Forsaken... , Yet Triumphant

In Jerusalem today, within the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, is the spot where Jesus was crucified; it is just outside the walls of Old Jerusalem. As He hung on the cross between two criminals, Jesus cried out, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” These words express a depth of anguish, distress, and isolation beyond human comprehension.

At first glance, it may seem as though Jesus was completely caught off guard by what was happening. However, there are important truths to remember.

No Surprise

First, Jesus was fully aware that He would be crucified.
Throughout His ministry, He repeatedly told His disciples that He would be betrayed, condemned to death, mocked, beaten, and crucified (Mark 8:31-32; 9:30-32; 10:32-34). He knew not only that this would happen, but that it was necessary. When Peter attempted to dissuade Him from going to the cross, Jesus firmly rebuked him.

Second, Jesus was not confused about His identity or His mission.
On the night before His crucifixion, Jesus said that His blood would be poured out for the forgiveness of sins (Matt 26:28). Now, the pouring out of blood for the forgiveness of sins was an everyday practice at the Jerusalem temple (Num 28:3-4; Ezra 3:3). It was a continual burnt offering so that the Lord, who is holy, would dwell among His unholy people (Exod. 29:45). By saying this, Jesus was declaring that He Himself would bear the sins of humanity.

Moreover, John the Baptist identified Jesus as “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29).

So, if Jesus knew what was coming and fully understood His mission, what lies behind His cry on the cross?

Psalm 22

Jesus’ words, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” are a direct quotation from Psalm 22. In Jesus’ time, Old Testament scriptures were not divided into chapters and verses as they are today. Most texts were identified by the first few words of the text, similar to how we identify songs today. By quoting the first line, Jesus was pointing those who heard Him to the entire psalm.

Why this psalm? What is it about this Psalm that Jesus is drawing attention to as He hangs on the cross?

Psalm 22, written by David, expresses a cry for deliverance while he was being pursued and surrounded by his enemies. While it applied to David’s own circumstances, it also prophetically pointed to the coming Messiah. And, remarkably, it aligns in striking detail with the events of Jesus’ crucifixion.

Consider these parallels:

And,

And,

Yet Psalm 22 is not only a cry for deliverance—it is also a testament of the Lord’s deliverance. Jesus knew that His suffering would not end in despair and disappointment, but in triumph.

Rescue and Triumph

Beginning in verse 22, the tone of the psalm shifts to praise. In verse 24, David declares that the Lord “has not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted; Nor has He hidden His face from him; but when he cried to Him for help, He heard.”

This is the truth Jesus was affirming—both for Himself and for those around Him: The Lord will deliver His anointed King (Ps 20:6) and will answer His afflicted when they call (Ps 31:22).

Jesus was not abandoned to the grave, but He was delivered. On the third day, He rose again, in triumph, just as the movement of Psalm 22 prophesied. His resurrection is the ultimate evidence of God’s deliverance and the fulfillment of His mission.

Our Deliverance in Jesus

Jesus fulfilled His mission by truly becoming sin for us and taking our sins upon Himself. In doing so, He was truly forsaken by the Lord, for nothing unclean can stand in His presence. This is the devastating reality of sin—it creates an unfathomable separation between us and God, cutting us off from His presence and His love. Unless that sin is dealt with, there can be no reconciliation or relationship with the Lord. 

What this abandonment meant for the Son of God is beyond our full understanding. Yet Jesus underwent it on our behalf so that we would not have to. He conquered the power of sin—death itself—so that we, who could never overcome it on our own, might share in His victory. We enter into that victory by turning to Jesus and abandoning all human efforts to save ourselves. Through faith, not by our works, we are united with Him in His death, resurrection, and glorification, and in Him we are reconciled to the Father.

As we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus, let us remember that He became sin for us so that we might become the righteousness of God (2 Cor 5:21); he was forsaken so we can be adopted as children by God. His triumph over death guarantees it for us!

What Child is this, What Man was He?

Most people enjoy puzzles and brain-teasers. They’re captivating and often evoke a range of emotions as people try to solve them. One popular puzzle you may be familiar with is "one of these is not like the others." In this puzzle, a set of items is presented, and the contestant is asked to identify the one that differs from the rest. Typically, there is one key aspect that makes one item stand out.

When we consider every human being who has ever lived, Jesus is the One who is different from all of us. He stands out because He was without sin.

But if He was different from all humans, then was He really human? And if He was human but different from us, what kind of human was He? To answer these questions, we must first understand the true nature of humans. And to understand that, we have to go way back… all the way back to when God created humans.

Back to Creation

When God created humans, He made them in His own image and likeness (Gen 1:27), and He said that it was very good (Gen 1:31). In their original state, humans – Adam and Eve – were able to live in God's presence. They were not created flawed or sinful. They did not require a sacrifice to approach God’s presence, as we see from Leviticus onwards. They enjoyed fellowship with God and, in fact, were His representatives to all of creation. Adam and Eve ate, slept, moved, worked (yes, work existed before the Fall), had relationships, and enjoyed all of God’s creation according to God’s design.

This was God’s design for humanity and this is what being human meant according to God’s purposes. There was no fault in them. To err was not human. There was no fear, guilt, sickness, or death that characterized humanity. Sin was not part of human nature.

Humanity Corrupted

However, when Adam and Eve disobeyed God and ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, sin entered the world. Humanity was now stained with sin. Everyone born of Adam and Eve inherited a sinful nature. Through sin, death, sickness, sorrow, and fear entered the world, spreading to all humanity (Rom 5:12). Sin multiplied greatly, and humanity, which was very good in God's eyes, became filled with evil, grieving the Lord (Gen 6:5-6).

Humans were no longer as God had originally created them. In this fallen state, they were not fully human according to God’s design. And this is true even today. Everyone who is conceived naturally and is born as a human, is, in fact, born in sin (Ps 51:5). Sin, like hunger or thirst, has become a default aspect of human nature.

But God did not give up on humans. Right after the Fall, He promised Adam and Eve in Gen 3:15 that He would send a new human, a true human, a complete human, a sinless human who would defeat Satan and sin. And who will fulfill that which Adam was supposed to fulfill, namely, to fill the earth with God’s image-bearers (Gen 1:28). That man was Jesus.

Jesus' Humanity

Jesus, the Son of God, entered humanity through the incarnation. However, He did not inherit the sinful nature that had now become part of human nature. He was conceived supernaturally by the power of the Holy Spirit and was born of a virgin. Jesus was fully human in every way that God originally designed humans to be. But, unlike Adam, He was born into a fallen world. He experienced hunger, thirst, sorrow, rejection, mockery, and even temptation, just as everyone born in a fallen world does. Yet, unlike us, He was without sin and did not yield to temptation (Matt 4:1-11, Heb 4:15).

Jesus took on human nature and was made in the likeness of men (Phil 2:7). Because He was truly human and a better Adam, He resisted temptation and lived without sin. Because He was truly human, He lived in perfect communion with God. Because He was truly human, He became the true representative of all humans, who could not approach God by themselves. He took upon Himself the sins of humans, experiencing death on our behalf. He died on behalf of His people to save them (Matt 1:21) and bore the judgment we deserved (Is 53:5-6). But because He was sinless, death could not hold Him, and God raised Him from the dead, ending the agony of death (Acts 2:24).

Humanity Restored

Humans who are in Jesus through faith, already experience humanity according to God’s original design. In Jesus, we can boldly approach God’s throne (Heb 4:16). We enjoy deeper fellowship with God through the Holy Spirit who dwells within us (1 Cor 6:19). And, through the Spirit, we are set free from the law of sin and death (Rom 8:2). And, one day, when Jesus returns as the King of kings and Lord of lords (Revelation 19:16), He will restore all of creation, and we will be transformed to what God intended humans to be – like Jesus (1 John 3:2).

Conclusion

As we celebrate Christmas this year, let us remember that the Son of God became human – a true human – to restore humanity – and more – to everyone who is united to Him through faith. He became like us in every way, except sin. In Jesus, we have a true representative before God because He became like us. And because of the similarity He shares with us, we will one day be like He is – sinless and perfected.

Turn to Him and be restored!

Merry Christmas!!

God's Transcendent Immanence

Over many centuries and cultures, there have been various understandings of how God relates and interacts with creation. Some treat nature and creation as divine while others see God totally different from creation and having no interaction with creation. These understandings have also impacted people’s interaction with creation; you can think of nature worshippers on one end and nature abusers on the other end. 

Before we look at how the Bible reveals God’s interaction with us, let’s briefly survey some of these other understandings.

Pantheism

The first idea is that creation is divine, that is, there is no distinction between the natural and the supernatural. This is the concept of Pantheism – Pan meaning all and theos meaning God. Everything is God and God is everything. One of the popular religions in the world that holds to this is Hinduism. This is why you will see Hindus worshiping the sun, the moon, various animals, trees, etc. 

Panentheism

The next idea holds that all creation is part of the divine. Creation can be understood as a subset of God. This is the concept of Panentheism – all is in (en) God. While all creation is in the divine, the divine is bigger than creation. There is a mutual dependence between the divine and all creation.  Some forms of Buddhism hold to this understanding. 

Deism

The idea that God is wholly separate from creation and does not interact with it is the concept of Deism. Here God is seen as the one who has set creation in motion and does not intervene in any way. A famous analogy is that of the divine clockmaker who has wound up the clock and sits back watching events unfold. 

Atheism

Finally, atheism does not hold to the idea of the divine and hence, there is no entity to interact with creation other than creation itself. Nature is all there ever was, all there is, and all there ever will be. 

It is important to stop and think if our understanding falls within one of these above categories. Or if we hold to the biblical understanding that God is both transcendent and immanent, that is, God is both above or distinct from creation, and at the same time, dwells among and is actively involved in creation. 

God is Transcendent

Transcendent simply means far above. When the bible talks about God, we see that God is described as being outside/above this creation. In Ps 113:5-6, the psalmist says that God is enthroned on high and stoops down to look at creation. We read that there is nothing in all of creation that can be compared to Him (Is 40:18). He created everything by the power of His word (Heb 11:3). Creation is constrained by space, time, and matter; but God is not constrained by these because He created these things. In this way, He transcends these things.

God is different from us in His very nature. As the angels cry out in Isaiah 6, God is holy, holy, holy. The literal definition of holy is set apart; that is, God is set apart from everything in this universe. That is what Paul tells us in 1 Tim 6:15-16 that God is immortal and lives in unapproachable light.  

The Lord is not only transcendent in His nature but He is also transcendent in His attributes. He is the only One who knows all things (Prov 15:3; Is 46:10), the only One who never changes (Mal 3:6), and is completely righteous (Ps 71:19; Rev 15:3). Nothing in creation can claim these attributes. 

Creation does not have the ability to transcend itself in order to reach or know God. However, God descends into creation to reveal Himself and to interact with creation. Consequently, God is immanent or near to us.

God is Immanent

Immanence can be understood as “near” or “part of.” Scripture tells us that God fills the heavens and the earth (Jer. 23:24). David writes in Ps 139:7-12 that there is no place in creation where we can escape God’s presence. In fact, all creation is held together in Jesus (Col 1:17). God is active and greatly involved in all of creation. 

Moreover, He is always close to His people and wants to dwell in their midst. That is why God visited Adam in the garden, and He told Moses to build a tabernacle so He could dwell in the midst of the Israelites, and He was present with them in the temple in Jerusalem. 

The ultimate expression of God’s immanence is seen in His sending His own Son to reconcile us to Himself. In the incarnation of Jesus, God became one of us and dwelt among us (John 1:14). He became like us in every way, except sin (Heb 4:15). The separation and punishment we inherited because of Adam’s sin and our own sin had to be dealt with, and only God could deal with it. And He dealt with it in the life, death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus. And now, because of the finished work of Jesus, we can have an everlasting union with God. Nothing can separate us from His love (Rom 8:38-39). 

Implications 

It is important that we hold these truths, that is, God’s transcendence and His immanence, together. If we lean too much towards God’s transcendence, then we might become Deistic; and emphasizing God’s immanence more might take us down the path of Pantheism or Panentheism. Eventually, we will not be worshiping the God of the Bible but a god of our own making. 

Knowing that God is transcendent should evoke a deep awe in us. Like Isaiah, when we come face-to-face with God’s transcendence, we should be undone (Is 6) and realize our lowliness. We should recognize God’s glory and majesty, and worship Him and love Him with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength. 

On the other hand, God’s immanence is the sweetest thing we can ever experience. The psalmist tells us to taste and see that the Lord is good (Ps 34:8). The Lord is a very present help in trouble (Ps 46:1); He is near to the brokenhearted (Ps 34:18). He is our refuge and He is always with us. He lives in us through the Holy Spirit, our Comforter (John 14:16). 

Conclusion

God tells us that He is near to all who call upon Him (Ps 145:18), and that He will answer us when we call upon Him (Jer 33:3). He can do that because He sees everything and is above everything. 

Finally, let’s remember and be comforted by God’s words in Is 57:15,

For thus says the high and exalted One 
Who lives forever, whose name is Holy,
“I dwell on a high and holy place, 
And also with the contrite and lowly of spirit
In order to revive the spirit of the lowly 
And to revive the heart of the contrite.

Jesus - Creature or Creator?

Throughout history, a simple question such as “Who are you?” has been a difficult one to answer in its true sense (remember the movie Anger Management?). People have always been concerned about their identity. It has plagued many philosophers and thinkers for millenniums and many theories have been put forward regarding who we are.  

In Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus posed such a question to His disciples saying, “Who do you say I am?” (Matt 16:13-16). The disciples gave multiple answers till Peter correctly identified Jesus as the Messiah, the Son of the living God. The question of Jesus’ identity has been hotly debated since His appearance 2,000 years ago and it still continues today. One of the most significant of these debates was the Arian Controversy. Even though it was condemned as heretical, many groups of people still adhere to it. As we consider Arianism, we will also examine our own beliefs about Jesus. 

Who was Arius and what did he teach?

Arius was a presbyter (pastor) in the early 4th century in Alexandria. He gained a significant following due to his teaching on the nature of God, the Father, and of Jesus Christ. He started wrestling with who Jesus was, and wanted to understand His relationship to God. He firmly believed that God was self-existent and the source of all creation. Eventually, he came to understand that God was not always a Father, that is, there was a time when God was all alone. He became a Father when the Son came into being. This was his main teaching – the Son had a beginning. 

Arius claimed that there was ‘a time when the Son was not.’ This became the theme song for his supporters. According to him, only the Father is God and without a beginning. The Father begot the Son and, until He was begotten, the Son did not exist. The main support for his view was the word “begotten” in John’s Gospel (John 1:18, 3:16) and the adjective “firstborn” in Col 1:15. 

Arius argued that the Father created the Son, so that the Son can create other things; the Father was too high and mighty to create a world. The Father bestowed all the glories on the Son and caused Him to exist with Him. The Son, though superior to all other creatures, is still a creature, created out of nothing, and does not have the same essence of the Father. Thus, the Father and the Son are not on equal footing.  

Arius also contended that because the Son is different than the Father, He cannot fully know the Father, nor can He reveal Him to us. Moreover, the Father is God of the Son, and rules over Him. 

(Did you get all that…?)

But That Was Early 4th Century…What About Now?

Although these views originated in the early 4th century (and were refuted), they never really died. There are many groups today within Christianity and outside of it who do not hold that Jesus is God or that He has the same nature as God. They see Jesus as a creature or a mere mortal.

Jehovah’s Witnesses consider Jesus as God’s first creation and a lesser god (identical to Arians). Many Unitarians also hold to the same view that Godhood is possessed only by God, the Father. Mormons claim Jesus to be the literal biological son of the Father; for them, the Father is also a mortal who once lived on an earth. Judaism considers Jesus as a mere human and a teacher; He is not God for that would be blasphemous against the Only true God. Islam considers Jesus as a prophet, born of a virgin, but not God or even the Son of God; for God is not a Father. 

As it can be seen, the identity of Jesus is a major point of difference among most of the world’s religions. Before we look at the importance of getting the identity of Jesus right, let’s look at what happened to Arius and his teachings in the 4th century. 

Arius Challenged

Arius and his view of the Son was challenged by a number of his contemporaries. His opponents claimed that the Son was of the same being or essence as the Father, and that He was God (see arguments below). The disagreements were so intense that the whole Christian world was divided because of this issue. To resolve this controversy, the first ecumenical (world) council was organized in Nicaea in 325AD. Arius and his teachings were deemed heretical. The decision hinged on one Greek letter – “i” (iota) – Homoousias (same substance) was affirmed and Homoiousias (like substance) was rejected. The most ardent voices against Arius were those of two bishops: Alexander of Alexandria and his successor, Athanasius of Alexandria. 

Arius Refuted

Contrary to Arius’ view, Alexander and Athanasius believed that the Son, Jesus, is the Creator and not a creature. Alexander was Arius’ contemporary and opposed him to his face. Athanasius was involved in debates with Arius’ followers after his death. He wrote multiple discourses against Arianism and was exiled several times for his defense of the divinity of the Son. We now turn to their arguments.

  1. John 1:3 and Col 1:16-17 reads that “all” things came into existence through the Word of God, the Son, – everything in heaven and on earth, the seen and the unseen. If the Son is a creature, then He belongs to the category of “all” created things. But how could He, as a created being, create Himself…? This is an absurdity and was rightly pointed out by both Alexander and Athanasius. Moreover, there could not have been a time when the Son was not because He created time itself. Therefore, the Son is not part of the “all” created things and cannot be numbered with those who came into existence; rather, He is the Creator of “all” things. As a result, no difference exists between the nature of the Father and the Son. Because the Son is of the same substance as the Father, He possesses the same attributes as the Father (except that He is begotten). He is immutable, perfect and in want of nothing. At the same time, the Son is not the Father; they are distinct persons.
  2. There are many texts in the Bible where Jesus is called God and is equated to God by the inspired writers (John 1:1-2, 18, 20:28, Rom 9:5, Titus 2:13, 2 Pet 1:1, Heb 1:8). 
  3. Jesus Christ, the Son, was worshipped in all of the churches and Jesus Himself received worship during His earthly ministry. If the Son is a creature, as Arius argued, then all those who worshipped Jesus would be guilty of worshipping a creature i.e., idolatry. Jesus Himself would also be guilty of blasphemy for accepting worship. However, this is not true, and the worship offered to Jesus, the Son, is worship offered to the only true God. 
  4. More importantly, Athanasius argued that Jesus needed to be both God and man for Him to secure our redemption. If Jesus was not a man, then He could not have represented us perfectly before the Father. We would not have had a true substitute because “what He did not assume, He did not redeem.” Therefore, Jesus’s humanity is necessary for our redemption. In the same way, if Jesus was not God, then He could not have been sinless and thus, could not stand in God’s presence as our representative. He could not have endured the wrath of God on our behalf because no human can do that. Only God can bear God’s wrath, which we deserved.  

More Refutations

In the Old Testament, God reminds His people over and over again that He is the true God and there is no other. One of the arguments used to support this claim is that God alone is the Creator of the heavens and the earth. See Isaiah 40:25-26,42:5; 45:12, 18; 48:12-13. How then could the New Testament writers make Jesus, the Son, the creator of all things (John 1:3, Col 1:16-17)? The only plausible way to understand this is that they understood Jesus to be God, though distinct from the Father. 

In Heb 1:8, the writer addresses the Son and continues in Heb 1:10 to say that the Son laid the foundations of the earth in the beginning. This is a reference to Psalm 102:25, where the same words are addressed to the Father. The writer is, thus, equating Jesus to Yahweh. 

Why does this matter today?

What we believe about the identity of Jesus is not just a theological exercise, but it has important implications for our eternity. 

  1. Jesus wanted His disciples to know that He is God incarnate. During His earthly ministry, He revealed His identity to them through various ways. He forgave sin (Mark 2:10), He accepted worship (Matt 14:33, John 20:28), He transfigured (Matt 17:2), and He even raised people from the dead (Luke 7:15, John 11:43-44). No mere human can do any of these things but only God can. 
  2. Jesus also revealed His identity to the Pharisees using Old Testament language. God had revealed His name as “I AM” in Exod. 3:14. Jesus told the Pharisees that He is the I AM and unless they believe it, they will perish in their sins (John 8:24).
  3. After His resurrection, Jesus taught His disciples from the Scriptures everything written about Him (Luke 24:44-47). The disciples’ understanding can be seen in their teaching, that Jesus is God and not just a man. John wrote that if we deny the Son, we do not have the Father (1 John 2:23).  
  4. Paul wrote in Rom 10:9 that confessing Jesus as Lord is salvific. And for John, a person’s understanding of Jesus’ identity was important to know if that person is born of God (I John 4:2-3).


As we close, each of us should examine our belief of who Jesus is. Is He a creature or the Creator?

The testimony of the entire the Bible is that Jesus is the Creator and all created things were made through Him. We need to hold fast to this confession for our salvation and to grow in our understanding of the One who rescued us. 

This was a brief look into the Arain controversy and how it impacts us today. Stay tuned for more articles which will deal with the nature of Jesus Christ and His work.  

Further Reading

Justo L. Gonzalez, The Story of Christianity, Vol. 1: The Early Church to the Dawn of the Reformation

Michael A. G. Haykin, Rediscovering the Church Fathers: Who They Were and How They Shaped the Church

William G. Rusch, The Trinitarian Controversy (Sources of Early Christian Thought)

Is Change the Only Constant?

Everything is in a state of flux or change. It is not difficult to see that the world has changed beyond our imagination since the spread of Coronavirus. You and I have changed, and our loved ones have also changed (some for the better some for the worse). We hear that things in outer space are changing due to the ongoing expansion of the universe. Things under the earth have been changing due to shifting plate tectonics. Climate scientists tell us that the climate is always changing (a hotly debated topic in the last few years). Is there anything or anyone that does not change or is incapable of change?

The only positive answer to that question is found in the nature of the God of the Bible. He says emphatically that He does not change (Mal 3:6); this attribute of God is called Immutability. Let’s explore this more.

Immutability

An Immutable thing or being is something that is unchangeable or incapable of change. Whenever we talk about “change,” it is, in most cases, with respect to time. All of the examples of change described above are in relation to time; it was one thing at one point of time, and it is different or something else after a certain period of time. However, the Bible reminds us that God created time and that He is not bound by time (Ps 90:2). Consequently, He does not experience any of the effects of time, and He does not change. God has been the same from eternity and will be the same for all eternity. His nature or being does not undergo any change, He does not grow or diminish, His attributes do not change, His Word never changes, and His plans are not altered. This is a great truth seen in the Bible and one that has immense implications for our lives.

What other Biblical support can we find? 

  1. When the Lord revealed Himself through the burning bush, Moses asked God what His name was. In Exodus 3:14, God told Moses that His name is “I AM WHO I AM.” God’s name was reflective of His nature; God revealed to Moses that ‘He is.’ God did not reveal Himself as someone ‘who was’ or as someone ‘who will be’. Rather, He emphasizes His unchangeability by telling Moses that He just is. There is no other state that can be ascribed to God; from eternity to eternity, He is…the same.
  2. In the book of Isaiah, God declares that He alone is God. Explaining His uniqueness, God says in Isaiah 46:9-11, “for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose,’ ... I have spoken, and I will bring it to pass; I have purposed, and I will do it.” God proclaims that He alone has knowledge of what will take place in time. God knows this because He has established what will take place in time and He never alters His purposes; they will be established. There is also an affirmation of God’s omniscience in these verses. God has infinite knowledge and hence, there is no error in His purposes. And, since, He is also all-powerful (omnipotent), His purposes will never be frustrated. There is nothing that will take away from His knowledge or from His power. His plans will always remain, and His Word will never change. The Lord never changes, and His attributes do not change either. 
  3. In the New Testament book of James, we read in chapter 1 verse 17 that there is no variation or shadow of change in God. In the same verse, James calls God the Father of lights; this is in reference to God as the creator of all the heavenly bodies. Using astronomical terms, James is contrasting the behavior of these heavenly bodies (the waxing and waning of the moon, the movement of the planets, etc.) to God’s unchangeable nature. There is no turning in the Lord; there is nothing in Him that is prone to change. He is the same from of old, the Ancient of Days. 
  4. The author of Hebrews establishes early on in the book that Jesus, the Son, belongs to the Godhead, and is God (see discussion here). In Heb 13:8, the author tells the readers that Jesus, who is God, is the same yesterday, today and forever. God never forsook His people (Heb 13:5), and Jesus will never forsake us either. The same God who was the help of our forefathers will be our help today and forever. He has not changed and will not change.

 The reader is encouraged to look at these other passages which convey the same teaching: Num 23:19, 1 Sam 15:29, Ps 33:11, Ps 90:2, Ps 93:2, Ps 102:25-27, Is 40:6-8, Is 48:12, Matt 24:35, John 10:35.

But Doesn’t the Bible say God Relented?

The Bible does include language describing God as “changing his mind” or “relenting” or “repenting” – see Gen 6:6-7, Ex 32:12, 14; 1 Sam 15:11, 2 Sam 24:16, Amos 7:3, 6; Jer. 18: 8, 10; Joel 2:13-14; Jonah 3:9-10. The way to make sense of these passages is to understand a) God’s accommodation to represent Himself to us in a way that we can perceive Him, and b) primary and secondary causes of events. These topics will be dealt in future articles. However, a significant point to note in the passages mentioned above is that they do not indicate that God changed His mind because He learned something new, which is, typically, the most common reason to alter plans. In His Omniscience, God is fully aware of all events in time and there is no change in His eternal plan. God does not have a Plan B – He doesn’t need it. 

Implications of God’s Immutability

Immutability is not only a concept that we learn about God, but knowing it should enrich us, His children, and convict the unrepentant.

  1. God never changes. His immutability gives us strength and confidence because we can be certain that in this ever-fleeting world, our God is a rock and a solid foundation for our very existence. Can you take refuge in that? The psalmists surely did… they expressed their trust in God repeatedly (Ps 18:2-3, Ps 71:3). He will always be the same and not diminish; He will always be powerful, loving, just and merciful. He is not erratic, nor is He is inconsistent. He will always be our source of life (John 14:19). We can look to Him at any time, and we will always find our strength in Him (Ps 27:1).
  2. God’s immutability assures that His promises (i.e., His Word) will never change. A friend of mine once told me that the Bible should be re-interpreted since it was written in a different time from ours. There have been constant attacks on God’s Word ever since the garden of Eden. However, His Word stands forever and doesn’t change. Jesus said in John 10:35 that Scripture cannot be broken, and in Matt 24:35 that His Word will never pass away. We can trust in God’s unchanging Word and that He will accomplish everything He has said. This means that those who will call upon the name of the Lord will be saved (Acts 2:21) and we have an inheritance which is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading (1 Pet 1:4).
  3. God’s immutability should draw the unrepentant sinner to God. Since God’s ways do not change, He will deal with sinners as He has promised. When king Saul disobeyed God in 1 Sam 15, God cursed Saul through the prophet Samuel. Saul negotiates with God through Samuel; but Samuel proclaims to Saul that God is not a man that He should change His mind (1 Sam 15:29). God’s words are fulfilled in 1 Sam 28:17 when the kingdom is torn from Saul’s hand and given to David because of Saul’s disobedience and, more importantly, because of God’s immutability and His unchanging nature. We read in John 3:18 that those who do not put their trust in Jesus are already judged. However, His mercies are new every morning and they never come to an end, and His steadfast love never ceases (Lam 3:22). Jesus Christ is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through Him (Heb 7:25). Therefore, if you have not put your faith in Jesus (Rom 10:9), now is the time to do so. 

Doesn’t Prayer Change God’s Mind?

It is important that we do not misunderstand God’s immutability; we should not make God out to be someone who is mechanically fulfilling His plans. This will lead us down the wrong road of apathy and fatalism. 

God has complete knowledge of every event that will take place and also how He will accomplish those events. Prayer belongs to the “how” part of God’s eternal plan. Prayer does not “change” God’s mind or His plans, but it is one of the means through which He has chosen to act. It is for this reason the Bible tells us to pray without ceasing (1 Thess 5:17), to make our needs known to the Lord (Phil 4: 6), and to ask so it may be given to us (James 4:2-3). Jesus Himself taught us how to pray and ask God for eternal and material blessings (Matt 6:9-13). Therefore, it is imperative for us to pray knowing that God will act based on our prayer. However, our prayers do not make God act against His will; rather, God uses them to accomplish His eternal decree. In fact, He has ordained that we pray so He can accomplish His plans. 

Prayer is an important part of the Christian’s life, and more will be said about it in future articles.

Conclusion

It is important for us to know who God is and what His nature is. When we know this, we can worship God in truth (John 4:23) and we will not create a god our own imagination. Knowing God’s immutability will teach us to trust in Him like David did (Ps 18:2-3) and as Jesus did (Luke 22:42) even in the face of trouble. 

I pray that we will worship our immutable God as He truly is and live in the assurance of His unchanging love and mercy and kindness, trusting in His unchanging Word.