The Immutability Of God Series

The Immutablity of God

(topical)

Intro

1. When it comes to matters of theology, most dictionaries do not recognize the vocabulary.

2. Take two words we will use today: aseity and immutability. Only my large 3 volume dictionary has those words. You can check yours when you get home.

3. But why do we use such words? To impress people (who are we impressing)? To keep theology from average Christians? No.

4. We use these words to save breath, in the name of efficiency;

5. Aseity means that God is self-derived, self-sufficient, and independent of His creation. He depends upon us for nothing, and we cannot alter Who He is. This leads us into today¡¦s subject.

6. Today¡¦s topic will focus upon the immutability of God.

7. These matters are all being challenged today; we Christians need to decide whether we believe in the clearly infinite God of a Scripture or the toned-down, weak versions of God being proposed today on all fronts, within and without evangelicalism. You need to pay attention to what you are hearing in this series, because you need to know what and why you believe what you do; it will be challenged, eventually even by people who will attend this church.

There are people out there today, claiming to be Christians and many claiming to believe the Bible, who would challenge every one of my main points today.

8. Immutability sounds bad. If someone called you immutable, you might punch them in the nose. The truth is that this mysterious word is true only of God.

9. To be immutable is to always be the same, unalterable. God is unchanging and unchangeable. James 1:17 says, ¡§Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.¡¨

10. We can insert the word "always" to highlight this truth. God is always holy, always sovereign, always good, always wise, always just, and always gracious. Whatever God is, he always is. His nature is an always nature. He always is Who He is.

MAIN IDEA: The Immutability of God Explains Why We Can Depend Upon God, and Why God is Worthy of Our Worship and our Submission.

TS-----------„³God¡¦s immutability extends to many areas. Let¡¦s look at a few key areas in which God is immutable.

I. God Is Immutable In Regards to His Very Nature: He is Like A Rock

1. Most changes are for the better or worse¡K

2. God is perfect; perfection cannot be improved upon, therefore if God changed, it would have to be a change for the worse¡K

(1) the Christian life involves change; we change as we are conformed to His image¡K.but His image does not change¡K

(2) people who are not wanting to grow and change have a problem, often insecurity; but if God changed, that would be a problem

3. That God does not change in His substance is clear in Scripture:

NIV Psalms 102:24-27

24 So I said: "Do not take me away, O my God, in the midst of my days; your years go on through all generations.

25 In the beginning you laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands.

26 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.

27 But you remain the same, and your years will never end.

NIV Malachi 3:6 "I the LORD do not change. So you, O descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed.

4. Even during the incarnation, God remained the same in substance¡Kthe nature of God remained the same, though His plan unfolded and a new phase of it was intitiated¡K

Bill Irwin, a man who is blind, has a talking computer he uses to study the Bible. He¡¦s had a few chuckles over some of the pronunciations. "For a long time," Bill says, "the computer pronounced Holy Bible as ¡¦holly bibble¡¦ until I figured out how to modify it." But there was one thing Bill couldn¡¦t change. The computer uses the Spanish pronunciation for Jesus Christ--HEYsus Krist. "The programmer is Hispanic," Bill told me with a smile, "and he made sure that HEYsus Krist cannot be altered."

I like that. It reminds me that among the things in life that can be changed to suit my taste, one remains tamper-resistant--I can¡¦t change Jesus.

5. One frequent picture of God is a Rock. Although technically rocks can wear away from tides and currents, they are about the most unchangeable and dependable objects we encounter. Since God is the same, He is truly a Rock upon which we can build.

NIV Psalms 18:2 The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge. He is my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.