THE IMMUTABILITY OF GOD The Attributes of God Morning Worship, Lord s Day 17 th August, 9.30am Rev D Rudi Schwartz 1 Bible Readings Hymns/Songs New Testament: Ephesians 1:3 14 Old Testament: Malachi 2:17 3:7 1. Approach: Your steadfast love is great (Psalm 36) 2. Forgiveness of sins: And can it be that I should gain 3. Thanksgiving: May the mind of Christ my Saviour 4. Response: Have you not known, have you not heard Main Points 1.Introduction 2.God is unchangeable in his essence 3.God is unchanging in his plan and purpose 4.God is unchangeable in his promise 5.God is unchangeable in his justice and judgment 6.God is unchangeable in his love 7.Conclusion 1. Introduction My dear brothers and sisters in the Lord, One can only agree with Spurgeon when he says about the attributes of God: when we come to this master science, finding that our plumbline cannot sound its depth, and that our eagle eye cannot see its height, we turn away with the thought, that vain man would be wise, but he is like a wild donkey's colt; and with the solemn exclamation, "I am but of yesterday, and know nothing." No subject of contemplation will tend more to humble the mind, than thoughts of God. We shall be obliged to feel "Great God, how infinite are You, what worthless worms are we!" Over the last few weeks we studied some of the attributes of God. We considered his holiness, his sovereignty, his supremacy, his power, his faithfulness and his patience. It is my prayer and desire that these sermons had the effect on us that we also might say that our pride is drowned in it infinity; great God, how infinite are You, what worthless worms are we! But may it also be that the voice of the Holy 1 Feel free to quote from this text. May the Name of God be glorified.
Spirit helped us to whole heartedly commit to this immense God who revealed Himself in his Son Jesus Christ. In Hebrews 6:17 19 these words of the Lord come to us: Men swear by someone greater than themselves, and the oath confirms what is said and puts an end to all argument. Because God wanted to make the unchanging nature of his purpose very clear to the heirs of what was promised, he confirmed it with an oath. God did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope offered to us may be greatly encouraged. We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, (Hebrews 6:16 19) Another translation renders these verses as: People always use the name of someone greater than themselves when they swear. The oath proves that what they say is true, and this ends all arguing. God wanted to prove that his promise was true to those who would get what he promised. And He wanted them to understand clearly that his purposes never change, so he made an oath. These two things cannot change: God cannot lie when he makes a promise, and he cannot lie when he makes an oath. These things encourage us who came to God for safety. They give us strength to hold on to the hope we have been given. We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, sure and strong. It enters behind the curtain in the Most Holy Place in heaven, (Hebrews 6:16 19) These verses probably refer back to a verse in the Old Testament which deals with the relationship between people based on a sure promise made in the presence of God. Suppose a man asks his neighbor to keep his donkey, ox, sheep, or some other animal for him, and that animal dies, gets hurt, or is taken away, without anyone seeing what happened. That neighbor must promise before the Lord that he did not harm or kill the other man s animal, and the owner of the animal must accept his promise made before God. The neighbor does not have to pay the owner for the animal. (Exodus 22:10 12) The implication of this of course is that God is witness to the truthfulness of the promise. It would mean nothing if it was possible that God did not know about it, or that God changed his mind on what He had seen. It also means that God knows the truth and that He vindicates the one who made the promise. The one whose donkey died cannot now be angry with his neighbour, because what happened was an act of God. This then settles the dispute between them. This is exactly what our verse in Hebrews 6 wants us to understand, therefore the assurance that God made a promise first, and then He made an oath by Himself and He cannot lie when He makes an oath, and He cannot lie when He makes a promise; add to this the fact that his purposes never change, because He never changes. Number 23:19 teaches us: God is not a human being, and He will not lie. He is not a human, and He does not change his mind. What He says He will do, He does. What He promises, He makes come true. (Numbers 23:19) This means that God is unchangeable in his love, his mercy, his faithfulness, his patience, his justice, his knowledge, his sovereignty, his holiness, and all his other attributes. Let s put these things under headings so we can remember them better.
2. God is unchangeable in his essence God is not composed of any substance or material, but is spirit pure, essential, and unearthly spirit and therefore He is immutable. He remains forever the same. There are no furrows on his eternal brow. No age has made him less powerful; no years have marked Him with the mementoes of their flight; He sees ages pass, but with Him it is ever now. He is the great I AM the Great Unchangeable. (Spurgeon) But we need to understand that when Christ became man and lived with us He did not change. To understand this we need to grasp the doctrines of the Trinity, the incarnation, and the relationship of the two natures of Christ with one another. Jesus, as one person, exists with two natures. The divine nature "joined" with the human nature in the one person of Christ. The divine nature did not change at all in this "joining." The divine nature did not combine with the human nature and form a new nature called the god man nature. The two natures are "in communication" with each other and the attributes of each nature are ascribed to the single person. We believe that the Godhead participates in humanity through the incarnation of Christ, but the Godhead is not changed in anyway. Spurgeon writes: It was the same when He was a babe in the manger, as it was when He stretched the curtains of heaven; it was the same God that hung upon the cross, and whose blood flowed down in a purple river, the self same God that holds the world upon his everlasting shoulders, and bears in his hands the keys of death and hell. 3. God is unchanging in his plan and purpose Is it possible for God to begin something and not complete it? No! God is a not human; we are the works of his hands, now fallen in sin and capable of nothing more that what time and space would allow us to do. But God is above what He created. He arranged everything in his perfect mind long before He did it; and having planned it, He performs it according to that plan. He never alters it. He is not Superman He is endlessly more that what our minds can fathom. We can think that God could have said: "This must happen, and it happened and is still happening. He said: "This is my purpose," and it stands, and earth or hell cannot alter it. He said: "This is my decree," and commanded the angels, or even the rocks and the mountains to do it, and they would. Even the devil wanted to alter God s plan and purpose, but he couldn t and never will. He only does what God allows him to do. God does not alter his plans; why should He? He is Almighty, and therefore can things to his pleasure. He is the omniscient, and therefore cannot have planned wrongly. He is the everlasting God, and therefore cannot die before his plan is accomplished. We need to change our plans day after day, but He will never change his. And in his Book, the Bible, He told me that He loves me: Jesus loves me, yes I know, for the Bible tells me so! If so, it s okay with me; it is well with my soul. God said so; He will take me to Him when all of this is done on earth. Nothing will pluck me out of his hand, because it can t. 4. God is unchangeable in his promises I once again quote Spurgeon: If I thought that God's promises would never be fulfilled if I thought that God would see it right to alter some word in his promises farewell Scriptures! I want immutable things: and I find that I have immutable promises when I turn to the Bible: for, "by two immutable things
in which it is impossible for God to lie," he has signed, confirmed, and sealed every one of his promises. Someone asked a black man, a believer in the promises of God, "I can't think how it is you are always so happy in the Lord and I am often downcast." "Why Massa," said he, "I throw myself flat down on the promise there I lie; you stand on the promise you have a little to do with it, and down you go when the wind comes, and then you cry, 'Oh! I am down;' whereas I go flat on the promise at once, and that is why I fear no fall." May God give all of us such a faith to just trust God and let go of our anxieties. What He said, He will do. 5. God is unchangeable in his justice and judgment We have touched on this aspect of the attributes of God some weeks ago, but let s just say it again: He who does not believe that God IS, stands condemned. That is a decree, and a statute that can never change. We might think that good people will go to heaven, or that moral people will inherit eternity with God, or honest people might make it into heaven, or the upright the unchangeable judgment will remain: he who does not believe that God is, stands condemned. Presidential candidate Barak Obama recently said that he believes his mother, Ann, is in heaven; she was a wonderful person, but she did not believe in Christ. "I think she believed in a higher power," he says. "She believed in the fundamental order and goodness of the universe. She would have been very comfortable with Einstein's idea that God doesn't play dice. But I think she was very suspicious of the notion that one particular organized religion offered one truth." Once again the words of Spurgeon: And when a thousand years of hell's torments shall have passed away, you shall look on high, and see written in burning letters of fire, "He that believeth not shall be damned." And when a million ages have rolled away, and you are exhausted by your pains and agonies, you shall turn up your eye and still read "SHALL BE DAMNED," unchanged, unaltered. And when you shall have thought that eternity must have spun out its last thread that every particle of that which we call eternity, must have run out, you shall still see it written up there, "SHALL BE DAMNED." Anton Thorn, someone who published and article on his website 2 and writes about the unchanging attribute of God: Christians believe that [a] their God is "unchanging." They also believe that [b] their God is jealous, as mentioned explicitly in Exodus 20:5, and that [c] their God is also full of wrath and anger (numerous citations can be found in the Bible which support this). 3 If the Christian believes [a], [b] and [c] above, then according to them their God must always be jealous, angry and wrathful (i.e., God must be pretty miserable.) Now, what about when the believer gets to heaven? Since God's nature does not change, and God is both jealous as well as angry and wrathful, what will God do with these unquenchable characteristics, jealousy, wrath and anger? Since all the sinners have already been damned to hell for eternity, and there can be no suffering greater than hell, God will necessarily need to find new objects for his vicious character traits. What is left for God to do? Certainly, any human being in this predicament would ultimately kill himself. But can God self annihilate? This, apologists would say, would contradict his 2 http://www.geocities.com/athens/sparta/1019/unchanging_god.htm 3 One just wonder why our friend believes certain verses of the Bible and others not.
nature, and this God cannot do, they'd claim. Notwithstanding, God could learn from unquenchably miserable men and decide that suicide is the best option, and he'd only have to do it once, if he were successful. Barring this, if God could not self terminate, he would end up spending eternity in an unending, crescending misery, a misery which knows no end, and offers no relief. By the mystic's own descriptions of God, which are intended to protect God from the critical scrutiny of non believers and skeptics, the mystic has created a God who is already in the hell of its own making, a hell that never forgives, that never gives up its prisoners. Such is the end of a jealous God. In the light of what we already heard from the Bible regarding God s unchanging judgment and justice, one might think that this Anton Thorn is absolutely right. And there might be more with this miserable and dejected view of God and the Gospel. Thorn is right when he says, there can be no suffering greater than hell. Where Thorn is so terribly wrong, and we can only pray that the Spirit of God would open his eyes to this truth, is that the all wise God never learns from man, who is indeed miserable in sin and therefore unable to help himself. No one is trying to protect God who is already in the hell of its own making, a hell that never forgives, that never gives up its prisoners. But what is the alternative? What do we need to tell people like Anton Thorn? We need to tell them the other side of the story. In his whole argument, Mr Thorn never refers to Christ. That is the other side of the story. 6. God is unchangeable in his love God is indeed jealous, full of justice and full of righteousness. But He is unchangeable in his love for those whom He justified in his Son. Yes, we are miserable and without hope, dead in our sin, deserving the justice and wrath of the jealous God who never changes. But God sent his Son Jesus Christ to satisfy his justice and righteousness. He indeed did not turn a blind eye to sin, but He dealt with it. He paid for it with his life. God holiness demands that we must be holy and blameless in his sight, but we don t have it and we can t generate it. In God s Son we receive it by faith, because He took the penalty of sin upon Him and shielded away the wrath of God upon us. We have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins in accordance with the riches of God s grace. This God purposed in Christ, in whom we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of Him who works out everything in accordance with the purpose of his will. Because of this, we have the unchanging promise of God s love in Jesus Christ. For us who believe there is an eternity in the presence of God to bask and rejoice in his grace into eternity. So, Mr Thorn, God s jealousy, wrath and anger was met in Christ who made us fit for heaven. And in heaven there is no wrath and jealousy. But you are right, Mr Thorn, without Christ there is only condemnation, because God s jealousy and wrath and anger never cease upon those who do not believe on the Son of his grace. But those who believe on Jesus Christ, embrace his righteousness, plead before the throne of God in the blood of the Son, they have the eternal promise of the never ending, never changing love of God.
7. Conclusion My dear brothers and sisters in the Lord, I just want to come back to the verse in Exodus 22 and Hebrews 6: God has entrusted to us more than a donkey He has given us life itself. We lost it in sin. Christ came to seek and save the lost, and He took their punishment on Him his death and resurrection satisfies God the Father. He intercedes for us. His word is good in the sight of God and it stands into all eternity. We were given grace, life, our very existence. He will hold us accountable for it his justice demands it. How can we escape his justice? Only by embracing his promise which cannot be changed as it is fulfilled in Jesus Christ, our High Priest who has gone into the presence of God. This is the Gospel: Amen. These two things cannot change: God cannot lie when He makes a promise, and He cannot lie when He makes an oath. These things encourage us who came to God for safety. They give us strength to hold on to the hope we have been given. We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, sure and strong. It enters behind the curtain in the Most Holy Place in heaven, where Jesus has gone ahead of us and for us. He has become the high priest forever, a priest like Melchizedek. (Hebrews 6:18 20)