Time is strange, our
perception of time is stranger still. Time flows without our desire, it moves
without our approval, and we are carried along like leaves on the wind. Thus,
its power is unmistakable and some seem to think that Time is a heartless and
cruel force which we cannot control and should try our hardest to avoid its
effects.
As Time moves, so does history. And as history moves
things become darker. The human heart has not changed in millennia of history
and evil has propagated. Wars, murder, rape, acts of terror, and many other
evils make this world and its history a dark place.
So it seems to many Time seems a cruel cycle, and
these evils only seem to grow in number and magnitude. And it seems that the
good things of this world decline. And as this remains this way for decades
people begin to harden, to jade, and to take evil for good, and good for evil.
So as Time flows, we as Christians cannot become
jaded, we cannot assume the same as the fallen world around us, we must know
that Time is not a vicious cycle, but a singular story which has a set ending,
and a Perfect Author.
To begin this discussion, which will be in two parts,
I want to speak comfort to those of us who see the growing darkness in our
world and feel discouraged as things change seemingly for the worst.
For this thought, we must remember who is in control.
God is.
Not world leaders, not powerful armies, not even the
devil (though he is for now quite powerful in our world).
God is in complete control. And we must know as things
change around us as time moves steadily onward that God Himself is outside of,
and controlling time. God does not change with time, He is not affected by
change.
This to us who know Him, by His grace, must be a dear
comfort as things move steadily towards darker times ahead.
One of the perfect Attributes of our God is His
Unchangeableness. Those who study these things would call this His
Immutability.
This is where I begin. In a world where the tides of
culture, politics, even religion are constantly shifting and changing it is
vital that the nature of God be unchanging if He is to be our hope in a world
such as this.
Exodus 3:13-14 “13
Then Moses said to God, “If I come to the people of Israel and say to them,
‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his
name?’ what shall I say to them?” 14 God said to Moses, “I am who I am.” And he
said, “Say this to the people of Israel, ‘I am has sent me to you.’”
God’s words to Moses here reveal the character of God
and His Nature as the only constant in the universe, the only unchangeable
thing in, around, outside and in control of this world that is so subject to
change.
Verse 14: “I AM
WHO I AM.” This is the title that God gives Himself to identify Himself to
His people who, in this historical context, are in need of rescue from the
hands of the Egyptians.
When Moses asks how he should identify the giver of
the message he is to take to the Israelites (God’s chosen people), God simply
states that He is. And we cannot pass up the importance of these few words of
God’s self-identification.
Simply put, God is telling Moses that: He is, was, and
always will be. Time has no way to change God, indeed God is the one who
created Time, and is outside and above it. When God says “I AM” He is simply stating the fact that He is.
If this remains more confusing than
clarifying then perhaps you, my dear friend, will read on, and perhaps the
Scriptures will clarify. And if the Holy Spirit must intervene to work upon
your heart in order to understand, then allow Him access, you will not regret
it!
God’s Immutability (one last time, this
means His Unchangeableness), is one of His perfect Attributes, and an integral
part of His character which is employed constantly in both the background and
foreground of Scripture.
Malachi 3:6 says: “’For I the Lord do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, are
not consumed.’”
Whilst we live this earthly life upon a
sea of shifting waves there is a constant risk of us being consumed by the
constant squalls. But this again is where we must run to God, for security,
salvation, and stability.
Psalm 62:7 “On God rests my salvation and my glory; my mighty rock, my refuge is
God.”
And again: Psalm 18:2 “The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my rock,
in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.”
The ancient Psalmists of the Scriptures
knew well this fact, and would constantly repeat the refrain of God unchanging
Nature and constant care that He gives to His children. And we too must take up
this refrain if we wish for any stability or firmness in this life.
And for those struggling with this truth,
we must know that not only will God Himself never change, but His Word, His
promises, precepts, and principles set forth in the Scriptures will also never
change.
Psalm 33:11 “The counsel of the Lord stands forever, the plans of his heart to all generations.”
The Bible is God’s Word, His counsel to us
for living according to His holy will on this earth, the Psalms, especially
Psalms 19, and 119 speak of the glory of God revealed in His Word and if, for
this discussion, we are to believe that God’s character in unchanging, then we
must take the next necessary step and say that His Word also is unchanging.
This is essential knowledge to us, and
more essential faith for us. We must believe that God in both His Character and
Word remains in all things unchanged and unaffected by the rapid fading of this
world and its spiral further into darkness.
For if His Words remain unchanged than His
promises from the Scriptures also remain. And that means that what He has said
will happen to this world and in this world according to His plan for history
and His plan of redemption. But this I will discuss more in the next part of
this discussion.
For now I want to wind down by way of
reminder that anything good that we have or can have comes from God who remains
unchanged even as we are affected constantly by changed. He is faithful, His
commitment remains stable, even when ours wavers (2 Timothy 2:13).
James 1;17 “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from
the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.”
God is, to those who are His through His
Son Jesus Christ, a loving and caring Father (Psalm 103:6-14), who loves to
give good things to His children. We cannot lose sight of this in this rapidly
changing world, as the waves of variability threaten us and as the world
darkens as men take good for evil and evil for good (Isaiah 5:20), we must remember that God is
in control, and that He remains Himself, good, loving, holy and unchanging in
all His perfections.
He is, and is the only one who can claim
the title “I AM”.
And this, my dear friends should give us
great comfort.
Servant of the Unchanging God
--The Scribe
