Assurance in the Attribute of God’s Immutability By Lizzy Blanchard

When your feet hit the ground in the morning, do you know precisely what the next 24 hours will hold? With the passing of another year, could you truthfully state that you did not change in the slightest from the first day of the calendar year to the last? Or from your first breath to your present one? The answer to these questions is a resounding, “No”! This realization alone reminds us that we are finite: we have a birth date and an expiration date on earth!

We can plan and anticipate what our days will look like, but living even a moment in this fallen world causes us to realize that things don’t always unfold as we expect or desire.

We crave constancy, stability, peace, stillness. We crave the unchanging One Himself; Yahweh. The “I am who I am.” (see Exodus 3:14). Despite these uncertainties, we can have certainty and confidence in our standing with the Almighty and Everlasting God. This is because of His unchanging nature, or what theologians call, immutability.

Charles Spurgeon described God’s immutability this way, “... God is perpetually the same. He is not composed of any substance or material, but is spirit—pure, essential, and etherial spirit—and therefore he is immutable. He remains everlastingly the same.” (from Spurgeon’s sermon on “The Immutability of God”).

Why is God’s immutability such good news for us?

If God does not change, then His requirements do not change. Neither does His character. This is good news indeed! His desire is not changing like the daily special at your local diner; as if He craved one thing one day and something else another. He is consistent both in His demand for righteousness and His desire to save us from our lack thereof. We see the good news for mankind in light of this reality when we come to know the good news of the work and person of Jesus Christ. He fulfilled God’s just requirement with sacrificial love by laying down His life that we might have His. 

This brings us immense comfort and assurance. Especially in the midst of our weaknesses, wearisome trials, and waiting. Whatever your situation might be, I imagine that you are like me, desiring quick relief and a swift, favorable conclusion. We are not unlike the Psalmist in Psalm 102.

Take a moment now to read Psalm 102.

Note how David expresses and laments his distress and brevity in verses 1-11. Then note in verse 12 how he turns his eyes from looking inward to looking upward, beholding God. The psalmist pivots from examining his own brevity and calamity, to the God Who is everlasting, eternal, and immutable. 

He writes this of God in verses 25-28, “Of old you laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands. They will perish, but you will remain; they will all wear out like a garment. You will change them like a robe, and they will pass away, but you are the same, and your years have no end. The children of your servants shall dwell secure; their offspring shall be established before you.”

Did you note what the psalmist says is true of God?
Did you notice what he says is true for the children of His servants in relation to God? They “... shall dwell secure; their offspring shall be established before you (God)” (emphasis mine).

In the shadow of our Almighty’s wings we dwell secure. In the shadow of our Saviour’s cross, we stand justified in Christ’s righteousness. In the shadow of the stone rolled away from the empty tomb we stand assured of God’s love, power, and salvation. Our greatest need.

Friend, the Saviour’s love for you doesn't change based on your circumstances or sin. If you are in Christ, you are justified, and being sanctified, and you will be glorified. Draw your gaze outward and upward from yourself and present circumstances to your union with Christ at the right hand of God. Let us now behold Him - the God of Eternity, the Ancient of Days - finding refuge in His infinite wisdom and love. 

Here is an exhortation for us today:
Yet for all that is uncertain in the troubled waters of affliction, cling to the truth of God’s immutability; which is an anchor of assurance for the Christian.

Let's live out the assurance of Christ in our life today!