Changeless God in a changing world
Neville Gardner 2 Oct 2022
You’ve got me as a speaker today, and Peter next Sunday, because Will is taking a short break.
He gets a change that will refresh him.
I get a change that has challenged me.
You get a change that – well, I don’t know what you’ll get from it!
Don’t worry, things will be back to normal in a couple of weeks.
Not all change is so short-lived, or so easy to cope with.
My wife Nicky and I have recently been looking to replace our 18 year old car. When I got in a new car for a test drive the other day, about the only things I recognised were the steering wheel and the seats. The salesman assured me that he’d “even taught his granny” how to use the computer touchscreen.
New technology, as we all know, can have upsides and downsides. Our new car will be safer, cheaper to run, quieter and better for the environment. It will take some effort to learn how to use all the new features, or how to turn them off, but I’m sure we’ll get used to the change in time. Actually, I can hardly wait for the new car to arrive.
We live in a world in which few things don’t change. Each of you will have experienced changes that have affected you in different ways. I’m going to read out a list of changes – for each one I’d like you to think of an example that relates to your own experiences.
A change that was easy to cope with . . . a change that was unsettling or damaging.
A change that affected lots of people . . . a change that affected just you.
A change you caused to happen . . . a change you had no control over.
Our bodies undergo physical changes as we grow up and grow old. Our minds and characters can change too. We need to cope with changes to health and relationships, school and jobs, family and friends, finances and the environment and so on – the list is endless.
Fortunately, this endless list of changes does not include God. “For I am the Lord, I do not change.” we are told in Malachi 3:6. Which is good news, when you remember that He’s in control of everything. God doesn’t have moods, he doesn’t have good days and bad days, you can’t accuse him of ‘not being a morning person’. He keeps his promises and if he tells us what he wants us to do one day, he doesn’t change his mind the next.
God never changes.
Or I can say GOD never changes, or I can say God NEVER changes – that puts slightly different meanings on the phrase.
Saying GOD never changes, implies that everything else does.
God created change, but he is unchanging himself.
1 Samuel 15:29 tells us that “Israel’s majestic God does not lie or change his mind. He is not a man – he does not change his mind.”
The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; His mercies never come to an end.
Lamentations 3:22 (English Standard Version).
When God created the world, one of the first things he did was to create light and changed night into day in a regular cycle. That was followed by a world of changing seasons, weather, mountains, seas and rivers. He also created people, with bodies that age and die, and natures that change.
God encourages us to change. At some time in our lives, He offers us the chance to make a life-changing choice. For me, his ‘believe in me’ call didn’t arrive until I was about 30 years old. It will have been different for each of you. Making the decision to accept Jesus certainly made a big change to my life – not least because within a year I had moved to live in New Zealand and was married. Both of which, I hasten add, I think of as good changes!
When we believe in God, we ask Him to keep on changing us, in ways that will bring us closer to Him through Jesus. There’s a song we sing sometimes that includes the lines:
Change my heart oh God
Make it ever true.
Change my heart oh God
May I be like you.
You are the potter,
I am the clay.
Mould be and make me,
This is what I pray.
God NEVER changes
Psalm 102: 25 and 27 say “O Lord, you live for ever. Long ago you created the earth, and with your own hands you made the heavens. They will disappear, but you will remain.”
There has never been, and will never be, a time without God. And through all of his existence he has not, and will not, change.
The God that we serve today is exactly the same as the God who created the world. He is the same God who promised Moses that he would save his people. He is the same today as when he accepted Jesus’ sacrifice for us. He will be exactly the same when our world ends.
As you read the Bible, you meet a God who at times seems angry, or controlling, or loving. But he is not changeable – what we encounter is a loving, merciful and just God who is dealing with sinful people in all kinds of situations.
He treats people something like parents treat their children:
If a child obeys their parents, the parents show pleasure
If a child disobeys their parents, they may face less than pleasing consequences
If a child needs help, they can ask their parents for guidance
If a child is hurting, their parents show compassion.
That’s how God treats his people.
So what is it about God that doesn’t change?
His character never changes
God is always good, wise, just, truthful, gracious, loving, merciful, faithful, patient, and much more. None of these characters will ever change. He is perfect, so he can’t get any better, and he can’t get worse.
His purposes never change
Psalm 33:11 says “But his plans endure for ever; his purposes last eternally.”
God’s purposes for Jesus will not change.
Jesus will always be our saviour – Hebrews 13:8 tells us that “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and for ever.”
God’s plans for everyone who accepts Jesus as their saviour will not change.
John 14: 6 says “Jesus answered him “I am the way, the truth, and the life; No one goes to the Father except through me.””
Hebrews 7:24-25 says “But Jesus lives on for ever, and his work as priest does not pass on to someone else. And so he is able, now and always, to save those who come to God through him, because he lives for ever to plead with God for them.”
God’s plans for those who choose sin instead of Jesus never change.
John 3:36 says “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever disobeys the Son will not have eternal life, but will remain under God’s punishment.”
God has a plan for my life. He’s got one for each of you too. He’ll do everything he can to make sure his plan unfolds perfectly, as long as we stick with God.
So what does God’s unchangeability mean to us?
Because we can be certain that God never changes, we can trust all his promises.
We can trust him completely. And Jesus will always save and protect those who trust in him.
Therefore, we have no cause to fear the future.
Because God never changes, we can be confident when we pray to him.
He will always listen to our prayers, at any time, under any circumstances – not just sometimes.
1 John 5:14-15 says “We have courage in God’s presence, because we are sure that he hears us if we ask him for anything that is according to his will. He hears us whenever we ask him; and since we know this is true, we know also that he gives us what we ask from him.”
Some people may ask how, if he never changes, God can keep up in a changing world. How can he stay relevant?
Well, I think he can stay relevant precisely because he doesn’t change. God’s purposes never change, we will always need salvation, and Jesus is always there to give it. Our challenge is to remember that no matter how much society changes, we will always need to try and understand God’s purpose.
As Christians, we can help communicate God’s relevance using language and actions that each new generation understands. Daryl and his team of leaders do that all the time, with the Bus Tour of the coming week being a great example. Will is currently preaching a series of sermons that interprets the 10 commandments for our modern world.
I was watching the funeral of Queen Elizabeth the other day, and I was struck by the old-fashioned language used in the service, such as liveth, thou knowest and so on. I presume it was from the King James Bible, first published in 1611.
Because we are having communion soon, I thought I’d read you something from a little book called A Companion to the Altar, published for the Church of England in about 1790– that’s 232 years ago.
It’s purely coincidental that this old paper and leather book is the same size as my glass, plastic and metal mobile phone.
Question: What is required of them who come to the Lord’s Supper?
Answer: To examine themselves whether they repent them truly of their former sins; steadfastly purposing to lead a new life; have lively faith in God’s mercy through Christ, with thankful remembrance of his death, and to be in charity with all men.
The meaning is still relevant, that’s still a good way to prepare for communion, but the language isn’t what we’d use today. Fortunately, as languages change, new translations of the Bible keep God’s word accessible to new generations of readers.
As well as the language we use in church changing over time, so have styles of worship.
Many of you will have attended other churches at some time, and will be aware that the drive to make Christianity ‘relevant’ in modern times involves change that doesn’t always sit easily with older generations. This change may be good for some, not so good for others.
One person who questioned his own response to such changes was the late Jack McFadyen. Some of you will remember when he was minister here in the mid 1970s. I knew Jack a long time after that, when he was attending a church in a different city. I’ll close by reading what Jack wrote about his experience of change in that church – it is not referring to this church. The piece is called “Tomorrow’s Church”:
Lord, the modern church isn’t the one I used to know.
We felt safe then with familiar hymns and dignified people leading our worship.
But it isn’t like that anymore. It’s as though something has been taken away from me.
The minister isn’t the worship leader anymore – anyone can do it and sometimes, it’s less of a service than a performance.
The music is foreign to me and the words seem shallow.
They speak of you and your kingdom in a way that sounds cheap.
Have I got it wrong Lord?
Can the church I see survive the modern world? I wonder.
Then, Lord, it seems so clear to me. I do have it wrong.
These young people are tomorrow’s church and they have to speak to tomorrow’s world. They’re on the same wavelength as today’s culture and tomorrow’s – and I’m not.
No, Lord, the church won’t die at their hands, it would die at mine.
No one will want a faith whose culture belongs to yesterday.
It has to be relevant to now and beyond – with music and dress and informality and language and the whole new culture of their generation.
So what do I do about it Lord? I think I know.
I will be grateful that there will be a church of tomorrow because there are people who seem relevant to a changing world and they will speak of Jesus in music and story in the idiom of their day.
Lord, thank you for the church of today that assures me that we will have a church of tomorrow.
Questions for study or reflection:
How was your childhood different to that of today’s children?
In what ways do think it was better?
In what ways do modern children have things better?
The sermon mentions that God is always good, wise, just, truthful, gracious, loving, merciful, faithful, patient.
What other aspects of God’s character do not change?
What does the fact that God never changes mean to you?
What are some of the ways that all ages of people can be catered for in a church service?
Tawa Baptist 