The Unchanging God--Part 1

Text: James 1:17 “Every Good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.”

Introduction:

We live in a changing world. Some analysts predict that the fifty years between 1970 and 2030 will experience the change equivalent to that of the past 500 years! People change. Technology changes. Governments rise and fall. Prices change. You can head to work in the morning and by the time you head home, the gas prices can jump several cents. All around us we see changes. Some are for the better, and some are for the worse. Each of us are changing. As we grow older, our bodies change. Our thinking changes. Some of our opinions change. Our tastes for food changes. Children who hate broccoli may not be able to get enough of it when they are teenagers. All these things involve change. Changes are important to every part of our lives.

According to our text that we just read, there is One Who never changes. There is no “variableness, neither shadow of turning” with God. Why does God never change? God cannot change for the better because He is absolutely perfect. He cannot change for the worse, or He would not be absolutely perfect. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8).

Let us look at some of the attributes of God, which exhibit his unchangeableness. We cannot fully understand all that there is to know about God. We can only study the things that God has revealed to us about Himself. There may be attributes of God that He chooses not to reveal to us until we meet Him in glory. We can, however, try to grasp the concepts of the truths that He has revealed to us about Himself.

I. God is unchanging in His Unity.

The unity of God describes the fact that there is only one God. He exists alone as the only God, and there are no other deities that exit.

(Isaiah 45:21-22) “There is no God else beside me; a just God and a Saviour; there is none beside me. Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else.”

(Deuteronomy 6:4) “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD” The word LORD here is the word “Yahweh” or “Jehovah” meaning the “Self-existent and eternal One.”

(Deuteronomy 4:35) Unto thee it was shewed, that thou mightest know that the LORD he is God; there is none else beside him. (KJV)

Ps 76:10 “For thou art great, and doest wondrous things; thou are God alone.”

I Cor. 8:4, “There is none other God but one.”

Eph. 4:6 “One God and father of all.”

I Cor. 8:6 “But to us there is but one God.”

The main cause of idolatry and paganism is the false notion that there is more that one God. When a

culture adopts more than the one true God, paganism and iniquity abound and that culture finds itself on the highway to destruction.

II. God is unchanging eternal existence.

(Psalms 90:2) Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God. (KJV)

(Psalms 102:24-27) I said, O my God, take me not away in the midst of my days: thy years are throughout all generations. Of old hast thou laid the foundation of the earth: and the heavens are the work of thy hands. They shall perish, but thou shalt endure: yea, all of them shall wax old like a garment; as a vesture shalt thou change them, and they shall be changed: But thou art the same, and thy years shall have no end. (KJV)

(Isaiah 57:15) For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones. (KJV)

(Deuteronomy 33:27) The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms: and he shall thrust out the enemy from before thee; and shall say, Destroy them. (KJV)

(Psalms 106:48) Blessed be the LORD God of Israel from everlasting to everlasting: and let all the people say, Amen. Praise ye the LORD. (KJV)

The passages we just read abundantly display the fact that the Almighty God is eternal. It is overwhelming to think about what this really means. Everything around us had a beginning: the earth, the sea, animals, human beings, even angels. God had no beginning. There was never a time when God did not exist. Our minds nearly short circuit trying to comprehend this fact. As far as we can comprehend is only a second compared to God’s eternal past existence. Looking into the future as far as the imagination can wander does not touch the surface of God’s eternal existence yet to be. There will never be a time when God ceases to exist. He is unchanging in His eternal existence.