We see a lot of change in our lifetimes. It doesn’t seem that long ago that we were waiting hours for a five minute video to download on dial-up internet. Now, we can stream 8K ultra-high-definition video instantly.
The changes get even more extreme when we talk about our culture and religion. The public’s view of long-held Christian values has totally shifted over the last few decades. The God of the Bible, whose transcendent word stood as a firm foundation, has been replaced by a god that is willing to bend his laws depending on the time, place and circumstance of each individual.
Many claim this “nonjudgmental, all-inclusive” god is the same Lord Jehovah we read of in the scriptures. However, he is a false idol created in the minds of men. Their god changes with every shift in the culture, ready to accept any sin man ties to his identity. But, the God of the Bible has never changed and is unchangeable. He is immutable.
God’s immutability is in His nature. In Malachi 3:5, God made this clear, “For I am the Lord, I do not change…” Why does God not change? Because He is the Lord! If He changed, He would no longer be the Lord.
God’s immutability cannot be influenced. Job proclaimed, “But He is unique, and who can make Him change? and whatever His soul desires, that He does” (Job 23:13). The opinions of man are not considered when it comes to God’s judgments. As the one sovereign of all creation, no one holds any power over the eternal will of God. “God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of man, that He should repent. Has He said, and will He not do? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?” (Num. 23:19).
God’s immutability is needed. If God was changeable, it would be devastating to mankind. Goodness would be gone from the world. “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning” (Jas. 1:17). God is the standard of goodness. If He were to change, then goodness itself would change. Humanity would have no way of knowing what is good or evil. But, with God as our standard, we know exactly and judge accordingly.
Times are changing. But the god that changes with it is not the God of Heaven. He is the god of this world—the devil (cf. 2 Cor. 4:3-4). If we want to serve the Lord Jehovah, then we must submit before His eternal, unchanging Word, manifested in the person and work of Jesus Christ (John 1:1), who “…is the same yesterday, today, and forever” (Heb. 13:8).