*OUR UNCHANGING GOD James 1:17

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1 *OUR UNCHANGING GOD James 1:17 Page 1 of 5 In our world, we live with constant change. Technology has brought rapid change. As soon as I got used to Windows 7, they came out with Windows 8, just to add stress to my life. How many of you struggle to keep up with changing technology? *How many of you have quit trying? Technology is not the only thing that is changing in our world. The social standards and values are changing rapidly. Even the laws of our country are changing. Things that were once illegal are now legal. The way our society thinks and acts is changing rapidly. The rapid rise of terrorism is taking away our sense of security. *Now you ve got cowboys wandering around the streets of Texas carrying guns. Well, I guess some things don t change. The more change we experience, the more stress it creates in our lives. People in our world are looking for stability, security, and permanence. *We find the answer in James 1:17 Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. NIV We find stability, security, and permanence in a relationship with the God who never changes! We're in a series called Getting to know God. Today we are looking at what theologians call the immutability of God. That simply means God never changes. *Look at Malachi 3:6 "I the Lord do not change. NIV God is always the same. He always has been; He always will be. Because He is perfect, He can't get better and He can't get worse. He never changes. *Have you noticed that People constantly change. Have you looked in the mirror lately? Things are not what they used to be. There are three important areas of God s unchanging nature we need to understand and embrace in order to have stability, security and permanence in our life. *1. GOD'S LOVE FOR ME NEVER CHANGES. You and I need to be reminded of that often. Look at what God says to you in *Jeremiah 31:3, "I have loved you with an everlasting love; NIV

2 Page 2 of 5 You were created to be loved by God. God's love is consistent and continual. God will never stop loving you. One of the reasons we get frustrated in our relationships with people is because people change. People are fickle. I have heard someone say, "He s not the man I married!" or I don t recognize my child since he became a teenager. You and I are inconsistent and unpredictable. But, God is always consistent. He always acts consistent with His unchanging character. His love never changes. No matter what happens, no matter what you do, no matter how you feel, God's love for you never changes. *Romans 8:38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. NIV We always get messed up when we doubt God's love. Even when tragedy strikes or when you pray and don't get an immediate answer or when things don't go your way, always remember God's love for you hasn't changed one bit. You can know without a doubt that God loves you. That is the stabilizing force in life. *2. GOD'S WORD NEVER CHANGES. God s commands are timeless. *Isaiah 40:8 The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God stands forever." NIV The Bible is always relevant and up to date. It is never obsolete. *ILL Anything that people write eventually becomes obsolete, and dated. Science textbooks published today are already obsolete. Books on Psychology are constantly changing. The therapies that were supposed to be the answer just a few years ago are now in disrepute or discredit all together. Man's ideas don't last. We need to build our lives on something more permanent than current fad or the ideas of people. Look at what Jesus said. *Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away. (Matthew 24:35, NIV) The universe will one day pass away, but God s Word will stand forever. That is what I call permanent.

3 Page 3 of 5 ILL There has never been any book that has been more criticized, attacked, and burned than the Bible. Yet, today all of those dictators and fanatics that attacked the Bible are all dead but the Bible stands. The Bible is still spreading around the world being translated into more languages every year. It has stood the test of time and the critics. The first five books of the Bible are over 3500 years old. *Look at Psalms 119:152 Long ago I learned from your statutes that you established them to last forever. NIV The teachings of the Bible were made to last forever. *ILL Alan Shephard, the very first American astronaut in space, was asked by a reporter just before he got into the capsule: "What is the one thing you're depending on most in this space venture?" His answer was classic, "I'm depending on the fact that God's laws never change." What if the rotation of the earth was inconsistent? What if gravity reversed every other day? Think about what would happen. When God made the universe, He established some universal laws that never change. Just as God has established the universe to operate on physical laws that never change; He has also established moral laws and spiritual laws that do not change. If we ignore them, we have chaos. ILL Do you remember when you were a kid and playing a game with a kid who kept changing the rules? Do you remember how frustrating it was? You could not win because the rules kept changing. The only way you can win in life is to play by the unchanging rules of God. God has given us His unchanging laws, commands in the Bible. They are absolutes! He has clearly spelled out what is right and wrong and His rules never change. *Look at Matthew 7:24 "Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. NIV Jesus said there are two ways to build your life. You can build it on shifting sands like, public opinion or what you read in popular magazines or you can build it on the solid rock foundation of the Bible. If you build your life on the shifting sands of human philosophy, eventually it will fall and the collapse will be horrible. The only way to have a solid foundation for your life is to embrace the Word of God and put it into practice. If you do that, your life will stand even through the storms. If you fill your mind with Scripture, you will be able to put it into practice. It does you little good to possess a Bible if the Bible is not present in your thinking. Stability in life only comes from trusting the unchanging Word of God. *3. GOD'S PURPOSE FOR MY LIFE NEVER CHANGES.

4 No matter what happens to you or around you, God s purpose for your life will never change. Page 4 of 5 *Isaiah 14:24 The Lord Almighty has sworn, "Surely, as I have planned, so it will be, and as I have purposed, so it will stand. NIV God s purposes never change. God is at work in human history to fulfill His purposes. God even uses the evil that people commit in their rebellion against God to help us realize our need of God. *Romans 8:28 in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. NIV God is the divine alchemist who is able to bring good out of evil. Notice the condition given (those who love him). It is God s purpose and plan for you and I to love Him with all our heart. *Jesus said the greatest commandment was to, Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. (Matthew 22:37, NIV) God s purpose for your life is that you love Him and obey him so that your life might be blessed by Him. This is what Jesus said about those who come to him for salvation. *John 10:10 My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life. NLT God s purpose for your life never changes but it is not automatic! You and I must respond to God s overture of love demonstrated most clearly in Christ s death on the cross for our sins. *Romans 10:9 if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. NIV God s Word never changes and therefore, God s plan of salvation never changes. Since the beginning of time and the first sin; there has been only one way to know God and that's through the Messiah. His coming was announced to the first man and woman on earth, they were told that the offspring of the woman (a reference to the Messiah) would crush the head of the serpent (a reference to Satan) (Genesis 3:15). Throughout the Old Testament every animal sacrifice was an act of faith in the Messiah. They believed He would come and take away their sins. In the New Testament when his identity was revealed, He was given the earthly name Jesus. Born of the virgin, Mary, He was the God man. Remember that Christ is the Greek word for Messiah.

5 God always had only one way for a person to be saved. Page 5 of 5 Jesus made that clear when he said, *"I am the way No one comes to the Father except through me. (John 14:6, NIV) He did not say "I am a good way, or the best way, but the way". God s purpose for your life is for you to be saved so that you might have a new heart and love him with all your heart. Challenge: *God's invitation to you has never changed. He wants you to come to Him so He can remove your sins and establish a relationship with you. You are going to experience many stressful changes in your life. How are you going to deal with them? Where are you going to find stability, security, and permanence in your life? Here are three things to remember when stressful changes occur. 1.) God will never stop loving you. 2.) God's Word never changes and is always right. 3.) God's purpose for your life is for you to Know Him and to love Him. That will never change. *Psalm 125:1 Those who trust in the Lord are steady as Mount Zion, unmoved by any circumstance. TLB That's what I call stability. Security, stability, and permanence only come from being anchored in an unchanging God. When everything around you is changing and nothing remains the same, there is one thing that never changes and that's God. The more change people experience, the more stress it creates in their lives. People all around you are looking for stability, security, and permanence. They may think they have no interest in God, but the reality is they are desperately searching for what only comes from the unchanging God we serve. Would you ask God to give you someone that you could tell about the stability, security, and permanence that Jesus Christ has brought to your life? Prayer: Help me to embrace your unchanging love for me. I ask you to forgive my sins through Jesus Christ. I commit myself to learning and obeying Your unchanging Word. I want to cooperate with Your purpose for my life. In Jesus' name. Amen.