The theological term for God not changing is immutable: All that God
is, He has always been. All that He has been and is, He will ever be. He cannot
change because He is perfect and will remain perfect.
Today, read scripture, comments, and songs about God’s unchanging nature.
"In the beginning you made the
earth secure.
You placed it on its foundations.
Your hands created the heavens.
26 They will pass away. But you will remain.
They will all wear out like a piece of clothing.
You will make them like clothes
that are taken off and thrown away.
27 But you remain the same.
Your years will never end.
28 Our children will live with you.
Their sons and daughters will be safe in your care." (Psalm 102:25-28)
You placed it on its foundations.
Your hands created the heavens.
26 They will pass away. But you will remain.
They will all wear out like a piece of clothing.
You will make them like clothes
that are taken off and thrown away.
27 But you remain the same.
Your years will never end.
28 Our children will live with you.
Their sons and daughters will be safe in your care." (Psalm 102:25-28)
GREAT IS THY FAITHFULNESS
Great is Thy faithfulness, O God my
Father;
There is no shadow of turning with Thee;
Thou changest not, Thy compassions, they fail not;
As Thou hast been, Thou forever will be.
There is no shadow of turning with Thee;
Thou changest not, Thy compassions, they fail not;
As Thou hast been, Thou forever will be.
Sung
by Cece Winans
“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today, yes and forever
(Hebrews 13:8).
“Every good thing bestowed and every perfect gift is from above,
coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation, or
shifting shadow.” (James 1:17).
J. I. Packer, in his excellent book, Knowing God,
includes a chapter on the immutability of God, where he emphasizes the
relevance of this attribute to our lives as Christians:
“Where is the sense of distance and difference, then, between
believers in Bible time and ourselves? It is excluded. On what grounds? On the
grounds that God does not change. Fellowship with Him, trust in His word,
living by faith, ‘standing on the promises of God’, are essentially the same
realities for us today as they were for Old and New Testament believers. This
thought brings comfort as we enter into the perplexities of each day: amid all
the changes and uncertainties of life in a nuclear age, God and His Christ
remain the same—almighty to save. But the thought brings a searching challenge
too. If our God is the same as the God of New Testament believers, how can we
justify ourselves in resting content with an experience of communion with Him,
and a level of Christian conduct, that falls so far below theirs? If God is
the same, this is not an issue that any one of us can evade.”
Unchanging by Chris
Tomlin
The immutability of God appears in its
most perfect beauty when viewed against the mutability of men. In God no change
is possible; in men change is impossible to escape. Neither the man is fixed
nor his world, and he and it are in constant flux.
Tozer
adds that...
If God is self-existent, He must be
also self-sufficient; and if He has power, He, being infinite, must have all
power. If He possesses knowledge, His infinitude assures us that He possesses
all knowledge. Similarly, His immutability presuppose His faithfulness. If He
is unchanging, it follows that He could not be unfaithful, since that would
require Him to change. Any failure within the divine character would argue
imperfection and, since God is perfect, it could not occur. Thus the attributes
explain each other and prove that they are but glimpses the mind enjoys of the
absolutely perfect Godhead.
Praise, My Soul, The King Of Heaven
By Henry Lyte
1. Praise, my soul, the King of heaven;
To His feet thy tribute bring.
Ransomed, healed, restored, forgiven,
Who like me His praise should sing?
Praise Him, praise Him,
praise Him, praise Him,
Praise the everlasting King.
To His feet thy tribute bring.
Ransomed, healed, restored, forgiven,
Who like me His praise should sing?
Praise Him, praise Him,
praise Him, praise Him,
Praise the everlasting King.
3. Frail as summer’s flower we flourish
Blows the wind and it is gone
But while mortals rise and perish
God endures unchanging on
Praise Him, praise Him,
praise Him, praise Him,
Praise the high eternal One
Blows the wind and it is gone
But while mortals rise and perish
God endures unchanging on
Praise Him, praise Him,
praise Him, praise Him,
Praise the high eternal One
KEEP THOU MY WAY
By Fanny Crosby
Keep Thou my way, O Lord, be Thou ever
nigh;
Strong is Thy mighty arm, weak and frail am I;
Then, my unchanging Friend, on Thee, my hopes depend,
Till life’s brief day shall end, be Thou ever nigh.
Strong is Thy mighty arm, weak and frail am I;
Then, my unchanging Friend, on Thee, my hopes depend,
Till life’s brief day shall end, be Thou ever nigh.
The Tender love the Father has
(From
Psa. 103:13–18, The Psalter, 1912)
Music: Charles H. Gabriel (1856-1932)
Unchanging
is the love of God,
From age to age the same,
Displayed to all who do his will
And reverence his Name.
From age to age the same,
Displayed to all who do his will
And reverence his Name.
God is not affected by our mutability;
our changes do not alter him. When we are restless, he remains serene and calm;
when we are low, selfish, mean, or dispirited, he is still the unalterable I
Am. The same yesterday, today, and forever, in whom is no variableness, neither
shadow of turning. What God is in himself, not what we may chance to feel him
in this or that moment to be, that is our hope.
God may change our circumstances, but
our circumstances never change God.--John Blanchard
The immutability
of God's holy character is itself the absolute and the final court of morality.
--Os Guinness
The unchangeableness of the divine purposes is a necessary consequence of the unchangeableness of the divine nature.--Johann Keil
God is the most obligated being that there is. He is obligated by his own nature. He is infinite in his wisdom; therefore he can never do anything that is unwise. He is infinite in his justice; therefore he can never do anything that is unjust. He is infinite in his goodness; therefore he can never do anything that is not good. He is infinite in his truth; therefore it is impossible that he should lie.--J. Gresham Machen
God cannot change for the better, for He is perfect; and being perfect, He cannot change for the worse--A. W. Pink
The unchangeableness of the divine purposes is a necessary consequence of the unchangeableness of the divine nature.--Johann Keil
God is the most obligated being that there is. He is obligated by his own nature. He is infinite in his wisdom; therefore he can never do anything that is unwise. He is infinite in his justice; therefore he can never do anything that is unjust. He is infinite in his goodness; therefore he can never do anything that is not good. He is infinite in his truth; therefore it is impossible that he should lie.--J. Gresham Machen
God cannot change for the better, for He is perfect; and being perfect, He cannot change for the worse--A. W. Pink
We have an
unchanging Gospel, which is not today green grass and tomorrow dry hay; but
always the abiding truth of the immutable Jehovah. --C. H. Spurgeon
Standing, as it
were, at the world's end, at the grave's mouth, and at hell's door, the cross
of Jesus reveals love to the utmost end, and is a grand display of the
immutability and invincibility of the affection of the heart of Jesus. -- C H
Spurgeon
Below is the account of a place I visited this when I was a boy: Reversing Falls Rapids:
"An
unusual phenomenon can be seen at the Bay of Fundy on the eastern coast of
Canada. Near the mouth of the St. John River, where it flows into the bay, are
the Reversing Falls Rapids. They are created by the rise and fall of the
extreme tides in the Bay of Fundy, and the flow of water from the St. John
River.
At low tide the river flows in thundering rapids out to the sea. But at high tide that great current is changed and water surges upstream, reversing the flow of the falls. In the period of time when the tide is slack and the river and bay are at equal levels, that mighty torrent appears as calm as a mill pond.
At low tide the river flows in thundering rapids out to the sea. But at high tide that great current is changed and water surges upstream, reversing the flow of the falls. In the period of time when the tide is slack and the river and bay are at equal levels, that mighty torrent appears as calm as a mill pond.
How like human nature are those changing tides. Our emotions and actions vary with the day—and sometimes by the hour. But this is not so with our immutable God, who has revealed Himself in His Son Jesus Christ. His truth, grace, mercy, and love for us remain constant".—P R. Van Gorder
IF YOU WILL ONLY LET GOD GUIDE YOU
by Georg
Neumark
If
you will only let God guide you,
And hope in Him through all your ways,
Whatever comes, He’ll stand beside you,
To bear you through the evil days;
Who trusts in God’s unchanging love
Builds on the Rock that cannot move.
And hope in Him through all your ways,
Whatever comes, He’ll stand beside you,
To bear you through the evil days;
Who trusts in God’s unchanging love
Builds on the Rock that cannot move.
Hold To God’s
Unchanging Hand
By
Franklin L. Eiland
Naught on earth unmoved can stand.
Build your hope on things eternal,
Hold to God's unchanging hand.
CHORUS:
Hold to His hand, God's unchanging hand.
Hold to His hand, God's unchanging hand.
Build your hope on things eternal,
Hold to God's unchanging hand.
Trust in Him who will not leave you,
Whatsoever years may bring.
If by earthly friends forsaken,
Still more closely to Him cling.
Trust not in this world's vain riches
That so rapidly decay.
Seek to gain the Heavenly treasure
That will never pass away.
Hold to God's Unchanging Hand - Lindell Cooley
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