EmmDev 2022-09-23 [Attributes and Names of God] Immutable

(Apologies for the missed emmdev yesterday...)

Immutable

The writer of the letter to the Hebrews, after celebrating the supremacy of Jesus as our great High Priest and Perfect Sacrifice, says "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever."

God is Immutable - this means that in His being and nature God is constant, consistent, reliable and unchanging. In some senses, this is both logical and necessary:

• If God did change, then He would either be better or worse after the change and therefore would not be perfect.
• If God knows everything, then there is no need to change.
• If God did change, then there would be a time before the change and a time after the change, but God is actually outside of time and so He does not change.

Some will argue that scripture records instances where God changed His course of action. A good example is when God announces to Jonah that He is going to judge Nineveh and then, when the city responds to gastric-acid bleached Jonah's preaching, God spares Nineveh, much to Jonah's chagrin. But this is not a change in who God is - after all, one of His attributes is that He is merciful. This means that when people repent after being warned it is entirely consistent for God to show mercy.

God has chosen to give human beings free will and, as such, their decisions have an impact on how God responds. This flexibility is part of who God is and was taken into consideration when God created us. In His omniscience He knows what He will do no matter what we do and He is ready for every situation. When Adam and Eve ate from the tree God didn't say "Oh my goodness what do I do now!?!" He was always ready and always had a plan.

So God is flexible in His dealings with humankind but this is part of who He is and always has been. He has allowed for all the possibilities and is ready for them all. His nature and character remain unchanged.

In the beginning 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. Like clothing you will change them and they will be discarded. But you remain the same, and your years will never end. The children of your servants will live in your presence; their descendants will be established before you." (Psalms102:25-28)

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