The Unchanging God
Attributes of God Sermon Series • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.
PRAY
Introduction: Change
We sometimes hear or say the phrase, “Change is a good thing” or “Change can be a good thing” or something like that. Variety is the spice of life.
Think about all the things in your life that change.
Daylight hours
Temperatures
Seasons
Food preferences
Friendships and relationships
Health
But what if God could change? Would that be a good thing?
things change either for the better or the worse
if God could change for the better, it would mean He wasn’t already perfect
if He could change for the worse, that would be terrifying
But the Scripture teaches us that God is unchangeable.
Incommunicable Attributes of God: Unchangeableness
Review: Incommunicable Attributes of God
Definition of the Unchangeableness (Immutability) of God:
Definition of the Unchangeableness (Immutability) of God:
God is unchanging in his being, perfections, purposes, and promises, yet God does act and feel emotions, and he acts and feels differently in response to different situations.
1. Scripture Claims That God is Unchanging
1. Scripture Claims That God is Unchanging
a. In His Being (Psalm 102:25–27; Malachi 3:6)
God’s essence or nature does not change. Even though everything else in creation is subject to change, God is not.
25 Of old you laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands.
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.
6 “For I the Lord do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed.
God's unchanging nature is the reason His covenant people survive at all.
b. In His Perfections (James 1:17; Hebrews 13:8)
His holiness, justice, love, and faithfulness remain constant across time.
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.
Everything else in creation shifts (like shadows moving with the sun); God doesn't.
8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.
c. In His Purposes (Psalm 33:11; Ephesians 1:11; Isaiah 46:9–11; Hebrews 6:17-18)
11 The counsel of the Lord stands forever, the plans of his heart to all generations.
Purposes in Salvation
11 In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will,
9 remember the former things of old; for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me,
10 declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose,’
11 calling a bird of prey from the east, the man of my counsel from a far country. I have spoken, and I will bring it to pass; I have purposed, and I will do it.
17 So when God desired to show more convincingly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of his purpose, he guaranteed it with an oath,
18 so that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us.
d. In His Promises (Numbers 23:19; 1 Sam. 15:29)
19 God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?
God had made promises regarding Abraham and his seed, and now as the Moabites are seeking to curse the Israelites and defeat them, God confirms that His promises still stand, that He will do what He has said.
29 And also the Glory of Israel will not lie or have regret, for he is not a man, that he should have regret.”
God doesn’t ever make a promise that He takes back, and He doesn’t ever wish He could take it back. God does not experience regret in the same way we do.
2. Scripture Talks about God “Changing His Mind”
2. Scripture Talks about God “Changing His Mind”
a. In Response to Sinful Rebellion (Genesis 6:5-7; 1 Samuel 15:10-11)
Worldwide sin and rebellion
5 The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
6 And the Lord regretted that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart.
7 So the Lord said, “I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens, for I am sorry that I have made them.”
King Saul’s sin and rebellion
10 The word of the Lord came to Samuel:
11 “I regret that I have made Saul king, for he has turned back from following me and has not performed my commandments.” And Samuel was angry, and he cried to the Lord all night.
b. In Response to Prayer (Exodus 32:9-14; Isaiah 38:1-6)
Moses
9 And the Lord said to Moses, “I have seen this people, and behold, it is a stiff-necked people.
10 Now therefore let me alone, that my wrath may burn hot against them and I may consume them, in order that I may make a great nation of you.”
11 But Moses implored the Lord his God and said, “O Lord, why does your wrath burn hot against your people, whom you have brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand?
12 Why should the Egyptians say, ‘With evil intent did he bring them out, to kill them in the mountains and to consume them from the face of the earth’? Turn from your burning anger and relent from this disaster against your people.
13 Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants, to whom you swore by your own self, and said to them, ‘I will multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have promised I will give to your offspring, and they shall inherit it forever.’ ”
14 And the Lord relented from the disaster that he had spoken of bringing on his people.
King Hezekiah
1 In those days Hezekiah became sick and was at the point of death. And Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came to him, and said to him, “Thus says the Lord: Set your house in order, for you shall die, you shall not recover.”
2 Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord,
3 and said, “Please, O Lord, remember how I have walked before you in faithfulness and with a whole heart, and have done what is good in your sight.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly.
4 Then the word of the Lord came to Isaiah:
5 “Go and say to Hezekiah, Thus says the Lord, the God of David your father: I have heard your prayer; I have seen your tears. Behold, I will add fifteen years to your life.
6 I will deliver you and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria, and will defend this city.
c. In Response to Repentance (Jonah 3:4-10)
4 Jonah began to go into the city, going a day’s journey. And he called out, “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!”
5 And the people of Nineveh believed God. They called for a fast and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them to the least of them.
6 The word reached the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, removed his robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes.
7 And he issued a proclamation and published through Nineveh, “By the decree of the king and his nobles: Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste anything. Let them not feed or drink water,
8 but let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and let them call out mightily to God. Let everyone turn from his evil way and from the violence that is in his hands.
9 Who knows? God may turn and relent and turn from his fierce anger, so that we may not perish.”
10 When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil way, God relented of the disaster that he had said he would do to them, and he did not do it.
The pattern is consistent: God's unchanging character means His actions toward people appropriately differ as their circumstances change. God always judges sin, and He always shows mercy to the repentant (He resists the proud but gives grace to the humble). God isn't fickle; He's unwaveringly consistent, and that consistency is what produces what looks like "change" when the situation on the human side shifts.
Wayne Grudem says, “These instances should all be understood as true expressions of God’s present attitude or intention with respect to the situation as it exists at that moment. If the situation changes, then of course God’s attitude or expression of intention will also change. This is just saying that God responds differently to different situations…. Does God then change his mind? It depends on what we mean by that. When a situation changes (such as when people repent or pray or both) God often in Scripture changes his present attitude toward the specific situation. But God’s long-term purposes never change.”
Practical Application of the Unchangeableness of God:
Practical Application of the Unchangeableness of God:
Our responses toward God are meaningful.
Our responses toward God are meaningful.
If we are proud and reject God and His Word, God will resist us and eventually bring judgment if we don’t repent. If we humble ourselves before Him and take Him and His Word seriously, we will receive the grace and mercy we so desperately need. God’s unchanging nature means that our choices and responses to Him are extremely important and meaningful for our relationship with Him.
We can have stability in an unstable world.
We can have stability in an unstable world.
Relationships, health, circumstances, even our own hearts shift constantly. An anchor that itself moves is no anchor at all. Because God doesn't change, He's a fixed point Christians can actually rest in (Hebrews 6:19).
We can trust God’s Word and promises.
We can trust God’s Word and promises.
If God's word reflects His unchanging purpose, then His promises aren't provisional or subject to revision. Titus 1:2 calls Him "God, who never lies." This underwrites the whole practice of taking Scripture's promises personally and specifically, not as sentiments that might expire.
We can have assurance and security in our salvation.
We can have assurance and security in our salvation.
If election and calling flow from an unchangeable purpose, salvation isn't precarious — it's secure in the character of the One who started it (Philippians 1:6, Romans 8:29–30). This isn't a license for complacency, but a basis for deep security rather than anxious uncertainty about whether God's favor might suddenly withdraw.
Our moral standards don’t change with the times.
Our moral standards don’t change with the times.
If God's holiness doesn't shift with cultural trends, neither should Christian ethics be built on "what feels right for this moment." Right and wrong are anchored outside of shifting human consensus.
We can find comfort in suffering.
We can find comfort in suffering.
The God who was present and faithful in the darkest moments of Scripture's story is the same God present now. His steadfast love in Psalm 23 or Romans 8:38–39 isn't a memory of how He used to act — it's who He still is.
God’s unchangeableness is a model for our own character.
God’s unchangeableness is a model for our own character.
We're not unchangeable — we grow, we're meant to change and mature. But being made in the image of a faithful God gives weight to keeping our word, being consistent in character, and not being "double-minded" (James 1:8) the way Scripture warns against.
