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April 3 - April 10, 2020
Rock of Ages, cleft for me, Let me hide myself in thee.
that rock is like God; he does not change. Come what may, this God remains the same. He is firm and secure, always there, never fluctuating, incapable of defeat, and forever steadfast as a fortress to those in trouble.
The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge. (2 Sam. 22:2–3) For who is God, but the LORD? And who is a rock, except our God? (22:32)1
He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be greatly shaken. (Ps. 62:2) On God rests my salvation and my glory; my mighty rock, my refuge is God. (62:7)
“O LORD, my rock and my redeemer” (19:14).
“For I the LORD do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed” (3:6).
God’s
faithfulness stems from h...
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It is because he is immutable in essence that his works operate immutably as well. He does not change in who he is (his essence); therefore he does not c...
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“the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And
let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing” (James 1:3–4).
“Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him” (1:12).
“Count it all joy . . . when you meet trials of various kinds” (1:2).
“God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one” (1:13).
“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from
above, coming down from the Father of lights” (1:17). James calls him the “Father of lights”
“Father of lights . . . there is no variation or shadow due to change” (1:17).
God always has your good in mind and will always act in a way that reflects his perfect goodness, even in the midst of the trials he has ordained for you.
Immutability, we are impelled to conclude, is essential and necessary to God’s identity as the perfect, supreme being.3
God has the power to effect change in others; God can move others to reach their potential and perfection. However, God himself has no potential, undergoes no change, and is in no need of becoming more perfect than he already is eternally. He is pure act.
unmoved mover.
Aquinas, that God “cannot acquire anything new.”
It is because God does not change that he is a God of aseity.
It is because God does not change that he remains simple.
It is because God does not change that he is all-knowing and all-wise.
It is because God does not change that he is not restricted by time and space.
He just is.
It is because God does not change that he is omnipotent.
It is because God does not change that he remains holy and just.
“Rock, his work is perfect; for all his ways are justice. A God of faithfulness and without iniquity, just and upright is he” (Deut. 32:4).
is because God does not change that he is love.
“Oh give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever!” (1 Chron. 16:34),
Thankfully, our assurance is not based on our feelings.
“Those who predicate any change whatsoever of God,” warns Bavinck, “whether with respect to his essence, knowledge, or will, diminish all his attributes: independence, simplicity, eternity, omniscience, and omnipotence. This robs God of his divine nature, and religion of its firm foundation and assured comfort.”36
“O LORD, . . . I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from disaster” (Jon. 4:2).
“The LORD has torn the kingdom of Israel from you this day and has given it to a neighbor of yours, who is better than you. And also the Glory of Israel will not lie or have regret, for he is not a man, that he should have regret” (15:28–29).43
So what, then, does God mean when he says he “regrets” making Saul king? His intention is to use an experience humans can relate to in order to communicate his displeasure with the sinfulness of Saul’s actions, especially since Saul is to be leading God’s people in holiness.
“For when God made a promise to Abraham, since he had no one greater by whom to swear, he swore by himself, saying, ‘Surely I will bless you and multiply you.’ . . . So when God desired to show more convincingly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of his purpose, he guaranteed it with an oath, so that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might
have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us” (6:13–14, 17–18).
Jesus, the Christ, the one who is “the same yesterday and today and forever” (Heb. 13:8).
Rock of Ages, cleft for me, Let me hide myself in thee; Let the water and the blood, From thy wounded side which flowed, Be of sin the double cure; Save from wrath and make me pure.
No, this God is the impassible God.
Thomas Weinandy: For God to be “passible” then means that he is capable of being acted upon from without and that
such actions bring about emotional changes of state within him. Moreover, for God to be passible means that he is capable of freely changing his inner emotional state in response to and interaction with the changing human condition and world order. Last, passibility implies that God’s changing emotional states involve “feelings” that are analogous to human feelings. . . . God experiences inner emotional changes of state, either of comfort or discomfort, whether freely from within or by being acted upon from without.7
God is hanging there on the gallows.
Rise, Balak, and hear; give ear to me, O son of Zippor: God is not man, that he should lie,
or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it? . . . The LORD their God is with them, and the shout of a king is among them. God brings them out of Egypt and is for them like the horns of the wild ox. . . . Behold, a people! As a lioness it rises up . . . ; it does not lie down until it has devoured the prey and drunk the blood of the slain. (Num. 23:18–19, 21b–22, 24)
Balak learns that day that unlike his pagan deities, the God of Israel is not a God who can be manipulated.
“I am the LORD. I have spoken; it shall come to pass; I will do it. I will not go back; I will not spare; I will not relent; according to your ways and your deeds you will be judged, declares the Lord GOD” (24:14).
“The Glory of Israel will not lie or have regret, for he is not a man, that he should have regret” (1 Sam. 15:29).
