Posted on 02/09/2016 3:34:14 AM PST by metmom
"'Thou art the same, and Thy years will not come to an end'" (Psalm 102:27).
God never changes, so He can be trusted to do what He says.
God alone is unchanging (or as the theologians say, immutable). The psalmist says, "Even [the heavens and earth] will perish, but Thou dost endure. . . . Thou art the same, and Thy years will not come to an end" (Ps. 102:26-27). Though Israel deserved destruction for its sin, God was faithful to His covenant with Abraham, saying, "I, the Lord, do not change; therefore you, O sons of Jacob, are not consumed" (Mal. 3:6). James calls God "the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation, or shifting shadow" (1:17).
What about those verses that say God changed His mind (e.g., Amos 7:3, 6; Jonah 3:10)? Let's look at an example. Jonah warned the wicked city of Nineveh of impending judgment. The city immediately repented, and "when God saw their deeds, that they turned from their wicked way, then God relented concerning the calamity which He had declared He would bring upon them. And He did not do it" (3:10). Who changed? The people of Nineveh! God's nature to punish evil and reward good remained the same, but the object changed.
You can't blame the sun for melting the wax and hardening the clay. The problem is in the substance of the wax and clay, not in the sun. In a similar way, our standing before God determines how God acts toward us.
What does God's unchanging" To unbelievers, it means judgment. When God says, "The person who sins will die" (Ezek. 18:20) and "The wages of sin is death"(Rom. 6:23), He means it. When He says Hell is eternal (Matt. 25:46; Rev. 20:10, 13-15), then it is.
To Christians, His immutability means comfort. If He loved me in the past, He loves me now and forever. If He forgave and saved me, He did so forever. If He promised me anything, His promise stands forever. If the Bible says, "My God shall supply all your needs" (Phil. 4:19), we know the power that supplied Paul's needs is the same power that will supply ours. God told Israel, "I have loved you with an everlasting love" (Jer. 31:3), and His love for us is the same.
Suggestions for Prayer
Praise God for His immutability, and thank Him for the comfort that brings you.
For Further Study
Find some promises God makes to His children in Scripture, and ask for faith to believe them, even when belief is difficult.
Studying God’s Word ping
THANKS for posting this! I am giving my Sunday School lesson this coming Sunday (14th) on the heart...guarding our hearts. This will fit right into the study on God being the same yesterday, today and tomorrow.
THANKS for helping me fill in the grand finale of my study!
Of particular concern is the liberal Christian view, that the God of the Old Testament was cranky while the God of the New testament is kind and loving.
That is how they do away with God’s wrath towards sinners.
Yup. That’s not a very popular topic these days.
No it’s not. Our God tries to save us from our own self destruction, but that is bad.... What’s up is down and what is down is up.
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