Notes compiled by Marty Zide and Steve McAtee
Immutability means that God never changes in His being, essence, character, or nature. Who He was in eternity past is who He is today and who He is today is who He will be tomorrow. God does not evolve into a different being with time, nor does He improve with age. Because God does not change, we can count on what He has promised in His Word to come to pass.
Insights Into God’s Immutability
The fact that God is immutable doesn’t mean that He doesn’t deal differently with people at different times. Example: Law and Grace. Change is always for better or for worse, but since God is absolute perfection, improvement or deterioration are impossible for Him.
Ps. 33:11 -The counsel of the Lord stands forever, The plans of His heart from generation to generation.
Ps. 102:25-27 -Of old You founded the earth, And the heavens are the work of Your hands. Even they will perish, but You endure; And all of them will wear out like a garment; Like clothing You will change them and they will be changed. But You are the same, And Your years will not come to an end.
James 1:17 -Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow.
Is. 46:9-11 -Remember the former things long past, For I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is no one like Me, Declaring the end from the beginning, And from ancient times things which have not been done, Saying, My purpose will be established, And I will accomplish all My good pleasure; Calling a bird of prey from the east, The man of My purpose from a far country. Truly I have spoken; truly I will bring it to pass. I have planned it, surely I will do it.
Mal. 3:6 -For I, the Lord, do not change; therefore you, O sons of Jacob, are not consumed
Practical Applications Of God’s Immutability
Knowing that God doesn’t change gives us the assurance that what the Bible says about Him is still true today.
It’s the basis of our complete confidence and trust in the Word of God.
It’s the basis of the security of our salvation.
God is Love
Love is not merely one of His attributes, but His very nature. Love is who and what God is all about. God’s love is self-giving for the benefit of others. This attribute of God shows that it is part of His nature to give of Himself for the well-being of others. The very heart of God’s love is characterized by being sacrificial in nature.
Insights Into God’s Love
God’s love has always existed because the members of the Trinity express love toward each other and they have been around for all eternity.
The self-giving love that characterizes God is clearly expressed in His relation-ship to human beings, especially to sinful man.
1 John 4:8 -The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love
John 17:24 -Father, I desire that they also, whom You have given Me, be with Me where I am, so that they may see My glory which You have given Me, for You loved Me before the foundation of the world.
John 3:35 -The Father loves the Son and has given all things into His hand.
1 John 4:9-10 -By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
John 14:31 -but so that the world may know that I love the Father, I do exactly as the Father commanded Me.
Rom. 5:8 -But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Messiah died for us.
Insights Into God’s Love
Our love for God is best characterized by our obedience to Him as demonstrated by keeping the commandments of the Lord Jesus.
As recipients of God’s love, the fitting thing for us to be doing is loving our fellow man.
1 John 5:3 -For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not burdensome.
Matt. 22:37-39 -And He said to him, Youshall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
1 John 4:11 -Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.
Rom. 5:5 -and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.
One of the best ways to demonstrate that we are a true disciple of Jesus is by the love that we show for one another. We don’t simply love those who love us, (the Pharisees did that) but we are commanded to love our enemies.
Practical Applications Of God’s Love
No matter what circumstances we find ourselves in, we still know that God loves us, because He proved His love for us by sending Jesus to die for our sins.
If God loved us while we were sinners, He certainly doesn’t love us less if we are a child of His.
Coming Next –“God Is Holy”
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