Immutable and why that matters!

Immutable -not capable of or susceptible to change.

Not susceptible to change. That is our God! For my birthday my family gave me the book "Holy, Holy, Holy, Proclaiming the Perfections of God". I haven't read the whole book yet because I have several books I'm reading, but I have read the first chapter. In this chapter it talks about one of the methods used to describe the character of God called Negation. Negation defines something by saying what it is not. One of the characteristic of God that it describes there is his immutability. Where we change and are in a constant form of change, God does not change. He will not change, he cannot change.

Numbers 23:19

God is not man, that he should lie,
or a son of man, that he should change his mind.
Has he said, and will he not do it?
Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?

1 Samuel 15:29

And also the Glory of Israel will not lie or have regret,
for he is not a man, that he should have regret."

Job 23:13

But he is unchangeable, and who can turn him back?
What he desires, that he does.

Psalms 33:11

The counsel of the LORD stands forever,
the plans of his heart to all generations.

So what does it mean for us that God does not change?

1. It means what he has said down through history still stands. God speaks over and over again in scripture about his covenants. His covenant with Abraham was forever. Therefore since God does not change that covenant is still in effect. The Children of Israel are still his chosen people. The only difference is that through Christ (and only through Christ) we gentiles have been grafted into that chosen line.
2. It means that the God of the O.T. is still the God today. So many people today say that the Bible is no longer relevant. The words written over 2000 years ago cannot and do not hold up today. Oh, but God never changes, so his word that he used men to write still is valid today. What he meant to say back in Genesis, still holds true for the world in 2010 and beyond. God is Omniscient:

having infinite awareness, understanding, and insight
2 : possessed of universal or complete knowledge

this means that God has known since before time what 2010 would be like. He is not surprised by the evil that has come down through the ages. His Word was and always will be complete and relevant. Those that believe otherwise DO NOT know the True Sovereign God.

3. In the O.T. God shows himself to us his holiness, his righteousness, his justice, his love. In the N.T. he continues to show us who he is through his son Jesus Christ. The perfect representation of God.

Hebrews 1:3
The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.

Also the following verse speaks of Christ never changing (because he is God in the flesh).

Hebrews 13:8
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.

The symmetry of scripture is amazing to me! God who is immutable has set this world in place, knowing the heart of man. He has given to those he has called a wonderful tool to know his whole character ~ The Holy Bible. Anyone who disparages even one portion of scripture, disparages the whole, for it all points to God the Father.

The conclusion for me: In this world today I see so much evil. I see so much acceptance of things that are contrary to God and scripture, even within the organized church. I get weary of pseudo Christians who are apathetic toward God and his fullness and only concentrate on the parts of Him that jive with their hedonistic lifestyle. I desire so much for not only myself but the "true Church" to WAKE UP! We need to get rid of all things that hinder (Hebrews 12:1), and there are so many things within the church that hinders the work of Christ, and rise up to be what God, who is immutable, has called us to be: living stones (1 Peter 2: 4 & 5).

RISE UP OH CHURCH OF GOD! Seek God while he may be found! Do not settle for man's idea of God, but seek him through His word. If you seek, you will find, he promises that in Matt 7:8 and Luke 11:10. He is so much more then this world could ever imagine!

HE IS IMMUTABLE!!