Creator, Father, King #18

I am the LORD, and I do not change.

CHANGE IS OFTEN A good thing.

The change in the seasonal cycles from winter, spring, summer, and fall displays the beautiful variety of God’s creation. A baby goes through many adorable (and a few not-so-adorable!) changes on his or her way through childhood. All cars need an oil change periodically, or else the engine will break down. What student doesn’t long for a change in scenery to get out of classes and start summer break?

And for goodness’ sake—please change your underwear every day!

Yes, change is good in so many ways. But the Bible declares that God doesn’t change. In fact, God’s unchangeable nature—or his immutability—is one of the most important, and beautiful, doctrines of Scripture.

What’s It Mean?

Think about it: if God could change, that means he might not have been perfect to begin with—that there could be some room for improvement on his part, some flaw in his character. If this were the case, Christians would be worshiping a God who was only mostly good, or mostly powerful, or mostly wise. That’s a frightening thought.

If God could change, another scary possibility would exist: God could change for the worse. He theoretically could choose to do evil at some point. Or he could choose to break some of his promises.

Of course, neither of these options is true. God doesn’t change. Scripture consistently affirms this. Everything the Bible declares about him has always been true and always will be true. God has always been holy and will always be holy. All of the Lord’s plans will stand firm for eternity (Psalm 33:11).

All these truths should give you great hope. God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Human nature is fickle, but “the eternal Rock” (Isaiah 26:4) is steadfast. You can trust him because what the Bible has declared about him for thousands of years is still true today.

We serve a God who is wonderfully unchanging in his goodness, wisdom, power, and love!

Now What?

For more verses on God’s immutability, read Numbers 23:19; Psalm 102:25-27; and James 1:17.

Did You Know?

Hebrews 13:8 applies the same doctrine of immutability to Jesus when it says, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever,” affirming Jesus’ divinity as the eternal Son of God.