The Fruit of the Goodness: Created To Do Good Works
by Daniel Burton
One of the most fundamental questions that a person asks of themselves is “Why am I here?” There are hundreds of books on the idea of self-actualization and understanding our purpose in the world. For the Christian, we are not called to any form of self-actualization, instead our purpose is defined by what we do or our actions. Instead, our purpose can only be found in the perfection and righteousness of Jesus Christ and in His goodness. Goodness is a part of the fruit of the Spirit as it is one of the more prevalent and outward characteristics of God. The call to allow our hearts to fill unto the point of overflowing from the goodness of God is a call to return to how God intended for us to live. In original intent, mankind was created to be inherently good as an image of God in the world. Yet the corruptibility and lure of sin overcame our nature, shattering the very fabric of our existence and our world. Nothing we find apart from God will satisfy our craving to understand our purpose. The world’s corruption and decay has nothing for us. Only the goodness that comes from God will show us how we were intended to be and what our purpose is in the world. We are created by God to be good and to express that same goodness in everything we do.
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
Created Good
As the Lord spoke life and being into existence, the fullness of the Trinity played a role in life’s inception. At the end of the first week of creation, God looked on all that He made and declared “It is very good.” Creation, having been spoken into existence, was declared to be good. 
Throughout the whole of scripture, though, we are reassured that only God is good. The goodness of creation, then, only finds its fulfillment in being fully connect with the Divine King. We all bear the image of God just as those around us bear that same image. Whenever we are tempted to view another person as less than ourselves, whether it be for their race, orientation, gender, or any other determinant, we hinder the Gospel of Jesus Christ. All are invited into a deepening relationship with our Heavenly Father as all are created in that same image.
Our Christian witness towards outsiders should reflect the goodness of their creation. All people should be treated with the dignity and respect that comes from being made in the image of God and having been created to be good. No one lives beyond the reach and goodness of God. Furthermore, no one is subhuman or less than others. We called to love a person with the same understanding that the grace given to us also apply to one another, even if we don’t want it to. Our response to the moral decay and filth of humanity thats seeks segregation and division, is to proclaim the goodness and purity of our God. He alone is good and He alone is calling us to himself. God created the world to be beautiful and perfect and to stand in holiness. When we claim hold of the goodness that God created for us, we will stand out from the world and display the difference a relationship with God makes on a person.
…And To Do Good
Paul, in his letter to the church in Ephesus, clarifies the purpose of mankind; we are created to do good. Our purpose doesn’t rest in feeling good or in personal satisfaction but rather to extend the goodness of God to the world. We were created to exude the perfection and righteousness of Jesus Christ through our actions and stand for what’s is right in the face of immense and unspeakable evil. Rulers, kings, and governors will rise up, hording the power and defaming the One, True God, but the Christian stands like a city of a hill as the righteousness of God shines brightly like a lighthouse calling people to return to Him.
This is precisely why the Christian mission has been inextricably tied to looking out for others, especially those who are unable to care for themselves. Caring for the lost, the broken, and the poor are all facets of our faith as it represents to the world what Christ did for us. After all, this work is not one we earn but received by grace. In seeking to do good, we stand on the foundation that it is God who does good in us and through us. His hand reaches through ours for the sake of the world to return to the goodness that God created for us all. We are called to stand for moral goodness in the world. There will be numerous times in which standing for the moral goodness will come at a price. However, with the Spirit inside of us, we can stand in the strength and goodness from God, rather than trusting in our own. One cannot stand for goodness while standing apart from God who is the ultimate goodness. In standing with God in moral purity and righteousness, we shine our light for the world to see the truth and wholeness that can only be gained from a full relationship with Jesus Christ.
For more in this series, check out The Fruit of the Spirit
