God's Unchanging Nature

 "Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows" (James 1:17).

What does the Bible say about God's unchanging nature?

When the Bible says God is "holy" is doesn't just mean righteous.

Applied to God, the word "holy" also means unique.  There is no One or nothing in the universe that is like Him.

More on this topic....

For starters, there are some characteristics of God, or attributes as they are sometimes called, that only He possesses in any form.  These are not a matter of degree:

All-powerful - You can only have one all-powerful being in the universe.  You can't be almost as "all-powerful" as another being.  You either are, or are not.  Sometimes the word omnipotent is used for this attribute.  It's because of this characteristic of God that He is sovereign, in control, over all.  (Jeremiah 32:17; Daniel 4:35; Isaiah 43:13; Matthew 19:26 P to list a few).

Eternal - Has always existed before anything else and is without a beginning or end.   Only one being can exist before anything else.  "Almost as eternal" doesn't count on this one (Genesis 1:1; Genesis 21:33; Psalm 90:2; Revelation 10:6 to list a few).

That's unique!

But God is holy and unique in other ways too.  Some of these are "perfections" of a characteristic, like no one else.

He knows everything - He is perfect in knowledge of what has been, is, will be, as well as all possibilities.  Consequently, nothing surprises Him ever.  No one else knows everything.  This is sometimes called ominiscience.  But it's more than just intellect.  God is all wise.  His judgment is perfect too.  We should trust His plan that it leads to the good. (Isaiah 46:9-10; Isaiah 40:13-14; Psalm 139:15-16; Job 21:22; Psalm 147:4-5; Romans 11:33; Hebrews 4:13; Luke 12:7 to list a few).

Love - God is perfect in His love.  No one else is.   And His love is different from what is often called love.  It is unconditional, never manipulative or fickle.  When things seem bad we should remember this.  God loves you! (Romans 8:35-39; 1 John 4:9-10, 18 to list a few).

Righteousness - God is perfect in His righteousness.  There is no mixture of good and evil in Him at all.  (1 John 1:5; James 1:17 to list a few.)

It's because God is both perfect in love and in righteousness that He had to come up with the payment for sin.  He would not be righteous to simply ignore sin, or sweep it under a cosmic rug.  He would not have been loving had He not made that payment on our behalf.

The entrance of sin into the world didn't surprise Him.  He chose, for His own reasons, to create a universe where it could happen, and in fact, He knew it would happen.

These are just some of the attributes of God.  But you can see why He doesn't change:

• He can't ever become unloving or unrighteous

• He is never surprised, so He never has, or will have, to change any plans. 

• There were no pre-existing conditions He had to handle because nothing existed before Him.

• And nothing can stand in His way.  Those who oppose Him are only allowed to do so because He first chose to allow it, which is also part of His bigger plan! And in the end, all will bow the knee to Him (Philippians 2).

If that's a bit confusing, it should be!  A God we could fully understand would not be God.

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