“But You are the same, and Your years will not fail” (Heb. 1:12b).
“I am the Lord, I do not change” (Mal. 3:6). What glorious words! In a world with instability at every turn, it is a great comfort to know something always remains the same—God. When you feel as if things are out of control, when insecurity begins to well up inside you, look to God. He does not change. He is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow. We can trust in His Word and standards of obedience because they do not change. What God has established will not be undone but will continue forever because He is eternal and unchangeable. We will always know where we stand with God because He is immutable.
Thomas Watson insightfully comments on the immutability of God as it relates to the creature: “See the excellence of the divine nature in its immutability. This is the glory of the Godhead. Mutableness denotes weakness, and is not in God, who is ‘the same, yesterday, and today, and forever’ (Heb. 8:8). Men are fickle and mutable, like Reuben, ‘unstable as water’ (Gen. 49:4). They are changeable in their principles. If their faces altered as fast as their opinions, we should not know them. Changeable in their resolutions, as the wind that blows in the east, presently turns about to the west. They resolve to be virtuous, but quickly repent of their resolutions. Their minds are like a sick man’s pulse, which alters every half hour. An apostle compares them to waves of the sea, and wandering stars (Jude 13). They are not pillars in God’s temple, but reeds. Others are changeable in their friendship. They quickly love and quickly hate. Sometimes they will put you in their bosom, then excommunicate you out of their favor. They change as the chameleon, into several colors, but God is immutable.”
Because God will not change His love toward His people, we remain secure in Him. He will not change His way of salvation; therefore, we can put our confidence in Christ. His laws, decrees, and statutes remain the same; therefore, all men must repent of their sins, for His standards of obedience will not change. Likewise, God’s covenant promises are established forever, giving us a firm foundation for our faith. If you want to strengthen your faith, put your trust and hope in the unchangeable promises of God.
We are not immutable as creatures, but we can reflect steadfast qualities—love, faith, obedience. Think about how you can give someone close to you security in your relationship by telling and showing them that, by God’s grace, you will always love them. Make a point to tell them in a new way sometime this week.
