PSALM 102
“But You are the same, and Your years will have no end”
(Ps. 102:27)
The Scriptures are full of teaching concerning God’s immutability, or His unchanging nature. Consider these passages: “… the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning” (James 1:17); “But You are the same, and Your years will have no end” (Ps. 102:27); “… for He is not a man, that He should change His mind” (1 Sam. 15:29 niv); and, finally, in reference to Christ in particular, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever” (Heb. 13:8).
Jesus Christ, as the great cornerstone, is intractable, unchangeable, the same from everlasting to everlasting. This would have held particular relevance for the Jews if they had faith in the God they claimed to worship. Jesus, being the same, did not depart from the faith of the fathers; He was the fulfillment of it. What was the same in the Old Testament was the same during Jesus’ ministry, i.e. it was through the promise of God that fallen man would be saved. All that had prefigured Christ was fulfilled in Him. The Pharisees had accused Him of preaching a strange and new doctrine, but this was not true. God never changes His mind, His precepts do not change, and His plan of redemption has never changed. The manifestation of Christ under the old dispensation was certainly different from what it is now, but Christ as God Himself is always the same.
The unchangeableness of God brings both comfort and fear—comfort in knowing that He will always fulfill His promises, for He never changes His mind. If God has decreed that you will be saved, nothing can reverse that decree. Yet, for those who continue to reject Christ, His immutability can be troubling. His standard of righteousness will never change. Some people hope that when they stand in the judgment, God will suddenly announce that anyone can enter the kingdom of heaven, no longer will there be only one way. This, of course, is a false hope. God never changes. His holy Word never becomes out of date. His plan of redemption never changes. Jesus Christ will remain the only way to eternal life. It will be as He declared, “No one can come to the Father except through Me.”
CORAM DEO
Job 4–6
Acts 7:20–43
Read Hebrews 1. How is Christ’s divine nature described in this chapter? What do you learn about the relationship between the Old and New Testaments? What does this passage say about Christ’s unchangeable nature? In this context, what about God will never change? Meditate on verses 5–13.
For further study: Num. 23:19 • Ps. 103 • Heb. 1 • 1 John 4:7–11
thursday
june