Pastor Mark Stafford

Our Reliable God in this Unreliable World

A study on God’s immutability from Psalm 102

Many people are concerned about the changes happening right now in our country. Some of you are patriotic and care very deeply for this great country of ours.  As people who are both Americans and Christians, we have a special interest in seeing our country make decisions that invite God’s blessing and protection.  Because of this, we grieve when we see our leaders make decisions that propel us towards unrighteousness.  Some current decisions may have a huge, negative impact on our country.

Psalm 102 voices a patriot’s distress over his country. It is unclear exactly when this psalm was written, but we know it was during a downturn in Israel’s righteousness.  The Hebrew writer of the psalm was an afflicted patriot.  He was rightly concerned that the decisions by the people and the leadership in Israel propelled their country towards unrighteousness.  They had lost God’s blessing and protection as a result.

In verse 4, the author speaks of being so distressed about the state of Israel that his heart had withered and he forgot to eat.  The patriot takes upon himself a whole list of national griefs.  It seems to be causing physical affliction in his body but the miseries of his people cause him even more bitter anguish than his physical pains.  He tells the Lord that His worshippers need to be preserved.  Verse 18 says, “¹⁸ Let this be recorded for a generation to come, so that a people yet to be created may praise the Lord…”

So he pours out his heart to God, asking God to do a work in his country that only God can do. You and I know that only God can change the hearts of people.  This psalm is a great model for us to use when we pray for our country.  I have often encouraged you to be informed about current events, then to turn off the TV or radio, and go to the Lord in prayer.

What would happen if every person here at Canyon prayed one minute for every minute they watched the news? It seems foolish to miss out on the opportunity! We have access to the most powerful power in the universe. (Our God is way more powerful than Obama, Trump and Hillary combined!) We have a 24-hour-a-day audience with the only power strong enough to end police violence, give every person real value, and stop the evil schemes of international war-mongers.  Instead of worrying or complaining, God’s people need to talk to their God.

In this psalm, our afflicted patriot does not pour out his complaints without hope. When he saw the plight of Israel, he turned to the Almighty God.  We won’t have time today to do a full exposition of this passage, but we will take the time to look at a few of God’s attributes in verses 25-27.

#1 In a Violently Changing World, God’s Power is Unchanging – Psalm 102:25, Deut. 32:4, Mal. 3:6, Heb. 1:3

In the context of national turmoil, the afflicted patriot shares this truth about our God:

Psalm 102:25 says, “Of old you laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands.”

The Bible teaches that God does not change. He remains the same eternally. Theologians often use the term “immutable” to describe God’s unchanging nature. It is a divine perfection that is not often spoken of in the church.  However, God’s immutability is one of His most significant features, it differentiates Him from His creatures.

God is perpetually the same. The Bible often compares God to a rock, probably because a rock is the thing that tends to change the least in our world.  For example, in Deut 32:4 described God like this:

“The Rock, his work is perfect, for all his ways are justice. A God of faithfulness and without iniquity, just and upright is he.”

God remains the same even when the rest of the world is like an ocean, in a constant state of flux and change. All creatures are subject to change, but God does not change.  James 1:17 says, “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.”

Over the last two weeks, we have looked at how God is from eternity past and He stretches into eternity future.  He is infinite and has no end; He knows no bounds.  He has always existed and he will never cease to exist.  God has never evolved, grown or improved.  He has always been perfect, from eternity past into eternity future.  His character and perfection are constant and completely reliable. All that He is today, He has ever been and will ever be

Malachi 3:6a says, “…I the Lord do not change…”

• God cannot change for the better because He is already perfect.
• He cannot change for the worse, or He would no longer be perfect.

God is altogether unaffected by the forces that surround Him because He made them in the first place. He is infinitely more powerful that the forces of His creation.  The afflicted patriot is citing God’s power.

The patriot knows that restoring Jerusalem would be simple for God. If God created the heavens and the earth simply by speaking them into existence, then certainly walls and houses are nothing for Him. For God to create a galaxy takes no more effort for Him than it would take for Him to pick up a feather from the ground. The same God who formed and upholds the universe by the word of His power[2] could easily raise up walls from heaps without breaking a sweat.

Even when things look like they are at their worst, we are to have tremendous hope. Our God’s power never diminishes.  The same God who made the heavens still reigns in power today.  The God who is the architect of the stars and controls how they move in the galaxies can easily overthrow nations, militias, rebel forces, and proponents of immorality.  Anything our God puts His mind to, He will accomplish.  His power and will are constant.

#2 Men Change Their Minds, but God’s Will is Constant – Psalms 102:26

If I were to change my clothes, does that change who I am?  Of course not.  In the same way, when circumstances on earth change, our God’s purposes still remain.  Look at how the afflicted patriot described God’s relationship with this present age.  Verse 26:

“They will perish, but you will remain;     they will all wear out like a garment. You will change them like a robe, and they will pass away…”

God still stands when everything else falls. Over time, all things break down.  God did not make this world to last forever.  God created the laws of nature.  The laws of nature tell us how God normally moves and works in this present age.

The second law of thermodynamics states that “every system left to its own devices always tends to move from order to disorder, its energy tending to be transformed into lower levels of availability, finally reaching the state of complete randomness and unavailability for further work.”[3]

Like a new outfit, this universe will eventually wear out and will need to be replaced. That’s no problem for believers.  We don’t worry about the universe wearing out, because we serve the God who made it.  Spurgeon said, “Our great God is not so poor that He must always wear the same robes.” When he’s done with this age, He’ll put this universe aside and make Himself a new set of clothes.

The Bible often speaks of these new clothes. They are referred to as the New Heaven and A New Earth.

• Isaiah 65:17, “For behold, I create newheavens and a new earth, and the former things shall not be remembered or come into mind.”
• 2 Peter 3:13, “…according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a newearth in which righteousness dwells.”
• Revelation 21:1-3, “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. ² And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. ³ And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God.”

I don’t know all the details about this new garment that God is going to clothe Himself with, but what I do know is that the New Heavens and the New Earth will show us a part of God’s glory that we’ve never see before! This universe will wear out.  God will toss it aside and put on something even more glorious.  As God’s children, we’ll have a front row seat, watching as it unfolds.

The earth may decay, but God’s will and purposes remain the same. God does not change His mind.  We often change our minds based on the fact that we lack sufficient knowledge.  We change our will because we often have a lack of foresight or power.  God is not subject to these insufficiencies.

God does not lack knowledge, wisdom, or power. He is all-knowing and all-wise.  He knows the end from the beginning.  There is a perfect agreement between God’s knowledge and His will, they continue to move forward.  His will is the height of perfection and in His wisdom, God will not ever alter his course.

God does change how He deals with people from time to time. Like a doctor who does not deal with every patient in the same way, our God is so wise that He does not deal with every person, family, people group, or nation in the same way. However, we can’t mistake God’s varying prescriptions for people as a change in His will.

Even a change in creation itself does not indicate a change in the Creator.

#3 God can Change Creation Without Changing Himself – 26-27

It is clear from this passage that everything we know about creation is going to change. In spite of that change, our God is immutable.  Let’s read verses 26-27 together:

²⁶ They will perish, but you will remain; they will all wear out like a garment. You will change them like a robe, and they will pass away, ²⁷ but you are the same, and your years have no end.

Just like a man is unchanged if he changes his clothing, God is unchanged even if His works in creation are changed.

• For Israel, this meant that God hadn’t changed even though Jerusalem was a mess. When the might and power of Jerusalem had been weakened by the enemy’s attack, the God of Israel was still ruling and reigning in all His power and glory.
• For us, it means that no matter who is in power, who gets elected or who is rioting in the streets, God is still ruling and reigning. He will and his purposes have not been altered one bit.

James said there is no shadow or variation in God due to change in God. Not in the slightest. God does exactly what He pleases and does not alter His course.  Our job is not to try and change an unchangeable God.  Our job is to get in line with what He unfolds in His creation.

Application

God’s immutability is of great comfort to us. We aren’t dealing with a God who loves us one day, but not the next.  We don’t have a God who would ever go back on His word.  When we pray or repent, God is and always has been ready to receive all who come to Him.

A – God’s Relationship with His People is Unchangeable

God says in Jeremiah 31:33, “ For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people.”

We can forever trust God because He never changes or goes back on His Word. In this unreliable world, He is perfectly reliable!

God’s covenant with us, His people, is not subject to revisions. It is eternally standing.

In a sense, God put a condition of faith on His covenant with us and yet He is the One who imparts that faith in the hearts of the elect. In other words, He freely gives the faith that He requires. His grace and provision are mind-blowing!

Then after He enters into an eternal covenant with us, He continues to work mightily in us to preserve that faith in our hearts.  He sustains the faith of His people with the same almighty power that sustains His creation.  We are left utterly dependent on him.  We depend on His power to keep us from forsaking Him and following after our own flesh.

Our assurance of salvation is wholly dependent on His immutability. We are banking everything on the fact that God will never change His mind about giving us eternity with Him and making us co-heirs with Jesus.  Hebrews 12:28 says that we have the unbreakable promise that God will give us a “kingdom that cannot be shaken.”

If we inherit an unshakable kingdom, then it would be foolish to waste our energies investing in a world that will soon be changed out like an old outfit.

B – Don’t Seek Satisfaction in the World

Our world is ever changing. It is subject to breakdown and decay.  The Bible says that God will soon toss it aside.  It was not made to last.

• We all desire leaders this political season who will usher in a season of ever-lasting peace and prosperity and happiness. I promise you, that no matter who gets elected, peace, prosperity, and happiness will not last.
• We naturally desire stability, but will not find it on this earth.

It is foolish to waste the little time and energy we have in this age on temporary things that will soon be tossed out. It is even more foolish to push aside the unchangeable God in order to pursue the things of this perishing earth.

Don’t put your trust in this world, but in the immutable God. Wealth, honor, and knowledge will all soon pass away, but our God will remain. How much better it is to gain a God who will never change, decay or wear out than anything else this world has to offer.  All other enjoyment is for a moment, but the pleasures of God are forever.  Psalm 16:11 says, “You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.”

Someone said last week, If God is so big, so wise and so powerful, I’m nothing but a peon in comparison. Who am I to question him?” In our arrogance, we often ask God to change course.  We assume that if He knew what we knew that He would change.  I hope from today’s teaching you see clearly that God forms his will based on His unchangeable goodness and perfect knowledge.

C – Be Patient in Waiting for God’s Timing

Discontentment with God is an act of rebellion against Him. In essence, when we fail to trust Him, we are questioning His perfect will and unchangeable goodness.  Romans 8:31b asks “If God is for us, who can be against us?” The answer isn’t “nothing.” He’s not saying “nothing is against us.” He IS SAYING that nothing is against us that is bigger than our God!

Our job is to trust God in His unchangeable goodness and then to diligently seek His perfect will so that we can be in line with what God is unfolding in eternity.

[1] Pink, AW “The Attributes of God” page 47

[2] Hebrews 1:3

[3] Morris, Henry, “Scientific Creationism” Page 52