God is Constant

He is perfect; He doesn’t need to change...

I once worked with a guy who always wanted to debate "religion" with me. He didn't know God personally, but he wanted to convince me that he knew plenty about God, and how everyone else had the subject completely wrong. Our conversations didn't typically last very long because it's really difficult to try to describe the most amazing relationship imaginable to someone when the other person is attempting to prove that the one you are relating to adheres to his own personal religious formula. Can you imagine this happening in other relational introductions?

"Hey, Joe, meet my wife Elizabeth. I love her very much, and she loves me in return even when I don't deserve it."

"You know, Craig, I hate to break it to you, but your wife doesn't exist. She's a figment of your imagination, created to fulfill your felt needs."

Or

"Craig, let me explain to you the fine details of your wife. I don't have a relationship with her, but I think I can school you pretty well on what she's like and how she responds in any given situation."

Yeah, Joe and I shared some real heart to hearts about God. He would end every conversation with the emphatic statement, "To live is to change." He'd say that with a really philosophical look in his eye and then repeat it in case I didn't understand the depths of his thinking. Then he would say that God is alive and thus must change, which would always lead to his venting about people who believe in a God who does not change His mind about evil or sin or laughing at crude jokes or some other concept which he believed wholeheartedly in. I would always simply listen and nod my head from time to time to indicate that I was hanging on his every word. I completely disagreed with him, but whenever I offered my thoughts from God's autobiography, he'd change the subject. Joe really didn't need his philosophy changed. He needed to meet God personally.

But I'm going to interact here with the concept of whether or not God indeed changes with the times. If you are out there reading this, Joe, I don't want to change your mind. I'd rather you go read "God is Not a Gas Bubble," and come to speaking terms with Him. For the rest of you, any absolute statements I make come from God’s autobiography the Bible. Truth is relative to the distance that exists between one’s statement and the statements made by God Himself.

Joe was right when he stated that "to live is to change." Everything created changes--it either breaks down or gets upgraded--but God cannot and does not change. He exists outside of imperfection. We are imperfect. Our world is imperfect. Our parents are imperfect. Our spouses and children are imperfect. So we naturally begin to think that nothing exists outside of imperfection. But God is absolutely perfect and no change for the better within His character or mind is possible. Whatever God does, says, or lives for is right the first time.

God’s Hatred for Evil and Injustice is Constant

“So I will come near to you for judgment. I will be quick to testify against sorcerers, adulterers and perjurers, against those who defraud laborers of their wages, who oppress the widows and the fatherless, and deprive aliens of justice, but do not fear me,” says the LORD Almighty. “I the LORD do not change. So you, O descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed. Ever since the time of your forefathers you have turned away from my decrees and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you,” says the LORD Almighty (Malachi 3:5-7).

God judges unholiness and junk in our lives like sleeping around outside of marriage, and lying. He hates it when employers steal from their workers’ wages, when individuals oppress the helpless, and when people mistreat immigrants. God will never change His mind about these things. He will always get angry about it.

God still hates evil. He always will. God still offers mercy to the undeserving who still draw breath. He will until they die. God doesn’t get desensitized. He doesn’t hear the F-word five hundred times, and then on the 501st time not blush. It still ticks him off even after hearing it 500 times before. God doesn’t get used to the fact that the rich oppress the poor. He doesn’t think it’s old news when another minimum wage employee gets the raw end of an unjust deal. God’s hatred for evil will not change because God does not change. God also does not change in His proposal of mercy. He offers mercy even to those who have neglected Him, rejected Him, and cheated on Him. He always has. That’s who God is. He’s the unchanging, evil-hating, mercy-lover.

God’s expectations do not change. No matter what your circumstances are, no matter who your parents are, no matter what kind of energy you have, no matter what childhood experiences you’ve had, God’s expectations for you do not change. God’s desires are set, and the reason they are set is because they are perfect, and good, and the best we could possibly ever conceive.

God’s Promises are Constant

God is not a man, that he should lie, nor a son of man, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill? I have received a command to bless; he has blessed, and I cannot change it (Numbers 23:19-20; see also 1 Sam. 15:24-31).

Balaam, a guy who got paid big bucks to bless or curse people, couldn’t change God’s promise to bless Israel when they obeyed Him even though he would have received a fat paycheck to do so. God isn't a man. He's a person, but he's not a man. Men change their minds because their first choice is not always the best or correct choice.

God cannot lie (Titus 1:1-3). He is unchanging and true. Some people think that God can do anything. This is actually not true. He cannot lie. It’s impossible. It goes against His very existence. Not only does God not lie, but He also does not change His mind (meaning He doesn’t make one choice and then realize that another choice is better). He never changes His mind because His first choice is always perfect. This doesn’t mean He won’t change things, situations, or people. It just means He does not change Himself.

In this way, other relationships can never satisfy. You desire an unchanging love, but no one in your life will ever be able to offer changeless, pure, constancy. Only God can achieve this. Your Mom and Dad can’t keep every promise. Your husband or wife can't keep that standard. That’s a role only God can fill.

God's Person and Presence are Constant

He also says, “In the beginning, O Lord, 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. You will roll them up like a robe; like a garment they will be changed. But you remain the same, and your years will never end.” (Hebrews 1:10-12; see also Hebrews 13:7-8).

God remains the same for eternity. God will never die. God’s love for you, if you have been freed from sin, is constant. It doesn’t go up and down with your unfaithfulness. Jesus, God’s Son, is consistent. He doesn’t say one thing one day, and then say a different thing the next. Jesus doesn’t give up on you. He doesn’t leave you to your sin or your relationship problems.

God is completely and utterly trustworthy. He is a clinger. He is faithful. He is true. God is the giver of good things like peace, joy, hope, and anything else worth experiencing in this life. God does not change. He will always be good.

Perfection has no need for change; we like things to change because all we know and experience is imperfection.