unchanging

we sing songs at church about the everlasting God. His love is the same yesterday, today and forever.

He is unchanging.

i've often wondered why this is such a celebrated characteristic of God. why is being stagnant, non-assimilating, seemingly unable to become relevant to modern society a good thing?

If He lets us change, whay doesn't He follow suit?

the worldview is decidedly that "change is good". progression is natural. to evolve is nessesary for our very survival. why doesn't God fit into this picture? we are made in His likeness, right? so why this significant and obvious barrier between our natures?

ahhh... nature.

after thinking on this issue, i decided to dig a little deeper. i thought that if God never changes, that must mean that He is who He is... so, who IS He?

the bible gives us some answers:

God is good
God is love
God is all-powerful
God is everywhere
He is wise
He is just
God is unchaning
God is perfect... etc.

ok. these are all great, but do they merely describe God's characteristics? or... are they who God IS?

i mean sure... God is loving, but that's not what it says... it says God IS love. He IS the wellspring of knowledge and wisdom. He IS goodness. He IS time. He IS perfection.

when moses asked what name he should call God, God simply said "I AM".

wow. that's pretty far-reaching.

now if God is the I AM, then there's one thing He can't do. (ouch! put down the stones!)
God can't, not be God (please forgive the double negative)

He IS perfect, therefore He is restrained by the definition of perfection. you see, He can't change... not because He doesn't have the power to change, but because He's God. light can't be light if it no longer shines. something can't be the same something if it steps outside the definition of itself.

what does this mean?

simply put... God never changes.
why is this important? the answer i've found is "nature".

not to get too "bible story" on you, but... remeber the garden of eden?

you see, God created a perfect place with perfect beings to live in perfect harmony within His perfect nature. He wanted a relationship. now, if mankind was to be perfect, then he must have free-will. if there is no free will, there are only robots.
so God gave man one rule. man broke the rule. God could no longer walk with man in a relationship because man had "changed". he now had a blemish. he now had a new "nature".

man was now condemned to be set apart from God because God doesn't change. but, because God is who He is, He created ways to look down on His creation in love. He devised systems of sacrifices that "covered" man's sinful nature for a time. this was understandably a difficult premise to accept for us. we were so far separated from God's nature that He had to virtually wipe the slate clean and start over.

we all know the rest of the story. nations rose and fell and God appeared and interviened time and time again. God let us do all that we could to beat out our own "nature"... the thing is, we couldn't do it. something can't be the same something if it steps outside the definition of itself... remeber? so He did something to override the system...

for God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son. that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life.

you see, we're "born again". we have a new "nature" now... God's nature. We have a pathway directly to Him... He can have the relationship that He desired from us all in the beginning.

because of this perfect sacrifice that we, as Christians accept, He meets us where we are. He guides us through our strife. He celebrates with us in our joy. He weeps with us in our pain. He listens when we speak. He speaks even if we refuse to listen... how do I know all this?

because He's God

and God never changes... thank Goodness.