************ Sermon on Belgic Confession Article 1e ************
Doctrine: God is Unchangeable
By: Rev. Adrian Dieleman
This sermon was preached on Oct 26, 1997
B.C. 1(e)
Numbers 23:13-26
"God is Unchangeable"
Introduction
People change. They are in a state of flux. None of us are static. The person I married is not the same person I am married to now — like a good wine she improves with age; and, the person she married is not the same person either for I am a person in constant change: my weight goes up and down, my temperament changes from rosy and upbeat to grouchy and irritable and then back to rosy and upbeat
As human beings we change in many ways. We increase in knowledge. We mature in faith. We grow in grace and sanctification. We advance in wisdom. We increase or decrease in strength. Sometimes we have to go to the hospital and parts are repaired, replaced, or removed. We change our habits and either stop smoking and drinking or start such bad habits. And, by the grace of God, we make a life-changing decision and decide to follow Jesus.
God does not change. God does not grow. God does not improve with age. God is the Lord everlasting. He is eternally the same. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. He says, "I the LORD do not change" (Mal 3:6).
To say that God does not change is to say that God is immutable — He undergoes no mutations. There is an inner consistency to the nature of God; He never goes through an inward process of evolution.
How different God is from the universe He has made. Did you know the common cold has mutated into over 200 different viruses? Did you know that botanists have discovered thousands of different varieties of wheat, each one an adaptation to a specific set of circumstances? But with God there is no change. He is immutable.
God does not change, God cannot change, but our understanding of God most certainly does change. A couple of weeks ago I ran the doorbell of one of our members. I heard a little voice yell,
"God is here." Hopefully — as this child gets older — his concept and understanding of God will change: a long-bearded grandfather type figure on a throne, an angry judge, a policeman, a caring shepherd, a brilliant light, a loving father, and so on.
God, dear people, is immutable. He is unchangeable.
I Objections/Misunderstandings to God's Immutability
A When we think of God's immutability, it is easy to fall into the error of thinking that God is an immobile, inert, static, rigid, fixed, stationary, paralyzed being. But that is not the picture the Bible presents of God. Scripture presents a God Who is alive, dynamic, conscious, mobile. There is constant change round about Him. For by His almighty power He creates and upholds, He blesses and punishes, He gives and He takes away. There is also change in the relations of men to Him. For God is a personable being Who desires a relationship with every person if only they would repent and acknowledge Him as King and Lord.
No, God is not immobile. He acts. He performs. He thinks. He creates. He upholds. He watches. He saves. Because He is dynamic there is constant change around Him and in the relations of men and women to Him. However, there is no change in His Being, His will, His attributes, His purpose, His motives, or His promises. For God is immutable. He is unchangeable. He can never stop being God. God is now all that He ever was or ever shall be.
B God is immutable. He is unchangeable. I say this in spite of many Christian hymns that mention the death of God upon the cross. You see, if God died, then He is NOT an unchangeable, immutable God. I spent some time going through the Psalter Hymnal this past week looking at different hymns:
Charles Wesley's song, "And Can It Be" (#267) - "Amazing love! How can it be that you, my Lord, should die for me?!"
Isaac Watts' song, (#384) - "When I survey the wondrous cross on which the Prince of glory died ... Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast save in the death of Christ, my God!"
Isaac Watts' song, (#385) - "Alas! and did my Savior bleed, and did my Sovereign die?"
Did God die on the cross? Was there a moment in time when the omnipotent God was deceased? In the darkest hour of Calvary was heaven suddenly vacant? Did God pass out of existence?
If the heart of God skipped even a single beat, do you know what would happen to the universe? If God was dead for only one second, or for even a millisecond, the world would collapse, the sun would vanish, trees would vaporize, and we would perish. The entire universe depends upon the immutable, unchangeable God for its creation and continued existence.
It is ridiculous, then, to suggest that God died upon the cross. We, together with hymn writers and poets, must be careful to distinguish between the human and divine natures of Christ without separating them in any way. Human natures can die, but divine natures cannot. It was Jesus' human nature which died; it was His perfect humanity which was slain upon the cross. His divine nature did not die and cannot die because it is an inseparable part of the eternal, triune, immutable Godhead.
C God is immutable. He is unchangeable. This means He never changes His mind. We see that in our Scripture reading for this evening. I've always delighted in the story of Balaam and Balak. Balaam so badly wanted to do what Balak asked him to do. All that he had to do was curse Israel and he could have Balak's silver and gold. However, Balaam could only say what God put in his mouth; and, God's will for Israel was blessing and not curse. Five times Balak and Balaam tried to curse Israel. No matter what they tried what came out of Balaam's mouth was blessings for Israel and curses for her enemies. It is within this context that Balaam says,
(Num 23:19-20) 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? (20) I have received a command to bless; he has blessed, and I cannot change it.
This same thought is expressed elsewhere. Remember when King Saul failed to obey the Lord? King Saul saved the best of the Amalekite sheep and cattle to sacrifice them to the Lord instead of destroying them as the Lord commanded. After this sin Samuel announced that the Lord has rejected Saul as king over Israel. Saul pleaded and begged with Samuel for a change of heart. Samuel's response:
(1 Sam 15:29) "He who is the Glory of Israel does not lie or change his mind; for he is not a man, that he should change his mind."
God is immutable. He is unchangeable. He does not change His mind. His purposes and decrees are from everlasting to everlasting. God did not argue with Himself over whether to create heaven and earth and everything in them. God does not change His mind from day-to-day about His decree to elect and save some of the lost — one day adding some and the next day removing others. For such a God would be a tyrant, unworthy of our praise and worship. God is God. Therefore He is immutable and unchangeable; He does not change His mind.
D What do we do, then, with those passages of Scripture which seem to indicate that God does indeed change His mind? For instance, when Israel made the golden calf, God told Moses to stand aside so He could destroy the people. But Moses pleaded with the Lord.
(Ex 32:14) Then the LORD relented and did not bring on his people the disaster he had threatened.
Or, think of the time the Lord through Jonah announced the imminent destruction of Nineveh. The Ninevites believed God. They declared a fast and, as a sign of repentance, they put on sackcloth.
(Jonah 3:10) When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, he had compassion and did not bring upon them the destruction he had threatened.
When we read passages like these can we really say that God is immutable, that He is unchangeable, that He does not change His mind? Yes we can! In those passages in which God appears to repent, to change His mind, He only does what He has promised to do all along — not punish sinners who repent and turn from their evil ways. When it comes right down to it, who is it that is changing, that relents, that has a change of heart? It isn't God Who is changing here; it is man. When man repents God removes the threat of punishment even as He has always promised.
E God is immutable. He is unchangeable. This means His knowledge must be complete and perfect and there is nothing He has to learn. For if there are gaps in His knowledge or understanding He would have to learn and thereby change.
Some biblical texts suggest, however, that God learns or discovers things. Consider, for example, the time God tested Abraham and commanded him to sacrifice his son Isaac. When Abraham bound Isaac upon the altar and stood there knife in hand, poised to slaughter, God stopped him
(Gen 22:12) "Do not lay a hand on the boy ... Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son."
Does this suggest that God learned something about Abraham that day? Was God wondering the whole time if Abraham would or could grasp the knife and plunge it into his son's body? Are we to picture God wringing His hands in heaven, waiting anxiously for moment-to-moment bulletins on the progress of His servant Abraham? Can we imagine God sighing in relief when the news reached Him that Abraham had been obedient? Can we imagine God going through the same agony while waiting for the result of the Fall or Jesus' temptation in the wilderness?
God is immutable. He is unchangeable. His knowledge is complete and perfect and there is nothing He has to learn. Consider, for example, that the Lord in prophecy completely and accurately predicts the actions of men: the Babylonian captivity, the fall and destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70, the betrayal by Judas, Peter's denial, and so on. Over and over again the Bible tells us about God's perfect foreknowledge of events and human actions.
II God's Immutability and Man
A What kind of God do we believe in? Says the Belgic Confession,
We all believe in our hearts
and confess with our mouths
that there is a single
and simple
spiritual being,
whom we call God--
unchangeable.
God is immutable. He is unchangeable. God does not change in His being, will, attributes, purpose, motives, or promises; He is the same yesterday and today and forever.
In Seminary I remember hearing about a God-in-process. I had to study the writings of theologians who flirted with a finite God, a God Who is in the process of change, growth, and development. This God is not the same today as He was yesterday; and tomorrow He may not be what He is today.
B Modern man likes this kind of God, a God-in-process. A God- in-process means that God's will — His ethics, norms, laws, and commandments — are also in process. What was wrong or sinful yesterday is not wrong or sinful today; and what is wrong or sinful today is not wrong or sinful tomorrow.
A God-in-process is a very handy way to justify and excuse human behavior. A God-in-process means pre-marital sex, extra- marital sex, and homosexual sex are no longer wrong. A God-in- process means abortion and euthanasia are not the murder we once thought they were. A God-in-process means drug and alcohol abuse are no longer sin; rather, they are a genetic predisposition. A God-in-process means Sunday work, Sunday shopping, Sunday sports, and Sunday recreation — at the expense of Sunday worship — are no longer forbidden. A God-in-process means women can hold all the church offices. A God-in-process means Adam is not the first human creature on earth. But God is not a God-in-process. God is immutable. He is unchangeable. His will, His commandments, His ethics, His norms, His laws do not change because He does not change.
C When man sins He has two options. First, he can repent, which involves change in us. Second, he can redefine or change God and His will, so that sin is no longer sin and God is no longer threatening. Modern man usually goes for the second option because it is less painful and far easier than repentance. It is far easier to change God than ourselves.
Try as we may like, though, this second option just will not work. Yes, we can change our concept of God. We can change our theology. We can change our attitude toward God. We can change our standards and laws and norms. But one thing we cannot do: we cannot change God! God is unchangeable. He is immutable.