Morning Moments

Has God Changed?

[Hebrews 6:18] That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us:

The word "immutable" means unchangeable which is an attribute of deity. God, in His essence and inherent character never changes. But that is not to say that God has not or does not change the way He deals with mankind. Whether you refer to them as dispensations, stages, periods or whatever, God has dealt with man in numerous ways through time and that cannot be denied.

Another important thing for us to remember is that God did not zap us with complete revelation at once, in fact, His revelation came progressively. It is as if God said, "Okay, I will place man in this environment to see how he will function, and then another and yet another" as a scientist would do in a lab.

It is not that God did not know, but it is that man did not know. For example, when Adam and Eve sinned and hid themselves, God knew precisely where they were but He called out, "Adam, where art thou?" because Adam didn't know where he was. Man has yet to find himself outside of the knowledge of and commitment to the Lordship of Jesus Christ.

So in each period, in each different environment, man was tested and failed. If God knew all along that man would fail, would not God be ultimately responsible for man's failure? Yes, IF man had no choice in the matter, but man DOES have a choice in everything including salvation regardless of what my reformed friends teach. Scripture and common sense both teach us that it is totally inconsistent to think that we have choices about EVERYTHING in life EXCEPT salvation. Believe what you will but greater men and minds than ours have divided the body of Christ over this and God WILL hold those who divide the body responsible.

But, how then is God unchangeable? He is unchangeable in His love for His creation. He loved the world enough to send His only begotten Son and He loves the Church, which is Christ's body enough to wash it by the water of the Word and to present it a chaste virgin. He loves saints enough to chasten us when we sin, comfort us when we are sad, correct us when we are wrong, and come after us when we stray.

He is unchangeable in His purpose and plan to conform us to the image of His Son, to complete the work that He began in us who are true believers, and unchangeable in His promise to come for us that we might reign with Him in the Millennium. He is unchangeable in His plan to bring Israel to national repentance and faith and to bring judgment upon all nations which have opposed and persecuted her. He is unchangeable in His promise to bring sin, sickness, suffering, sorrow, and Satan to a complete halt and to establish righteousness in the earth.

You and I may not always see or understand what God is doing or how He is doing what He is doing, but He IS working on behalf of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose. We may not always understand wars, revolutions, revolts, and rebellions of mankind against one another, but we KNOW that Satan and sin are behind these things and we must trust God to guard and guide us. In many ways we are subjected to the results of revolting elements such as earthquakes, hurricanes, tsunamis, etc and are also sometimes subject to the results of enemies wars, conflicts, criticisms, etc., BUT our anchor HOLDS in the midst of it all because He who is in us is, was, and always shall be greater than he who is in the world.

GOD HAS NOT CHANGED! He brought Noah safely through the flood, the Jews safely through the wilderness, the Messiah safely to the cross and resurrection and will take us safely home.

BLESSINGS!