Why do Christians say, "God is good"? Because He is.
Why do people believe God is a bad God? Due to famines, wars, shootings and violence that take place every day in this world, many assume that God must be bad. They think He is allowing these events as punishment. They believe we anger Him so He sends down tornadoes, hurricanes and every bad thing to strike us.
People have gotten this impression from the Old Testament. There we see God sending a flood to wipe out the evil people of Noah's time. Though He did save those who He deemed righteous (Genesis 7).
Let's see why this took place:
In the Garden of Eden, God made a man, Adam, and woman, Eve (Genesis 1-2). He told Adam not to eat of the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. The serpent (Satan in disguise) beguiled Eve into eating of the fruit, then she gave it to Adam, who could have refused the fruit but didn't. That day they sinned. Through that act of disobedience, sin entered into this world (Genesis 3).
God is a God of justice. Just as a judge has to prosecute a criminal act, God has to prosecute sin.. However, He, also being Love, hated to see His creations suffer, so He sent His only Begotten Son, Jesus, to Earth to be born of a virgin. Mary gave birth to Jesus (Genesis 2:1). While on Earth, He grew up and went to the Cross for us(Matthew 27).
Only a sinless person could die for the sins of every human beingpast, present and future.
After being beaten and bruised, the Roman soldiers nailed Jesus to a cross. God judged Jesus, who had never sinned, for our transgressions. He put every curse of the law and all the effects of the curse, including poverty, every kind of sickness and disease, infidelity, strife and so much more on Jesus. Jesus paid the price we should have paid. He died for us (Matthew 27).
God didn't leave Him dead (Matthew 28. No, God raised Jesus from the dead, so that we might enjoy our lives to the full, until they overflow. That is how much God loves us. He did this for you, me and everyone else in this world, yet people still call Him a bad God.
Why is that? People feel that God causes people to starve in Africa, that He causes car crashes that take children's parents, that He causes tsunamis.
However sin entered this world through the act of disobedience on one man's part. When Adam sinned, he essentially handed the earth over to Satan and said, "It's yours now. Do with it as you please."
At that point, Satan became the ruler of the earth and the air. It wasn't until Jesus died that Jesus took back that authority and gave it to us (Luke 10:19).
Most of us do not know that we have that authority. We allow Satan to reek havoc on this earth even though he has no legal right to do so.
It's like a person being left an inheritance of one million dollars and then living poor, struggling in life, because he didn