In the midst of this changing world with its changing scenes in the nations, changing moral and religious principles among its peoples, how comforting is the assurance that the believer in Christ has an Unchangeable God! The world with its sin and strife, lust and greed, riot and war only changes for the worse, but the Unchangeable God with His love and purity, mercy and judgment, grace and righteousness abides ever the same. The infallible Scriptures present Him in all the glories of His Person as the One who is "The Same" (Hebrews 1:12). In Him, and in Him alone, is to be found that which is sure, stable and satisfying both now and forever.

"JEHOVAH: I CHANGE NOT"

The prophet Malachi presents Him thus in these words: "For I am the Lord (JEHOVAH), I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed" (3:6). "Jehovah" is the "I AM"—the self-existing One who was, is and ever shall be. It is the name of God used particularly in relation to His dealings with His people. The mention of the "sons of Jacob" serves to draw attention to the grace of God that dealt with such changeable failures as Jacob himself was, and consequently they were "not consumed." "I change not," He says. How reassuring this is to us today, for He cannot change. He is still the God of all grace to all, who, though guilty and undeserving, turn simply to Him in faith, and find Him to be just "The Same"!

"JESUS CHRIST THE SAME"

The Scriptures speak of this Unchangeable God in Hebrews 13:8—"Jesus Christ the Same yesterday, and today, and for ever." His eternal "yesterday" is declared by His own lips when He said, "Before Abraham was, I AM" (John 8:58). He was ever the eternal Word, with God and who was God. The Same was in the beginning with God" (John 1:1,2), by whom all things were made (v. 3). To Bethlehem He came at the appointed time, and became flesh to display "the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth" (John 1:14). The fulness of unchanging virtue in Him provided a sure, stable and satisfying portion for ruined, changing man who received Him in that day. And now from the glory above where He has ascended after finishing His redemptive work at Calvary, He imparts the fruits of His triumph, the fulness of His grace and truth, to all who come to Him by faith. Throughout eternity, too, these unchanging virtues of Himself will be displayed for our wondering eyes and bring forth eternal worship and praise unto the One who alone is worthy. "Jesus" is His name! "Jehovah, the Saviour"!

"THE ETERNAL SPIRIT"

The apostle John writes in his gospel concerning the Unchangeable Holy Spirit: "I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter, that He may abide with you for ever: even the Spirit of Truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth Him not, neither knoweth Him: but ye know Him; for He dwelleth with you, and shall be in you" (John 14:16,17). He is called "The Eternal Spirit" in Hebrews 9:14. Equal with the Father and the Son, he is a "Comforter" of the same kind as the Saviour Himself. (Such is the implication of the meaning of the word "another"). He indwells every believer (1 Corinthians 3:16); makes each believer a member in the Church, the body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:12,13); guides into all truth (John 16:13); empowers for worship and service (Philippians 3:3). What an unchangeable source is this blessed Person!

"THE WORD OF GOD"

The apostle Peter writes of that which is inseparably linked with the Unchangeable God; namely, "The Word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever" (1 Peter 1:23). It stands in marked contrast to the glory of man and his word which is likened to "the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away" (v. 24). The Lord Jesus said, "Heaven and earth shall pass away, but My Words shall not pass away" (Matthew 24:35). Peter continues, "The Word of the Lord endureth forever" (v. 25). It is as unchanging as God Himself.

The Bible is the means whereby the Unchangeable God communicates Himself to you for your acceptance and implicit trust. Reader, is this Unchangeable Triune God your Saviour? In order for Him to be your Saviour you must own your need of Him because of your sins. God's Word clearly tells us that "All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23). These sins are a barrier between the sinner and God (Isaiah 59:2) and must be washed away by the blood of Christ shed on Calvary—"In whom (Christ) we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace" (Ephesians 1:7). The purpose for Christ's coming into this world, becoming a man, and going to the cross at Calvary was to shed His precious blood so that He might be our Saviour—"Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners" (1 Timothy 1:15), "God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8). A sinner can only be redeemed and cleansed from his sins by "The precious blood of Christ" (1 Peter 1:19), which alone has power to cleanse from "all sin" (1 John 1:7).

To become a child of God, one must believe God's Unchangeable Word about his need of salvation and about God's wonderful provision for the sinner. To believe means to trust Christ as one's personal Saviour, believing in his heart that the only way to be born again is to trust completely in Christ and His shed blood as the only means of salvation—"For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast" (Ephesians 2:8,9).

What untold blessing will result when a sinner trusts the Unchangeable God and His Unchangeable Word! What change will be wrought in the life of one who is no longer under judgment because of his sins, but is given eternal life by the Unchangeable God—"He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him" (John 3:36). Won't you receive the Unchangeable Saviour today and thus be forever changed from an unsaved, perishing person to a born again child of God; from a "natural" person to a spiritual person with a new nature, a new life, a new hope, new desires, a new purpose and a new destiny? "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new" (2 Corinthians 5:17).

—Donald T. Johnson