A. Let’s begin by considering this statement: Everything changes, nothing stays the same, except for God.
1. Think about how travel has changed over time:
a. When George Washington traveled from Virginia to Washington D.C. by horseback, it would take him ten days traveling at a speed of 25 miles per day.
b. The space shuttle traveled at twenty-five thousand miles per hour - at that speed you could fly from New York City to San Francisco in eight minutes.
c. With the advances in air travel it is possible to have breakfast in New York, lunch in Dallas, and dinner in Los Angeles -- and have your luggage wind up in Mexico.
2. Truly, everything changes and nothing stays the same, except for God.
3. This week I tried to wrap my brain around the way that we experience change all around us, and I marveled at the fact that nothing stays the same.
4. Our bodies go through constant change.
a. We start out so small and grow to our full size over the course of years, and then we begin our decline toward our eventual death.
b. Did you know that your brain starts shrinking at 25, your handshake starts weakening at 30, and at 40, your memory starts to slip? I’m in trouble!
c. Everything changes and nothing stays the same, except for God.
5. Our families are in constant change.
a. I was born into a family with an older sister and mom and dad, just the 4 of us.
b. Before long, 2 more girls were added, but then dad died.
c. Mom remarried a man with 4 sons, and then they had 2 more boys; you talk about change!
d. Then Diana and I got married, and we had parents and grandparents around.
e. We were blessed with three daughters, and then they grew up and gave us sons-in-law.
f. Then we were blessed with grandchildren.
g. But meanwhile, while our family was growing it was also shrinking as we began having to say good-bye to grandparents, and some of our parents, and even a few of our siblings.
h. Everything changes and nothing stays the same, except for God.
6. Our city is constantly changing around us.
a. Syracuse is called the Salt City, because it used to be our major industry, but we no longer make any salt in the Salt City.
b. GE once employed close to 30,000 people here and Carrier Corp also employed thousands.
c. Those businesses have changed and moved elsewhere, but now here comes Amazaon!
d. Even on a smaller scale our community is constantly changing – just think about the changes on Rt. 57: Kmart is now Uhaul, Breuger’s Bagel is becoming a KFC, Herb Philipson’s is now a Thrifty shopper.
e. Everything changes and nothing stays the same, except for God.
7. Technology is constantly changing our lives.
a. Snail mail to email, telephones to cellphones, radio to television to livestream, record players to 8 track tapes to cassette tapes to CD to Spotify.
b. We went from coins to dollar bills, to Venmo, to Crypto currencies.
c. Everything changes, nothing stays the same, except for God.
8. The membership of our church is constantly changing, as are our methods and ministries, but not our doctrine.
a. Our congregation began in 1941 in the city and moved out here to Liverpool in 1965, but none of us were members at that time.
b. I became a minister here 46 years after the congregation began and have been here for 34 years, and Alan grew up in our congregation, and returned to work with us 10 years ago.
c. Many ministers and members have come and gone over the years.
d. Truly, everything changes and nothing stays the same, except for God.
B. Need I say anything more to convince you how much in our lives is constantly changing?
1. And what do we think about change? Most of us don’t like change very much.
2. Someone said: “The only person who likes change is a baby with a wet diaper.”
3. In reality, must of us wish that the things we don’t like would change, and the things that we do like, would not change, but unfortunately, that’s not how life is.
4. In addition to death and taxes, there are two other constants that we must understand and embrace: (1) First, Everything changes; and (2) Second, God never changes.
5. You’ve probably caught on to our main idea for today: “Everything changes and nothing stays the same, except for God” (let’s say it together).
C. In contrast to the fact that everything else changes, our God never changes - this is a powerful and important truth.
1. During our sermon series “It’s All About God,” we have been trying to get a clearer picture of our God so that we can properly reflect who God is, just like the moon reflects the sun.
2. So far in our series, we have sought to get a glimpse of God’s glory, and to understand God’s holiness, and to understand God’s eternal nature.
3. Today, we want to focus on the fact that God never changes.
D. When we talk about the fact that God never changes, we are talking about the immutability of God.
1. Immutability - that’s an unusual word and one that we need to define carefully.
2. Most of us have heard of “mutations” - mutations are random genetic changes that produce a variation in subsequent generations.
3. Something is mutable if it is subject to change.
4. But, to be immutable means the opposite - to be unchanging and unchangeable.
5. God’s immutability means that God does not change in any way.
6. God’s immutability means that His purposes do not change, He never grows in knowledge or wisdom, and He never improves upon his own perfection.
7. We can use the word “always” to express this truth: God is always wise, always sovereign, always good, always just, always holy, always merciful, and always gracious.
8. Whatever God is, he always is.
a. There are no “sometimes” attributes of God.
b. All of His attributes are “always” attributes.
c. God always is what God is.
E. Numerous verses in the Bible teach this truth in one way or the other. Here is a sampling:
1. 1 Samuel 15:29 — “He who is the Glory of Israel does not lie or change his mind; for he is not a man, that he should change his mind.”
2. Malachi 3:6 — “I the Lord do not change.”
3. 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.”
4. Psalm 102:25-27 — “In the beginning you laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands. They will perish, but you remain; they will all wear out like a garment. Like clothing you will change them and they will be discarded. But you remain the same, and your years will never end.”
5. Hebrews 13:8 — “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.”
6. Now let’s consider several implications of God’s immutability.
F. First, Because God is immutable, God’s character does not change.
1. God is not fickle in His feelings nor changeable in His moods.
a. God never has bad days or good days.
b. He doesn’t treat us according to the whims of the moment.
c. God is always completely consistent with Himself.
2. People change in their attitude toward us.
a. A person may be grumpy in the morning and friendly at noon.
b. They may whisper gossip to us and then turn around and gossip about us.
c. All of us have been disappointed by people we felt were friends who let us down because they didn’t live up to our expectations, but God is not like people.
3. In J.I. Packer’s classic book, Knowing God, he wrote: Strain, or shock, or lobotomy, can alter the character of a person, but nothing can alter the character of God. In the course of a human life, tastes and outlook and temper may change radically; a kind, equable person may turn bitter or crotchety; a person of good will may grow cynical and callous. But nothing of this sort happens to the Creator. He never becomes less truthful, or merciful, or just, or good than he used to be. The character of God is today, and always will be, exactly what it was in Bible times. (Knowing God, p. 77-78).
4. It is so important for us to grasp this truth about God.
a. God’s character is the same today as it was in Bible times.
b. That’s why God reveals Himself as “The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob” He’s the same God to us as He was to them.
c. He’s the same God today that He was then, which means He is absolutely reliable and completely consistent in his dealings with His children.
G. Second, Because God is immutable, His Word never changes.
1. “Lord, your word is forever; it is firmly fixed in heaven.” (Psalm 119:89).
2. Unfortunately, that often is not true of your word or mine.
a. We often change our minds about things and sometimes no longer honor what we said in the past.
b. Sometimes we say things we do not mean or we say things which later prove to be wrong and which must be retracted.
3. But when God speaks it is always true.
a. God never speaks in error.
b. God never changes His mind.
c. He never said anything He was sorry for or had to take back.
d. God’s Word is settled and unchanging.
4. “The grass withers, the flower fades, But the word of our God stands forever” (Isaiah 40:8).
H. Thirdly and similarly, Because God is immutable, God’s promises do not change.
1. Unfortunately, we break our promises sometimes.
2. We say, “I’ll pick you up tomorrow at 2:30 p.m. Now you be ready because I’m coming by at exactly 2:30. I don’t mean 2:45 or 2:50. In fact, I want you to be outside when I come by because I don’t have time to wait for you.”
a. So when tomorrow comes, you stand outside and wait.
b. At 2:30 p.m. I’m nowhere to be found and twenty minutes later you’re still standing there.
c. Finally, disgusted, you go back inside.
d. When you finally get ahold of me and ask where I was, I say, “Well, sorry, I got hung up at work, or I was running late, or I had a lot to do, or something came up, or I lost your address, or I didn’t like the way you looked at me when I said be ready at 2:30 sharp.”
e. We’ve got a thousand excuses, don’t we? But God never makes excuses.
3. He never has to because he always keeps his promises.
4. Joshua 21:45 says: Not one of all the Lord’s good promises to Israel failed; every one was fulfilled.
5. “You are faithful to your promises, O my God” (Psalm 71:22)
I. Fourth and finally, Because God is immutable, God’s purposes do not change.
1. We change our plans frequently.
a. We make our list for the day and plan to do five or six key things.
b. As we get started on the first thing on the list, suddenly, we get a phone call, or one of the kids gets sick, or the boss calls an unplanned meeting.
c. So we skip number two, take a mild stab at number three, and never get around to numbers four, five and six - that’s the way life is for us, right?
2. But God’s purposes never change.
a. “The plans of the Lord stand firm forever, the purposes of his heart through all generations” (Psalm 33:11).
b. “The LORD Almighty has sworn, ‘Surely, as I have planned, so it will be, and as I have purposed, so it will stand’” (Isaiah 14:24).
J. Did you know that not everyone believes in or accepts the fact that God is immutable?
1. There are critics and skeptics who point to Scriptures that tell us that God repents or changes His mind, and say, “See, God is not immutable.”
2. So what about those verses that say God changed his mind or that God “repented?”
3. Let’s take a quick look at a couple of them.
4. One such verse is Genesis 6:6, which says that God was “sorry” he had created the pre-flood world.
a. The word in question speaks of God’s grief over man’s sin.
b. Some translations use the word “regretted.”
c. This doesn’t mean that God changed his mind or that God thought he had somehow made a mistake.
d. He knew it would happen and He knew He would be grieved by it when it happened.
4. Jonah 3:10 is often cited as an example of God changing his mind.
a. In fact, some translations use the word “repented” to describe God’s reaction to the repentance of Nineveh.
b. The NIV translates it more accurately as saying that God “relented of punishment he had threatened.”
c. God didn’t “change” his mind.
d. God had threatened Nineveh with punishment unless they repented.
e. When the people repented, God withheld the judgment He had threatened.
5. So, we might say that God is immutable, but not immobile.
a. He is stable, but not static.
b. He responds to the changing conditions on the earth and to the changes of individuals by presenting different aspects of His personality, and by following through with different aspects of His plans and promises.
c. God responds to us as we respond to him.
6. Consider how parents deal with their children.
a. When children obey, they experience their parent’s pleasure.
b. When children disobey, they face their parent’s correction.
c. When children are hurting, they feel their parent’s compassion.
d. They are always the same parents, but they respond differently according to their child’s actions and needs.
7. The same is true with God.
a. What may seem to be an inconsistency with God is often simply God displaying another aspect of His character to us, or displaying another part of His plans and promises.
b. So in the end, we must understand that although God does have different aspects to His personality, plans and promises, God does not change.
K. Let’s finish up with an important question: “So if God is immutable, then what should that mean to me?”
1. If we really want to know God, then it means everything, for a God who changes would not be worth knowing and following.
2. If God changed, then would we be able to trust Him?
a. Do you trust a friend who changes his or her attitudes or actions toward you from one day to the next? Of course not.
b. You are not going to open your heart to him, or share your feelings, or tell of your weaknesses and your needs.
c. If she is sympathetic and helpful on some occasions, but disinterested or judgmental on others, you probably will not take the chance.
d. If he keeps your intimate secrets to himself sometimes but spreads them around on other occasions, you are not going to confide in him anymore.
e. Human friends sometimes act that way, but God never changes. We can trust Him.
3. If God changed, then would we be confident to approach Him in prayer?
a. Since we know that God doesn’t change, it is a pleasure to know that whenever we approach Him, through the merits of His Son, He receives us warmly and lovingly.
b. This is one thing that makes prayer such a pleasure - we know that He is always open to our requests.
c. God never gets tired of our coming to Him.
d. In fact, He keeps inviting us to come.
e. “Call to Me, and I will answer you, and I will tell you great and mighty things, which you do not know” (Jeremiah 33:3).
f. “Ask, and it shall be given to you; seek, and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened to you” (Matthew 7:7).
g. “The eyes of the LORD are toward the righteous, And His ears are open to their cry (Psalm 84:15).
4. Someone might wonder: “What sense is there in praying to an unchangeable God? Hasn’t He already made up His mind about what He is going to do? Can our prayers change anything?”
a. We know that prayer changes things because God told us that it does.
b. What God has decided is that He will take certain actions, provide certain benefits, and give certain blessings when we come to Him in prayer.
c. James challenged us with: “You do not have because you do not ask…” (James 4:3)
d. John wrote: This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him. (1 John 5:14-15).
5. Maybe we can understand what difference prayer makes by visualizing a mother caring for her sick child.
a. Before she tucks him in bed for the night, she gives him his medicine and quietly reassures him of her presence and that she is available if he needs her.
b. She knows he will cry out to her during the night, and when the cry comes it does not change her mind about anything.
c. She responds exactly as she planned to respond and does precisely what she knew would be best for him.
d. But her help comes in answer to his request - that is the way she planned it.
e. Similarly, God’s plan is to give to us in answer to our prayers: so ask and you will receive.
L. And so, in conclusion, since God is immutable we can always count on Him.
1. God is glorious and holy and everlasting.
2. God’s Word and promises and plans never change.
4. The better we know Him as the immutable God, the more we will be able to trust Him and hold on to Him for stability and strength even when everything around us is changing.
5. This is a wonderful truth about God and it would be beneficial for us to keep it in mind, but unfortunately one of our challenges is remembering what we have learned about God when we need it most.
6. But did you know that God has given us a visible sign to help us remember His immutability?
a. That visible sign is the rainbow.
b. When Noah and his family emerged from the ark God promised them that He would never again destroy the whole earth with a flood.
c. God said, “I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth.” (Genesis 9:13).
d. God has kept His word, and has not destroyed the whole earth by water again.
7. Our God is a God of His Word.
a. He always does what He says He will do.
b. He never changes.
M. It is important that we understand that God’s immutability is both bad news and good news.
1. It is bad news for those who have not obeyed the Gospel and dedicated their lives to the Lord.
a. God will not change His mind about the seriousness of sin and the lostness of sinners.
b. God will not change His mind about how a sinner is saved through Jesus.
c. God’s immutability means that the lost are truly lost.
2. However, God’s immutability is good news for those of us who have obeyed the Gospel and are walking in faithfulness.
a. We know that God will not change his mind about saving us by grace through our faith in Jesus.
b. And we know that God will keep His promises to us.
3. And so, every time you see a rainbow remind yourself that you know the immutable God.
a. And remind yourself that a God who is unchanging in His love and kindness to you deserves your unchanging love and loyalty, and your devotion and service.
4. Everything changes and nothing stays the same, except for God
N. If we can help you take hold of God’s unchanging hand today, then we would love to help you do that.
1. If you are ready to declare your faith in Jesus, and repent and be baptized into Jesus, then we would love to assist you.
2. If you need to repent and renew your commitment to Christ, then would are also ready to help you do that.
Resources:
• It’s Not About Me, Max Lucado, Thomas Nelson, 2004.
• I Change Not, Sermon by Richard Strauss
• Unchanged God, Sermon by Ray Pritchard
