God's Perfect Gift

 James 1:17

 Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows

 

 

James is contrasting God's nature with our nature in ...previous verses. Where as we are fickle, God never changes. He gives good (earthly) and perfect (heavenly) gifts to us. Sometimes we see God giving only heavenly gifts - salvation, guidance, peace. But he also gives earthly gifts - prosperity, success, favor. James balances the earthly and the heavenly when He refers to God as the Father of the heavenly lights, which were seen as trustworthy navigation tools. We may want to exploit the earthly gifts, or only emphasize the heavenly gifts, but our heavenly guide will use all of these gifts to transform us. The God who does not change uses good and perfect gifts to mold us into the children that will change the earth.

Prefect Gift

The first expression emphasizes the goodness of receiving something from God, which the second, the perfect quality of whatever God's giving is continuously good, and His gift is always perfect. Whether of nature, providence, or grace, and especially the latter; spiritual gifts given along with Christ, or spiritual blessings in him; every such gift is; the "best" gift; better than those which only relate to the present life: and is "perfect" such as the gifts of righteousness, remission of sins, adoption, regeneration, and eternal life.


The Jews say, that the good things of this world are not truly good, in comparison of the good things of the world to come, and are not, "a perfect good." And every such an one is from above; is not from a man's himself, but from the creature, or from below, but from heaven, and from Father God who dwells there: God the Father is the author of lights; of all corporeal light; as the sun, moon, and stars; of all natural, rational, and moral light, in angels and men; of all spiritual light, or the light of grace in regenerate persons; and of eternal light, the light of glory in the spirits of just then made perfect God, who is light itself, and in him is no darkness at all, there is no change, nor anything like it; he is changeable in his nature, perfections, purposes, promises, and gifts; wherefore he being holy, cannot turn to that which is evil; nor can he, who is the fountain of light, be the cause of darkness, or admit of any in him; and since every good and perfect gift comes from him, evil cannot proceed from him, nor can he tempt any to it.