Praising God for His Immutability

Immutable. Unchangeable. God is unchanging. God is the same as He’s always been. That’s good news for us. It means that the God who did all those great and mighty things throughout Biblical history is still able and willing to do great and mighty things today.

Sometimes it’s hard to picture God at work in our world. We don’t see Him miraculously fighting major battles in our conquest for the promise land like He did in Israel’s day. I know for me I have to be looking to see where God is working. But because He worked in the past, I can be sure He is working today. It’s part of His character to be unchanging in every aspect. So, for me today, it’s important to know He’s at work in my life.

According to J.I. Packer in Knowing God, there are six ways that God is unchanging. In looking at a couple of the ways God is unchanging, I gain confidence in my God acting on my behalf.

One point is that God’s life is unchanging, meaning that He’s eternal, always was and always is going to be. Psalm 90:2 says, “Before the mountains were brought forth or ever You had formed and given birth to the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting You are God” [Amplified Bible]. “Created things have a beginning and ending, but not so their Creator.” (Packer, p. 69) God did not need to be made. He always existed and will always exist. God is not going to just disappear sometime in the future leaving me without hope. My hope is in an eternal God.

Another point is that God’s character is unchanging. Packer says that “in the course of a human life, tastes and outlook and temper may change radically: a kind, equable man may turn bitter and crotchety; a man of good-will may grow cynical and callous. But nothing of this sort happens to the Creator.” (p. 69) James 1:17 tells us that God “does not change like shifting shadows.” [NIV] God’s character is as it always has been and that’s good news for us because “God is sheer mercy and grace; not easily angered, he’s rich in love” [Psalm 103:8, The Message]. He will always be merciful and full of grace toward me. He’s not going to get angry with me, or stop loving me. It’s not in His character because we’ve been told what He’s like. His character will always be loving toward me because He is love.

The fact that God is immutable means I can count on Him at all times to be just like He is described in the Bible. I choose to focus on His never-changing love and mercy for the people throughout history. I can rely on Him to still be that way for me today.