S4 E16: The Immutability of God

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Season 4 of Spirit-Led Hope covers the Doctrine of God, or theology, from a Spirit-led perspective. In this episode, Glenn returns to the attributes of God and covers the immutability of God. Glenn explains why this attribute is "sneaky good" and focuses on the relevance of Hebrews 13:8.

This episode has a transcript. If your podcast player does not support transcripts, please go to the Transcripts section of https://spiritledhope.com/ . These transcripts have been edited for accuracy and are typically of higher quality than those produced automatically by many podcast apps.

Season 4 is part of a long term goal to study systematic theology from a Spirit-led perspective. If you want to know more about systematic theology, or expand your study, Glenn is using the following text as a helpful framework to make sure the main topics are covered:  Foundations of Pentecostal Theology, by Guy P. Duffield and Nathaniel M. Van Cleave.  The book is published by Foursquare Media and Glenn is using the Second Edition published in 2016.

Transcript

S4 E16 TRANSCRIPT 

THE IMMUTABILITY OF GOD   

INTRODUCTION

Hello everyone and welcome to Spirit-Led Hope. My name is Glenn Erichsen, and in this episode, we are discussing:

     THE IMMUTABILITY OF GOD

The immutability of God is one of God’s attributes that is sneaky good. It is easy to see the value in things like omnipotence and omniscience, but immutability is one of the things that is critical for a Spirit-led life. When you understand that God is immutable, your willingness and ability to be led by the Holy Spirit steps up to a whole new level. I will explain why as we get deeper into this episode.

So, what does it mean that God is immutable? If this word is new to you, you may recognize that it sounds a lot like the word “mutation.” Both “immutable” and “mutation” come from the same Latin word meaning “a change.” So, a mutation is a change in something from its normal state. Most people, when they hear the word “mutation” probably think of something like a disease or birth defect caused by a mutation, or a change, in the DNA structure. Mutations can be either good or bad, but there is often a fear factor associated with them when it comes to people. Except in the comics, where superheroes like the X-Men are born with special powers because of a genetic mutation.

Immutability is just the opposite. Immutability means that no change occurs. We often joke and say that things like death and taxes never change. If you are scientifically inclined, you might say that the laws of physics are immutable and never change.

 So, when we say that God is immutable, we are simply saying that God never changes.

I like how A. W. Tozer breaks this down. He said that if God were to change, one of these three things must take place:

1.     God must go from better to worse, or 

2.     He must go from worse to better, or

3.     He must change from one kind of being to another.

But these three things do not happen because God is immutable and never changes.

SCRIPTURAL BASIS

The immutability of God is taught throughout Scripture. In fact, there are verses which explicitly point out that God is different than humans who do change. Change is a fact in our lives. I was looking in the mirror this morning and I cannot help but see how my physical appearance is changing as I get older. The hair on my head is thinner and grayer. My nose hairs and ear hairs are thriving. My muscles are no longer toned like they were when I was young. It is frustrating but inevitable…because that is part of what it means to be a human who changes until death.

But that does not apply to God. The psalmist knew this when he wrote about God and said:

Long ago you established the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands. They will perish, but you will endure; all of them will wear out like clothing. You will change them like a garment, and they will pass away. But you are the same, and your years will never end.

Psalm 102:25-27 CSB

I find it interesting that those verses are quoted in the first chapter of Hebrews. Then later, in Hebrews 13:8, we read that:

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

Hebrews 13:8 CSB

And we will come back to this verse, but the author of Hebrews makes it a point to emphasize the immutability of God.

Now, I can already hear some of the disagreements with this last verse. Someone right now is thinking that, of course Jesus changed…he was born a baby, and grew up. That is change.

Well, that is true, but we need to be careful when we talk about Jesus. Because we need to remember that Jesus is fully God, and fully man. Jesus did not give up his divinity when he became a man. In other words, his divine nature and divine character did not change when he voluntarily took on flesh. His human body? Yes, that did change, but his divine nature did not.

THE IMPORTANCE OF GOD’S IMMUTABILITY

If you want to read more verses about the immutability of God, I am going to leave that up to you as a homework assignment. Because what I really want to focus on is what it means for us that God is immutable. And I want to start by putting this in relational terms.

I once had a boss who was really a good boss. He was intelligent and knew what he was doing. But he had a trait that could make it difficult to work for him. It was this…his mood and behavior could be very affected by what happened to him throughout the day.

And, of course, we all get this. Some of us get grumpy if we do not have enough sleep. Or we get hangry if we do not have enough food.  Or we can lose patience if someone keeps doing the same silly thing over and over. We all have events that tax us and put weight on us and have the potential to change our behavior.

Well, my boss was dramatically affected by things from his own workload. If the CEO chewed him out, then my boss would be very inclined to be very critical and make life miserable for his direct reports. When he was like that, you just wanted to keep away from him.

But if things were good, like a customer was complimentary, then my boss was happy. When he was like that you knew you could tell him anything and it would be okay. Maybe you know someone like this.

The problem was that you never knew which boss was going to show up. The happy boss, or the mad boss? It could change throughout the day. And so, I discovered that the risk was so great that I just found reasons to avoid some meetings. And that is not good if you want to be effective at your job and be a good employee.

So, one day, my boss was in a happy mood, and I decided to risk telling him about my frustration of not knowing which boss I was going to see. Now, I was tactful and gentle, and I framed it from the perspective that it would help me do my job better if I did not need to fear his actions on a bad day.

The meeting went well, and he was so professional. He thanked me for telling him. And you know what? He got better…and it helped everyone. Work was more enjoyable because he became predictably approachable.

Now think about God in that context. What if we did not know how God would react when we approached him? Can you imagine how awful prayer would be if we worried that he would zap us with a lightning bolt? Or that he might give us something horrible because he was in a bad mood? 

We do not have to worry about that because God is immutable. If we think about the fruit of the Spirit, we know that God will always be patient, and kind, and good. We do not have to worry that his moods change because he had a bad day. God is always predictably approachable. He always loves us.

This has huge ramifications for living a Spirit-led life.  In fact, our entrance into a life led by the Holy Spirit is based on an understanding that God is immutable. Here is what Jesus said:

What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead of a fish? Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?”

Luke 11:11-13 CSB

This verse is as true today as it was 2000 years ago when Jesus spoke it. Why? Because God is immutable. His desire to be with us and to fill us with his Spirit is not going to change.

When our desire is to turn away from our junk and put God first, his unchanging love allows us to approach him. And when we do, and give our lives to him, something remarkable happens. His immutability joins with us to help us undergo change. Because we do change. And we need to change because none of us have the character of Jesus.

Our ability to change for the better is based on the immutability of the Holy Spirit. We are not going to lead the Holy Spirit astray because he lives within us. If we submit to the work of the Holy Spirit, it will be the other way. We will become more like him and take on the character of Jesus. 

And this also has huge ramifications as we live out the ministry of Jesus. We are called to serve as ambassadors for Christ. We often say that we are the hands and feet of Jesus, right? Just like Jesus was approachable, we will become more predictably approachable as the Holy Spirit transforms us.

JESUS THE SAME YESTERDAY, TODAY, AND FOREVER

And that brings us back to Hebrews 13:8 which says that Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Understanding this verse inspires us to serve others in the name of Jesus with faith and confidence as the Holy Spirit works through us.

I want to pause for a moment and give a bit of backstory to what I am about to say. Many of you know that I serve as an ordained lay pastor in the Foursquare Church. If you walk into a Foursquare Church, most of them will have Hebrews 13:8 displayed somewhere. And that is because this verse was the verse the Holy Spirit used to inspire Aimee Semple-McPherson, the founder of the Foursquare Movement. She is normally called Sister Aimee, so I am just going to refer to her that way.

Now I know that within Christianity, there are debates about the suitability of women in pastoral leadership roles. I understand that. But I hope that if you have negative issues with women pastors, you will set that aside for a moment and not let that distract you from something very important that Sister Aimee latched onto.

I do not know if Sister Aimee would express her revelation this way, but this is how I see it. Sister Aimee grasped the combination of the immutability of God, and our role to serve as ambassadors for Jesus. And what she realized was that if Jesus does not change, then what he did in his earthly ministry, should be reflected in what we do as ambassadors for Christ.

What Jesus did with his hands and feet, we should be doing. It is that simple. But it is profound. If Jesus wanted people to be healed and set free from bondage 2000 years ago, then he wants it today, because he is the same.

This principle, that Jesus does not change and will work through us encourages us to sacrificially love everyone, to share the good news of the gospel, and to make disciples of all nations. 

This principle also challenges us to operate in the gifts of the Spirit to do the things Jesus did. This is why we contend for things like healing, and deliverance, in the name of Jesus.

Remember how I said earlier that understanding God’s immutability helps take your willingness and ability to follow the Holy Spirit to a whole new level? This is because it helps your faith. We do not need to doubt if God wants wholeness or wisdom for someone. Jesus demonstrated that these are things God wants for all people. Since Jesus does not change, we can pray for those things with confidence.

I know this stretches many people and we have disagreements about whether spiritual gifts are for today. But I firmly believe that Amy got it right, and I see too much evidence scripturally and experientially to think otherwise.

The immutability of God shows us that his steadfast love towards us will never fail. And since God has chosen to work through us, we can be confident that he will never leave us, and he will help us be the hands and feet of Jesus.

CLOSING

I think now you can see why I said the immutability of God is a sneaky good attribute. So much comes out of it. I focused in this episode on what immutability means for a Spirit-led life, but I hope that you will continue to think about immutability. It is so rich. It strengthens us to know that God will always be good. God will always know everything. God will always have the power to do the right thing. Spend some time thinking about what it means that God never changes, and you will get a glimpse of how different God is from us…but his immutability gives us reason to put our trust in him.

In our next episode, we are going to look more at the works of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

As always, you can send me comments, suggestions, or questions, by email at glenn@spiritledhope.com, or simply use the Contact Form at spiritledhope.com. That is spiritLEDhope.com. You can also send me a one-way text message by going to the episode show notes and clicking on the link with your smart phone. This is one of the ways you can encourage me and thank you to all who have sent me a text.

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As you remember that Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever…

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope, by the power of the Holy Spirit.  

Until the next episode, take care.

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