Reading Ramblings: The dreadful Goodness of God

   I'm currently reading through C.S. Lewis' Space Trilogy and I just started the second book (Perelandra)
when  a particular scene caught my attention. Lewis (who has actually placed himself in the story) is talking about when he first came in contact with a being from another planet called an eldil. Here is his description of the sensation felt upon meeting this creature;
    "I felt sure that the creature was what we call 'good,' but I wasnt sure whether I liked 'goodness' so much as I had supposed. This is a very terrible experience. As long as what you are afraid of is something evil, you may still hope that the good will come to your rescue. But suppose that you struggle through to the good to find that it also is dreadful? How if food itself turns out to be the very thing you can't eat, and home the very place you can't live, and your very comforter the person who makes you uncomfortable? Then, indeed, there is no rescue possible: the last card had been played" Th narrator then goes on to talk about how in that momment he wanted the one thing he thought he desired to go away
     I went back and read that particular part more than a few times with one thought that seemed to grow progressively larger with each reading; This explains the gulf between God and man.  Most people who believe that God exists also come to the conclusion that He is good; but what do they mean when they say God is good? Usually it means little more than "God is there to give me what I want and to make sure nothing bad ever happens to me". Most people view God as this cosmic grandpa whos only job is to spoil us and look the other way when we act up. But the truth is that God is a dreadfully good God and when people hear that they aren't so sure they like God anymore.
     What do I mean by God is dreadfully good? To say it in Bible talk would be to say that God is a Holy God; He is good on a level that humans could never even dream to attain on our own. He doesn't just act good or sometimes does good, He is the definition of good and everything He does is Good. As a direct result of God being the definition of good, He would most naturally hate anything that is bad. This means, of course, that God hates sin. Not just one sin, not just the sins that we rate worse than others but all sin. And because He hates sin, He cannot allow it to go unpunished. This is what it means to have a dreadfully good God; and when faced with that kind of God most people fight back.
     At this point you may be asking "who in their right mind would fight perfect goodness?" and my answer to you would be read the Gospels. Jesus came as the personification of Goodness. He was God in flesh and as such lived a perfect; completley sinless, the only truly good life that has ever been lived and what did mankind do to Him? Bow before Him? Worship Him? Give Him the honor and glory that is by all rights his? No, they rejected Him, Reviled Him, Hated Him, tortured Him and eventually Killed Him. Man kind came face to face with all of God's goodnes dewlling in flesh and because of the wretchedness of their hearts, they tried to stomp it out. Christs perfection showed them by contrast their imperfection, and they did not like what they saw. Try as they might they could find no fault in Him and this only made them hate Him worse. Had He been like them; had He been capable of telling a white lie every once in awhile or maybe snubbing the poor then they would have been ok with Him. But because He was constantly and consistently perfect and without flaw they hated Him and eventually they killed Him. But there was one thing they didnt count on; Thats exactly why He came.
      Jesus' death was the only solution to our sin problem. He presented Himself as a perfect sacrifice before God so that mankind would be reconciled to Him. He died, taking upon Himself the sins of the world and suffering the Holy wrath of God so that we could be free and made a new creation in Him. And a wonderful thing happens when one submits to this truth and commit himself to God the Father through the shed blood of His Son Jesus Christ, his eyes are opened and he realizes that the dreadful Goodness of God is exactly what he needs.