God himself is the supreme good

Yesterday I shared a Jonathan Edwards quote that explained the great good of the Gospel is God. He is the ultimate gift won for us by Christ when He gave his own life for us. I thought I would continue on that theme and share some quotes from Dutch theologian Herman Bavinck pertaining to the goodness of God. They come from his systematic theology Reformed Dogmatics.

• God's goodness is perfection, the sum of all goodness. "No one is good but God alone" (Mark 10:18); Luke 18:19) ... His goodness, accordingly, is one with his absolute perfection. In him, "idea" and "reality" are one. (204)

• God is the blessed One because he is at rest in the plentitude of his perfections. When God loves others, he loves himself in them ... (204, emphasis mine)

• God himself is the supreme good of all creatures, the object of every creature's desires. (204)
• Above all, God's goodness is manifested in his grace, his demonstration of voluntary, unmerited favor shown to undeserving sinners. (205)

• When God's goodness conveys not only benefits but God himself, it appears as love. (205)