What would it be like to be unchanging? I can hardly understand even the thought of it. I wouldn’t consider myself old, but the older I get the more I appreciate those things that are unchanging. There are just some things that I can rely on in a world where everything is in constant flux.
God is the same. He is always the same. That is what Scripture tells us over and over. And because of this, He is oftentimes compared to a rock. And I love this fact.
When I was in 5th grade I was given a piece of a cast iron skillet that was from the Civil War. It is supposed to be from a Civil War campsite. I was given this little artifact for helping the man who talked to our Middle School about the Civil War load his car after his presentation. He would likely be surprised that I still have it today wherever he is.
There is something interesting about that artifact. I am now 35 years old, and throughout these years it hasn’t changed…at least as far as I can tell.
A comparison to a rock is comparing God to something that withstands the storms of this life and doesn’t change. I wonder how many rains and storms that chunk of Cast Iron withstood before someone found it on the ground? I wonder how old the many rocks that I’ve hauled out of my parents’ yard and now my own actually are?
The point is that God Himself is unchanging. And this is good news for us.
God Will Always Be God
One of the greatest things about God being unchanging is that He is and will always be God. This will not change. He is the Lord and He does not change (Malachi 3:6). There is nothing that exists outside of Him that will cause Him to be different, or change His being.
God is never going to encounter anyone or anything that is going to change Him. He will always be God. And that is a good thing.
When I consider how this plays out in my own life it brings a bit of encouragement. God has promised good to me and I trust in Him. And I can count on Him to fulfill His promises to me because He is God and this is who He always will be.
God’s Character Will Always Be The Same
I would like to quote A.W. Pink here when he says,
“Whatever the attributes of God were before the universe was called into existence, they are precisely the same now, and will remain so forever.”-A.W. Pink, The Attributes of God, 1975, p. 47
God has always been holy. And this He will always be. He has always been righteous. And righteous He will always be. God has always been love and He will always be love (Jeremiah 31:3).
The list of God’s attributes and characteristics could go on and on and on. In fact, this series of blog posts will likely carry on for quite some time because there are many attributes of God for us to discuss. But it is important for us to know that God is unchanging.
When I think of God’s love shown to me in salvation it brings great joy. When I consider that God is unchanging and that He is not going to change His mind about me it brings even more joy. It brings assurance of life everlasting. It simply warms my soul in the midst of this unchanging world.
How many friends have I lost contact with? How many people do I know that no longer want to have anything to do with me?
This is not the case with God. He does not change. And He will not change His mind about me.
God’s Plans Never Change
I once had a friend who drove me crazy. He was constantly making us wait on him because he was always late. He would also change his mind and a whole group of us would be left waiting on him or changing where we were going. You probably have unreliable friends like this, or at least once did. God is not like that.
God’s plans never change. Again, Pink is helpful here.
One of two things causes a man to change his mind and reverse his plans: want of foresight to anticipate everything, or lack of power to execute them. But as God is both omniscient and omnipotent there is never any need for him to revise his decrees. No, “The counsel of the Lord standeth forever, the throughts of his heart to all generations” (Ps. 33:11). Therefore do we read of “the immutability of his counsel” (Heb. 6:17).-A.W. Pink, The Attributes of God, 1975, p. 48
Again, this is a great comfort to me. And I believe that it should be to you as well. God has promised me so much in His Word. There are so many precious promises that I trust in every day. And the thought of God simply changing His mind is terrifying. Yet, this is not the way of God. He is unchanging in all His ways.
Concluding Thoughts
There are a lot of people today who paint a picture of God being ever changing. They would have you believe that God is different in the New Testament than He was in the Old and that His judgments have been changing for a long time. This is simply not the case. God’s Word repeatedly tells us of God and His Word being settled forever.
This is a serious pain in the rear for many people who would like for God to be something other than He is. But for the one who is trusting in God, as He is revealed to us and not just conjured up in our minds, we can find great joy. God has promised our redemption and He will not back out on that promise. He is unchanging. He always has been and He always will be.
R. Dwain Minor
Leave a Reply