Who is God? God is Immutable

Intro- - bridges, churches & rockets

The problem of inconsistency- change - brings difficulty -

"God writes with a pen that never blots, speaks with a tongue that never slips, acts with a hand that never fails." - C. H. Spurgeon

Defining Immutable: Incapable of change or mutation

God neither evolves, grows or improves; nor does he mature or deteriorate. He neither changes for the better or worse, for He is perfect. All that God is within Himself does not change. Therefore, God's attributes never change. The attributes of God can no more change than Deity can cease to be. His power stays infinitely strong; His knowledge stays infinitely true; His love stays infinitely constant; His holiness stays infinitely pure and His glory never diminishes.

God’s Immutability Results in our Stability

"In the midst of temptation, wandering sheep need the doctrine of God's immutability. As doubts and fears assail, doubting sheep need a rock. And there is none in all the earth like our God - He never changes." - M. Abraham

Anchor: He is not Moved Psa 16:8; Psalm 55:22 ; Psa 62:6

Psalm 16:8 ESV

8 I have set the Lord always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken.

Psalm 55:22 ESV

22 Cast your burden on the Lord, and he will sustain you; he will never permit the righteous to be moved.

Psalm 62:6 ESV

6 He only is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be shaken.

God's unchanging nature is the fixed point, the anchor, the stability from which we can endure and navigate the ever-changing realities of life.

Absolute Truth: He is Right 1 Cor 15:58

Truth is a reflection of God’s nature. Isn’t it good and gracious of God to tell us what is actually and absolutely true? What kind of world would it be without the absolute and fixed truth of God?

1 Corinthians 15:58 ESV

58 Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.

"In our crazed passion to declare that there are no absolute truths, have we not just declared one?" - C. D. Lounsbrough

"Christianity is not a series of truths in the plural, but rather truth spelled with a capital “T”. Truth about total reality, not just about religious things. Biblical Christianity is Truth concerning total reality - and the intellectual holding of that total Truth and then living in the light of that Truth." - Nancy Pearcy

Resistance: He is on a Mission Eph 4:14-15; Phil 2:14-16

Culture War

Ephesians 4:14–15 ESV

14 so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. 15 Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ,

Philippians 2:14–16 ESV

14 Do all things without grumbling or disputing, 15 that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, 16 holding fast to the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain.

Infinite Patience Love and ability (We lack ability because we are always changing and can never really get our footing -

Injustice: He will Right Every Wrong Rom 12:19

Because God is unchanging we can trust him to be righteous and consistent all the way through

Romans 12:19 ESV

19 Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.”

Death: He is Stronger John 10:28; Rom 8:38-39

John 10:28 ESV

28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.

Romans 8:38–39 ESV

38 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

God’s Consistency Fuels our Trust

What Fuels our Trust?

Truth: He never Lies - Num 23:19

Numbers 23:19 ESV

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?

"He cannot change for the better, for he is already perfect; and, being perfect, he cannot change for the worse." - A. W. Pink

Trust: He never Leaves - Heb 13:5-6

Hebrews 13:5–6 ESV

5 Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” 6 So we can confidently say, “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?”

Forgiveness : He never Rejects - Psalm 103:10-14

Psalm 103:10–14 ESV

10 He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities. 11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him; 12 as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us. 13 As a father shows compassion to his children, so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him. 14 For he knows our frame; he remembers that we are dust.

"Our sins have been put away. To use the language of the Scriptures... they are completely removed, put behind God's back, blotted out, remembered no more, and hurled into the depths of the sea." - Jerry Bridges

Constant: He never Stops Pursuing Psalm 86:15; Jer 31:3

Psalm 86:15 ESV

15 But you, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.

Jeremiah 31:3 ESV

3 the Lord appeared to him from far away. I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you.

He then turns his determination toward you - He is rightly Jealous

Strong: He never Gets Tired - Psalm 102:25-27; Isaiah 40:28-29

Psalm 102:25–27 ESV

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.

Isaiah 40:28–29 ESV

28 Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable. 29 He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength.

God’s Unchanging Character Makes Our Change Possible

Because God is unchanging, we can. And that is good news. Because God works from a fixed point he sees everything perfectly, consistently and redemptively.

To the Heart

"Trusting God starts with a knowledge of His trustworthiness, but must make its way down to the heart. If we don't allow God's character and faithfulness to become a transformative reality of our heart, we will never bear the fruit of trust." J. P.

Repentance: He Purifies 1 John 1:9

1 John 1:9 ESV

9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

The trouble with changing – Why don’t we really change? We think we have, by comparison we have. We don’t want to, It takes a lot of work to change. I want my sin more than I want God, I don’t believe change to be all that important, I have changed in all the most important areas, Change is something that new Christians need to do, not me, I think the that possibly the biggest obstacle to change in our lives is repentance. All spiritual and moral change in our lives requires us to admit our need to repent. In order to begin any new or better action we must forsake something else. Something lesser, something not quite up to snuff. We often don’t change because we often don’t want to admit that something needs to change. We don’t want to repent. But repentance is absolutely essential to the Christian life. Repentance is the only pathway to true and lasting change. In the 95 Thesis the first of those 95 stated that the whole life of a believer should be repentance. We should be constantly seeing our sin before a holy, perfect and unchanging God, and turning from it by trust and faith in Jesus and pursuing holiness, righteousness and the life that God has already secured for us. If you do not repent, you cannot change.

Resisting Sin : He Satisfies John 4:14; Heb 4:15

There is a beauty to God’s unchanging nature that satisfies us better than sin ever can.

John 4:14 ESV

14 but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

Hebrews 4:15 ESV

15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.

We cannot outsin the graciousness of God

Acceptance: He Welcomes John 6:37

Knowing that we are so loved we can be honest about our sin. Knowing that we can never do anything to make God love us more or less is the only thing that can give us the sure standing to really be honest about our sin. Only when we are honest about out sin can we really change.

John 6:37 ESV

37 All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out.