifting shadow.” This verse teaches us some important things about God, and about the blessings that He gives:

A. God is the Source of all good.
:17 “every good thing bestowed and every perfect gift is from above”.

We just saw last week in our study of James 1 that God does not tempt us with evil. Now, James says here, not only does God not tempt us with evil; in fact, He gives us everything that is good. It all comes “from above.” “Above” of course means “heaven.” Everything good that we have comes from God in heaven. Notice the two-fold emphasis, and the sweeping nature of this statement: “EVERY” good thing bestowed; “EVERY” perfect gift. This really emphasizes that EVERY good thing we receive comes from God. There is no good thing we receive for which we should not give credit to God. HE is the source of all that is good. Even when some good thing comes through some intermediate agency — some person, an institution, or some other source — we need to realize that God is the ultimate source of it.

We sometimes like to think of our ourselves as “self-made men” who provide for ourselves, something like the farmer Jimmy Stewart plays in the old movie, “Shenandoah.” In that movie Stewart’s character prays a dinner prayer that went like this: 

“Lord, we cleared this land, we plowed it, sowed it and harvested it.
We cooked the harvest, it wouldn’t be here, we wouldn’t be eatin’ it, if we hadn’t done it all ourselves. We worked dog-boned hard for every crumb and morsel, but we thank you just the same anyway, Lord, for this food we’re about to eat. Amen.”

That farmer’s prayer seemed a bit sarcastic, like, “We really did it all, I’m not sure why we’re thanking YOU for it!” But what the farmer in that movie, and everyone who has that “self-sufficient” attitude fails to understand, is that GOD is the ultimate source of everything good that we have.

Jesus said in John 3:27 “A man can receive nothing unless it has been given him from heaven.” In other words, whatever you have – whatever you possess, and whatever you are able to do — it has all been granted to you from heaven. God has decreed for you to have it. Even the skills and abilities we possess — which we think we are using to be “self -made men” — all these things come from God. In Exodus 31:6, God said, “In the hearts of all who are skillful, I have put skill.” Whatever talent you have, whatever skill you possess, whatever ability you display, GOD gave you that ability, and you should give thanks to Him for it, for if He had not granted it to you, you would have nothing at all!

This is a very humbling doctrine, but it’s the truth. We need to be humbled; we need to recognize how dependent upon God’s grace we really are. King Nebuchadnezzar had to learn this lesson the hard way. Daniel 4:29-30 says that one day “he was walking on the roof of the royal palace of Babylon. The king reflected and said, ‘Is this not Babylon the great, which I myself have built as a royal residence by the might of my power and for the glory of my majesty?’” And the next verse says while the words were still in his mouth, God made him like a beast of the field, and robbed him of his senses, to show that it is God who rules over mankind, and gives it to whomever He wishes.

God used this painful lesson to show Nebuchadnezzar there is no such thing as a “self-made man.” If we are wise, we’ll realize the same thing today. If you have anything, it’s because God has given it to you. He gave you your life; He gave you your strength; He gave you the means to attain whatever you have. Everything good that we have comes from God. And that’s why our lives should be marked by continual thanksgiving to God for all the good things He’s given us. Every day should be a continual “thanksgiving,” because God has given us everything good in it. 

B. God Himself is Always Good
:17 says all these good things are “coming down from the Father of lights, in whom there is no variation or shifting shadow.”

Here James emphasizes that not only does God GIVE what is good, but God Himself IS good. He calls Him here “The Father of lights” — emphasizing His goodness. The goodness of God is one of the basic lessons of scripture:
— Psalm 100:5 famously says, “For the Lord is good …”
— In Mark 10:18 Jesus said, “No one is good but God alone.”

We are often fond of saying things like, “He’s a good man”, or “she’s a good person” – but the truth is, none of us are really good. Romans 3 says, “There is none good, not even one.” Only God is “good” – and He is absolutely, totally, and perfectly good. Psalm 119:68 sums it up by saying: “You are good, and do good.” That is just “Basic Theology 101” about God: that He is good.

And this verse teaches us that God never changes in His goodness: “there is no variation” in it. He is always good and perfect; He always gives what is good, and He never changes in that.

James gives us an illustration in this verse, when he says there is “no shifting shadow” in God’s goodness. The sun is one of God’s best gifts to us; it provides us with light, heat, vitamins, life to plants that feed us — and on and on. Because it of that, the sun was worshipped by many of the ancient peoples. But the sun, as good a gift as it is, varies in its gifts to us. It is not always the same, is it? We just experienced a change of season recently. Whenever that happens, you can see the position of the sun changing in the sky. (In fact I remarked to Cheryl yesterday evening on our way home from a funeral in Louisiana, how far north in the sky the sun is now!) In different seasons, the sunlight hits us from a different angle. Even in the course of a given day, the position of the sun relative to us changes. You can watch the shadow that it casts move during the day – that’s how a sundial works! The sun is a great gift; it’s a great good – but it does have some variations and changes.

But James says here that the MAKER of the lights, “The Father of Lights”, God Himself, He never changes! He is always the same – He always IS good, and He always GIVES what is good.

Many people are fond of saying, “God is good” whenever they get good news: if the dreaded medical test is negative, they’ll report: “God is good!” If they make the sale, they triumphantly announce, “God is good!”. If they win the game, they tell the reporter “God is good” – and He IS! In all of those times, God IS good!

But what we sometimes fail to recognize is that God is good even when those things DON’T happen for us; God is still good! God is still good when the news is bad; God is still good when we do have cancer; God is still good when we lose the game; God is still good when we suffer setbacks; God is still good when we don’t get the job or when we are not given the promotion. God is still good then, too! As Habakkuk 3:17-18 taught us: “Though the fig tree should not blossom and there be no fruit on the vines, though the yield of the olive should fail and the fields produce no food, thought the flock should be cut off from the fold and there be no cattle in the stalls, YET I will exult in the Lord” — because God is still good in those times! From the ash heap of his sufferings, Job still proclaimed: “The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away, blessed be the name of the Lord!” (Job 1:21) God is always good! He is the giver of every good and perfect gift, and there is NO CHANGE in Him.

Because He does not change, God is the One thing you can absolutely count on in this life. People can be fickle in their attitudes towards you: they may love you one day, and hate you the next; they may cheer you one day, and jeer you the next; they may smile at you in person, and stab you in the back in private. But you can count on the fact that God will always be the same towards you. He never changes. He is always holy; He is always good; He is always loving; and He always gives good. “There is no variation or shifting shadow” in Him. As the Psalm says, He IS good, and DOES good — and He never, ever changes.

But of all the good things God has given, there is one greatest gift:

II. God’s Greatest Gift
:18 “In the exercise of His will He brought us forth by the word of truth, that we might be, as it were, a kind of first fruits among His creation.”

Verse 18 is referring to God’s gift of salvation, the greatest gift He has given us. As we mentioned a few moments ago, none of us are innately “good”; all of us have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, Romans 3:23 says. But “God so loved the world that He gave …” that’s the greatest gift – the gift of salvation through faith in Jesus’ death on the cross for us. Verse 18 here tells us several things about this great gift:

A) God desires to give us His greatest gift.
:18 says “in the exercise of His will”. This teaches us that we did not come up with the plan of salvation, God did. Salvation was “in the exercise of HIS will.” He planned it; He purposed it — and He carried it out. We can’t change a person’s life, only God can. But “in the exercise of His will” – because He desired to do so, God brought us salvation through Jesus Christ. Because it is God’s character that He IS good, and does good, He loved us, and didn’t want us to bear the consequences of our sin in hell and judgment forever, so He sent Jesus to die for us on the cross so that we could be saved.

And because God is good, and does good, His will is for everyone to be saved:
— II Peter 3:9 says, “The Lord is … not wishing that any should perish, but for all to come to repentance.” The word “wishing” in that verse is the same Greek word, “thelema,” that’s used here in James 1:18 where it says, “in the exercise of His WILL.” II Peter says that God’s will is for no one to perish but for all to be saved.
— I Timothy 2:4 says our Savior “desires all men to be saved, and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” Again, the word “desires” there is the same Greek word, “thelema”, or “will”, that is used here in James 1:18.

Because God is good, He desires good for all men, and He wills for all to be saved. Whoever you are, you can thank God that means YOU! God does not want you to suffer, eternally separated away from His presence forever. He desires for you to be saved; He wants for you to receive His greatest gift: “to dwell in the house of the Lord forever” in heaven.

B) God’s greatest gift comes in a new birth: :18 says “He brought us forth”.

This phrase “brought us forth” is a term that refers to giving birth. In fact, it’s the same Greek Bible word which was used in :15, where it says that our sin “brings forth” death. So James shows us a contrast here: Our sin gives birth to death; but God gives us a new birth, that leads to eternal life.

This is the doctrine of regeneration, that God “gives birth” to a new life in those who are saved. This is what Jesus called being “born again” in John Chapter 3. Jesus told the Jewish teacher Nicodemus, who came to Him one night asking Him questions: “Truly, truly I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” This is such a significant statement. Here was this VERY religious man; respected among the Jews. And yet Jesus told this very respected, very religious man, that if he was not born again, he would never see heaven! What does that tell you and me? If that highly respected Jewish teacher was not going to heaven unless he was born again, none of US will either! Jesus re-emphasized that in :7, when He said: “You MUST be born again.”

So the most important question for each of us, then, is “Have you been born again?” How do we know; how does that happen? A person is “born again” when the Spirit of God comes into their life and makes them “new” on the inside. That’s what happens when a person is saved. Becoming a Christian isn’t just a matter of “turning over a new leaf” or “reforming yourself” or “getting religion.” James 1:13-15 taught us that since the time of Adam, we all have this “sin nature” inside us, which inclines every one of us to sin. We can’t change that, no matter how hard we try. We will never be truly different until the Spirit of God comes into our lives and changes us “from the inside out.” THAT is what it means to be “born again.” Being “born again” by the Spirit of God is what some of us right here need today. You have already tried to be “religious”, but it didn’t work. You’ve already tried to “reform” yourself and “turn over a new leaf” — but you couldn’t do it. That’s because religious works and deeds can never change you. It’s just like Jesus said: “You must be born again.” You can only receive God’s greatest gift of salvation when you are born again by the Spirit of God. 

C) God’s Greatest Gift comes through the gospel message:

How does being “born again” happen? James says it is “BY the word of truth.” In the Greek this is what they call the “instrumental” case, which means “the word of truth” is the “instrument” God uses to bring about our salvation. “The word of truth” is the gospel message: the message that Jesus died on the cross for our sins, and rose again to be the living Savior & Lord of whoever would repent of their sins and turn to Him. It is through this message that God accomplishes salvation. God does not just randomly “zap” people from above and make them born again; we don’t just look up and meditate on the stars and end up with salvation somehow. No, God saves people when people hear “the word of truth,” the gospel, and believe it.

Our daughter Libby’s husband, Joshua Breland, lived his early adult life in rebellion against God, and his rebellion expressed itself in the form of many of the typical sins of those who have turned away from God. But one day while he was driving from college in Colorado back to his home in Louisiana, he was scanning through the channels of the radio, and he “just so happened” upon a gospel message by California pastor John MacArthur. As MacArthur shared that sermon, God’s Spirit touched Josh’s heart with the message, he received it, and that day he was born again. As a result, his life was totally changed. He went from rock-‘n-roll, drinking and drugs, to study in a Baptist college to train for the ministry. Today he leads our daughter Libby and their three girls in serving the Lord. He is in the process of becoming a elder, one of the pastor/leaders of their large church in Austin. Josh’s life was totally changed. But the instrument God used to change his life was “the word of truth” that he heard on the radio that day, which brought about his salvation.

That same kind of thing happens in each person who is genuinely saved. Ephesians 1:13 says, “In Him you also, after listening to the message of the truth, the gospel of your salvation, having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise.” Paul says the Ephesians heard the gospel message, they believed it, and the Holy Spirit of God came into their hearts, and they were born again. That is what happens in the life of every person who is born again: they hear the message, they believe it, and they are saved.

God may have brought some of us right here in this room today, to hear this very message, so that this could happen to you: so you could hear the “word of truth” of salvation through Jesus Christ, and be saved. You have heard this message today. You know the truth. Now you have the opportunity to respond to it. If you will, God’s Spirit will come into your heart, and you will be born again, and you will receive God’s greatest gift today: the gift of eternal life in the presence of God in glory forever.

CONCLUSION:
All of this is an expression of God’s goodness. Salvation does not come to us because we are good. Salvation comes to us because GOD is good!

In just a few minutes, many of us are going to be presenting Bro. Kyle with some love gifts, in gratitude for his service here with us over the past ten years. As I was thinking about that, I was reminded of the time a church gave me a very generous gift. Afterwards, someone come up to me and said, “Bro. Shawn, you deserve this.” I said, no; I did not “deserve” it at all; rather the church was very gracious to give it to me. And I absolutely believed that. I didn’t get that gift because I was so good; I got that gift because the church was so good; they gave me what I did not deserve!

And we need to understand that the same thing is true of our salvation too. The thing that makes so many people stumble in regard to salvation is that they think they have to earn it, and so they spend their whole lives trying to “be good enough” to deserve heaven. Many people think that’s what Christianity is: be a good person, and you’ll get to heaven. But the Bible makes it clear: you can’t earn salvation that way. Ephesians 2:9 says “it is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast.”

What that’s saying is that you don’t get salvation because YOU are so good; you get salvation because GOD is so good; that He loved you, and sent Jesus to die for you, and He has sent His word through His messengers to offer you this gift.

But just like with any gift, you have to decide if you will receive it. If someone extends their hand with a gift for you, you have a choice to make: will you reach out and take it — or not? 

And It’s the same with God’s gift of salvation. God is extending to you today the gift of eternal salvation. He holds it out to you like a gift in His hand. Now you now must make a choice: you can choose to ignore that gift, and keep going the direction you are going now, or you can choose to receive the gift of a brand new life here on earth, and an eternal home in heaven with God. Romans 6:23 says, “The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” If you will receive His word of salvation, then you will be “born again”, and God will give you the greatest gift that He has to offer: the gift of eternal life with Him forever in glory!