Knowing the God Who Cannot Change- Part 1
Notes
Transcript
“To say that God is immutable is to say that He never differs from Himself.” —A.W. Tozer
“We blossom and flourish as leaves on the tree, And wither and perish, but nought changeth Thee.” —Walter Chalmers Smith
Immutability—the perfection of God which ensures that He cannot be altered—is a treasure for those who have risked everything to know and follow Him. Consider how unstable every joy in the Christian life would be if our God could change. If the God who now exists is different from the God we read of in Scripture, then studying Him would be as impractical as consulting an ancient world map for a present-day road trip. God’s immutability is the guarantee that all our labors to know and love Him are not wasted.
Finding a Working Definition of Immutability
Finding a Working Definition of Immutability
“He is subject to no change in his manner of being, his perfections, thoughts, desires, purposes, or determination.” —Timothy Dwight
The self-existing I AM does not change. His perfection is such that He cannot diminish or grow. There is no variation in His character. In fact, He has no capacity for alteration, modification, adjustment, amendment, adaption, or revision. Being perfect beyond measure, His inability to be revised or modified is an aspect of glory, not an evidence of some incompleteness in His character.
The Biblical Witness
The Biblical Witness
6 “For I the Lord do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed.
24 “O my God,” I say, “take me not away in the midst of my days— you whose years endure throughout all generations!”
25 Of old you laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands.
26 They will perish, but you will remain; they will all wear out like a garment. You will change them like a robe, and they will pass away,
27 but you are the same, and your years have no end.
8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.
16 Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers.
17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.
Implications from these passages
Implications from these passages
1. God cannot be altered in His perfections
1. God cannot be altered in His perfections
Immutability comes naturally to God. It is part of who He is. It is not, therefore, maintained by any effort on God’s part.
Immutability comes naturally to God. It is part of who He is. It is not, therefore, maintained by any effort on God’s part.
We are not immutable. We change constantly, and we have to work hard to maintain our achievements. Many of you have made new year’s resolutions to loose weight. You have to work very hard to loose those pounds, and then you have to keep working very hard to maintain all that hard work. We are in a constant state of flux and change. We age, we grow strong and weak, we get sick and well, we grow old, we have work hard to keep our promises because our minds and our intentions change constantly.
But God is effortlessly and everlastingly unchangeable. To think about this more fully we must consider how God’s immutability links to his other attributes.
8 Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.
Love is one of the invariable perfections of His character. Immutability means that God’s love is eternally unchanging. He was love when He created Adam and placed Him in paradise. He was also love when He flooded the earth in judgment. He was love when He crushed His son at the cross for our sins. He will be love on the day when Jesus judges all creation and casts His enemies down forever.
33 Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!
Wisdom is another unchanging perfection of God. God was all-wise when he fashioned the plan of salvation prior to creation. He was all-wise when He created all matter to his personal specifications. He is equally all-wise today. His wisdom has not been altered by the passage of time nor the complexity of the human condition. His wisdom has not been rivaled by emerging technology or the rapid expansion of human learning.
In an imperfect creature immutability would be a shortcoming!
In an imperfect creature immutability would be a shortcoming!
Imagine if you could not change! Imagine if you were frozen just as you are in all your imperfections, without the hope of change—forever!
When we say of a person, “he will never change,” we do not usually mean that as a compliment. We see our own imperfections and wish to fix them. But in the infinitely perfect Creator, the inability to change is a part of His glory. Imagine if God possessed every perfection that the Bible attributes to Him except immutability. How different our Christianity would be if God’s love could be shifted, His knowledge made obsolete, His purity polluted, His word broken, or His patience depleted! Thankfully, these things can never be.
Caution- When we speak of God’s immutability, we are referring to His person, not His actions.
Caution- When we speak of God’s immutability, we are referring to His person, not His actions.
Although God’s perfections are unchanging, they are not invariably expressed. For example, God is always a God who possesses wrath against sin; however, God may choose to restrain His wrath at times and express it at other times. Wrath is an immutable aspect of God’s person, but God expresses this wrath in a variety of ways.
2. God cannot be altered in His purpose
2. God cannot be altered in His purpose
3 Our God is in the heavens; he does all that he pleases.
2 “I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted.
This is good news! None of God’s purposes can be altered or changed.
4 even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love
5 he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will,
The salvation of sinners is built upon the immutable purposes and plans of God! What hope we have in the perfect unchangeable purposes and plans of God!
3. Consider the hope that is our when we realize that we can be altered
3. Consider the hope that is our when we realize that we can be altered
Have you ever wished you were immutable? Think again! If we were locked into our present state, how hopeless we would be. Even as Christians, when we look into the mirror of Scripture, we see many areas that are yet to be brought under the rule of Christ. We long to see change and plead with God to complete His work in us. It is a hope filled truth that we are not immutable. Christian, you can and will be altered daily by God’s gracious work within you until you stand before Him complete.
6 And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.
How should you praise God today because He is the one who has never known change?
“I am deeply grateful that Your unalterable will is determined to alter me to be conformed into the image of Christ!”
God’s Immutability: A Reason to Repent
God’s Immutability: A Reason to Repent
1 When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son.
2 The more they were called, the more they went away; they kept sacrificing to the Baals and burning offerings to idols.
3 Yet it was I who taught Ephraim to walk; I took them up by their arms, but they did not know that I healed them.
4 I led them with cords of kindness, with the bands of love, and I became to them as one who eases the yoke on their jaws, and I bent down to them and fed them.
5 They shall not return to the land of Egypt, but Assyria shall be their king, because they have refused to return to me.
6 The sword shall rage against their cities, consume the bars of their gates, and devour them because of their own counsels.
7 My people are bent on turning away from me, and though they call out to the Most High, he shall not raise them up at all.
8 How can I give you up, O Ephraim? How can I hand you over, O Israel? How can I make you like Admah? How can I treat you like Zeboiim? My heart recoils within me; my compassion grows warm and tender.
9 I will not execute my burning anger; I will not again destroy Ephraim; for I am God and not a man, the Holy One in your midst, and I will not come in wrath.
The Sin of Malachi’s Day
The Sin of Malachi’s Day
1. We don’t believe God loves us as He said He would
1. We don’t believe God loves us as He said He would
2 “I have loved you,” says the Lord. But you say, “How have you loved us?” “Is not Esau Jacob’s brother?” declares the Lord. “Yet I have loved Jacob
2. We don’t believe that we need to be so particular in our worship of God
2. We don’t believe that we need to be so particular in our worship of God
6 “A son honors his father, and a servant his master. If then I am a father, where is my honor? And if I am a master, where is my fear? says the Lord of hosts to you, O priests, who despise my name. But you say, ‘How have we despised your name?’
7 By offering polluted food upon my altar. But you say, ‘How have we polluted you?’ By saying that the Lord’s table may be despised.
8 When you offer blind animals in sacrifice, is that not evil? And when you offer those that are lame or sick, is that not evil? Present that to your governor; will he accept you or show you favor? says the Lord of hosts.
13 But you say, ‘What a weariness this is,’ and you snort at it, says the Lord of hosts. You bring what has been taken by violence or is lame or sick, and this you bring as your offering! Shall I accept that from your hand? says the Lord.
3. Because God is not faithful, we don’t believe it is necessary to keep faith with others. Example: Divorce
3. Because God is not faithful, we don’t believe it is necessary to keep faith with others. Example: Divorce
14 But you say, “Why does he not?” Because the Lord was witness between you and the wife of your youth, to whom you have been faithless, though she is your companion and your wife by covenant.
4. God doesn’t seem to care about good and evil anymore. Maybe He has changed His views on these things.
4. God doesn’t seem to care about good and evil anymore. Maybe He has changed His views on these things.
17 You have wearied the Lord with your words. But you say, “How have we wearied him?” By saying, “Everyone who does evil is good in the sight of the Lord, and he delights in them.” Or by asking, “Where is the God of justice?”
5. Because God doesn’t care for us, we don’t believe that we owe God anything. Example: robbing Him of tithes / giving to God in part what we owe Him in whole
5. Because God doesn’t care for us, we don’t believe that we owe God anything. Example: robbing Him of tithes / giving to God in part what we owe Him in whole
7 From the days of your fathers you have turned aside from my statutes and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you, says the Lord of hosts. But you say, ‘How shall we return?’
8 Will man rob God? Yet you are robbing me. But you say, ‘How have we robbed you?’ In your tithes and contributions.
6. Because of the way He has treated us, we think it is really useless to serve God. We will do okay without Him.
6. Because of the way He has treated us, we think it is really useless to serve God. We will do okay without Him.
13 “Your words have been hard against me, says the Lord. But you say, ‘How have we spoken against you?’
14 You have said, ‘It is vain to serve God. What is the profit of our keeping his charge or of walking as in mourning before the Lord of hosts?
15 And now we call the arrogant blessed. Evildoers not only prosper but they put God to the test and they escape.’ ”
6 “For I the Lord do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed.
7 From the days of your fathers you have turned aside from my statutes and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you, says the Lord of hosts. But you say, ‘How shall we return?’
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
4 to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you,
5 who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
6 In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials,
7 so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
8 Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory,
9 obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.
6 “For I the Lord do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed.