Our God: The Same Yesterday, Today,
and Forever – Part One
Jesus
Christ: The same: yesterday, today, and forever. (Hebrews 13: 8)
Some
Christians think that over the many centuries since God created man, He has
changed. The scriptural statement above
argues that that perception is not correct. Careful reading of the Bible
clarifies the reasoning to support the validity of the subject verse.
Let’s look
at a few reasons why some might have incorrect perceptions.
Christians
generally acknowledge that we worship the Triune Godhead composed of God the
Father, God the Son, and the Holy Spirit. That concept was introduced in the
first sentence of the Bible which attributes the creation of the heaven and the
earth to “God”. In the original Hebrew language, that word is “Elohiym”, a
plural noun.(Genesis 1: 1) That entire
chapter refers to “God”, but as the next chapter refers to the same God, the
term of identification is changed to the
“LORD God”, from the translation of “Yhovah” or Jehovah, the Jewish national
name of God. By Chapter Four, the term “God” has been replaced by the single
term “LORD”, but with the same translation.
Later in the Scripture we
learn that it is our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who was the entity
within the Godhead who accomplished the Creation of Genesis 1: 1. (John 1: 1-3;
Colossians 1: 16, 2: 8-9; Hebrews 1: 1-2)
Israel’s “God Jehovah” is our Lord Jesus Christ. The failure of Israel
to make that connection is why they persecuted Him and subsequently conspired
with the Romans to have Him crucified. Even so, they did this out of ignorance.
The Apostle Paul later points out:
“7 But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden
wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory:
8 Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known
it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.” (1 Corinthians 2: 7-8)
Those verses lead me to another major reason for some
misperceptions regarding God’s trait of “Immutability”. As the title of this
post asserts, He does not change. The key word is “mystery”, sometimes referred
to as a “secret”.
An often-underappreciated verse in our Bible was a
statement made by Moses in some of his final words to the people of Israel
before his death:
“The
secret things belong unto the LORD our God: but those things which are revealed
belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of
this law.” (Deuteronomy 29: 29). Although we know that Moses was speaking
specifically to Israel regarding their adherence to God’s Law, he was also
alerting them that there were other things (secrets / mysteries) in the mind of God that were not known to men
at that time. We also know from our Bible study that “whatsoever things were
written aforetime were written for our learning…” (Romans 15: 4) As Christians and Bible students, we are to
learn from the deeds and words of those who preceded us.
Israel
did not learn from the many predictions made by their Old Testament prophets,
now known as the “Messianic Prophecies”. They should have recognized that our Lord
Jesus was the Christ, their long-awaited “Messiah”. (https://search.yahoo.com/search?fr=mcafee&type=E210US105G0&p=messianic+prophecies ) But they had an
excuse. Just as He keeps things secret
in His mind, our All-knowing God had hidden
this knowledge from them, so that we today could benefit. (Romans 11: 7-11)
Neither
Christians nor Jews have an excuse today. The full scripture has been made
available to us in the form of the Holy Bible. Because it has been translated from
the original languages for centuries, and has been made widely available in
print and other forms, it is not unreasonable that God could expect us to know
Him.
As a final
point, it is important to address the concept that God keeps “secrets”…or unrevealed
mysteries. To uncover His mysteries, the Bible must be taken as a whole. Remember the instructions given by the Apostle
Paul to his young protégé `Timothy:
“All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for
doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:…” (2
Timothy 3: 16)
Among the
mysteries revealed in the latter Books of the New Testament are several that
many, if not most Christians are unfamiliar. I’m primarily referring to those
mysteries made known to the Apostle Paul by the Ascended Lord Jesus. They
include:
1. Romans 11: 25 – “25 For I
would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye
should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to
Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in.” [Note earlier
reference above to Israel’s “blindness”.]
2. 1
Corinthians 15: 50-53 - “Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the
kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption. Behold, I shew
you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a
moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall
sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For
this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on
immortality.” [This mystery relates to
the scriptural reference for what is often called the “Rapture of the Church”,
in 1 Thessalonians 4: 13-17]
3.
2 Thessalonians 2: 7-9 – “7 For
the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth
will let, until he be taken out of the way. And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume
with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his
coming: Even him, whose coming is after the working of
Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders…” [Iniquity = lawlessness]
4. Ephesians 1: 9 –10 - “ Having made known unto us the mystery of his (God’s) will,
according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself: That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather
together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which
are on earth; even in him:”
5.
Ephesians 3: 2-6 –
“If ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given
me to you-ward: How that by revelation he made known unto me
the mystery; (as I wrote afore in few words, Whereby,
when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ) Which in
other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto
his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit; That the
Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of the same body, and partakers of
his promise in Christ by the gospel:
6.
Colossians 1: 25-27 – “Whereof I am made a
minister, according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you, to
fulfil the word of God; Even the mystery which hath been
hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints: To
whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery
among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory: [Gentile believers
in The Body of Christ]
7.
Colossians 2: 2-3 – “That their hearts might
be comforted, being knit together in love, and unto all riches of the full
assurance of understanding, to the acknowledgement of the mystery of God,
and of the Father, and of Christ; In whom are hid all the treasures of
wisdom and knowledge.
8. 1
Timothy 3: 16 – “And without controversy great is the mystery
of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit,
seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received
up into glory.
There
are other previously unknown mysteries or secrets that God revealed to James, Peter,
John and Jude, as noted in the final eight Books of the New Testament. They are
not called by the terms “mystery” or “secret”, except as noted by John in the Book of Revelation.
(Revelation 1: 20, 10: 7, 17: 5 and 7) However, they are concepts that had not
been disclosed in earlier scripture. For example, both Peter and John tell what
will happen to this planet Earth that has been so defiled under the influences
of the Enemy. We know that what we’re
witnessing is much more than “climate change”. We remember the message of our
Lord Jesus from the Book of Matthew, Chapter 24.
No, God hasn’t changed.
He is the same, yesterday, today and tomorrow. In Part 2 on this topic I’ll review the Covenants
and Dispensations which marked man’s interaction with our Creator over the
centuries.
Dr. W. A. (Bill) Robinson
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