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God’s Love

Why it’s Good News that God Doesn’t Change

During this pandemic when everything is changing, we need a solid rock on which to stand. A steady and reliable foundation for life, for peace, for hope. This is why it is unexpectedly good news that God does not change.

If there’s anything that 2020 has taught us, it’s that no one can predict the future. Life changes so quickly today. Nothing is built to last. Planned obsolescence is baked into our culture. Trending news becomes next week’s ancient history.

We need something (or someone) that does not change, and yet remains true, powerful, and life-giving. This is precisely why it is good for Christians to consider the immutability of God.

The Immutability of God

“Immutability” means God does not change. This is considered an incommunicable attribute, something that is true about God’s nature that is not true of our human nature.

This about it this way: if something is perfect, any change only makes it worse. If God’s holiness changes, then he is less holy. If his omniscience changes, then he knows less. If his sovereignty changes, then he isn’t truly in control.

Consider the follow passages in Scripture.

“I am who I am.” (Exodus 3:14)

“I the Lord do not change. So you, O descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed.” (Malachi 3:6)

“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” (Hebrews 13:8)

“Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.” (James 1:17)

God’s immutability does not mean he is disconnected from our lives. He is not standing far off, as an unmoved observer. Instead, it means the full breadth of God’s attributes are perfect, infinite, and eternal – including his love and compassion and mercy and grace.

God Will Not Love You More Tomorrow Than He Does Today

Do you remember the old song that says, “I love you more today than yesterday… but not as much as tomorrow.” That’s a nicely romantic sentiment. But God cannot sing that song.

God’s love for his children is perfect, infinite, and eternal. It is impossible for it to grow in perfection, because it is God’s holy, steadfast love.

If his love changes, there are only two options: he either loves us less today than he did yesterday, or yesterday’s love was imperfect and he’s improved it today.

As Romans 5:8 teaches, “God demonstrates his own love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” The immutable love of God compelled God the Son to become a man, live among us, endure betrayal and die a painful death in order that sinners could be adopted as children of God.

This is the love of God that does not change. When uncertainty abounds and change seems to be lurking around every corner, you can stand upon the unchanging, solid rock.

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How Can a Good God Allow Suffering?

Isolation

The problem of pain and suffering is probably the greatest cause for people losing faith. That makes sense. It does seem like a good God who is also an all-powerful God should snuff out suffering and prevent it from ever happening. Terrible things happen to some really wonderful people, and it doesn’t always make sense. So how can we continue to live by faith and trust in God?

The existence of suffering comes down to these three realities:

  1. We are not robots. God created us with freewill. Every Christian believes this (not only Arminians). It is incredibly ironic to criticize God for allowing suffering while also shaking your fist at him and telling him to stay out of your life. You can’t have it both ways… God gave us responsibility, and we need to own that.
  2. We make a train wreck of our lives and of the world. Pointing all the way back to the first humans, Adam and Eve, we have a way of choosing sin over righteousness. We aren’t as sinful as we could be, but we are all sinners and that has effected everything in our world: our relationship with God, with others, with ourselves, and with nature. We know things aren’t “the way they’re supposed to be,” but our efforts often make things worse, not better. God must intervene somehow.
  3. God has a greater dream for our lives than we could imagine for ourselves. While we try to define a successful life by our bank account, or family, or power, or influence, or whatever… God has a greater dream for us. The truth is, our dream is not too big for God, but too small! Because of sin, there will be a day of judgment to make things right, and suffering is often God’s warning light calling us to repentance now before it’s too late.

Continue reading “How Can a Good God Allow Suffering?” →

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Does God Love Everyone?

Here is a question I was recently asked by a teenager in my ministry (many of the most difficult theological questions I’ve been asked came from Middle Schooler students). Since it’s such a good question, I can only assume many other would benefit from looking to Scripture for an answer. Here’s the question:

Does God love everyone, or only “his children?”

Christianity is built on the announcement of grace: that by the life, death, resurrection, and coming return of Jesus Christ our freedom from sin and death has been secured, and that our only hope comes by trusting in God’s provision rather than in our own good works. The gospel proclaims salvation as a free gift of faith. It is a message of the love of God for sinners, and yet it also implies that not all will be saved. The gospel is good news because there is bad news: we are all sinners who have heaped up judgment on ourselves. God is not fair – and that’s a good thing… because if God was fair, we’d all receive judgment for our sin.

With this in mind, the above question is perfectly natural because it seems like God must love Christians and hate “sinners.” But is this what the Bible teaches?

crowd-in-underground Continue reading “Does God Love Everyone?” →

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God is Not Fair

Fairness has become one of the gold-standards of American culture. Everyone is equal. For anyone to receive preference is akin to discrimination and will surely bring a lawsuit. In many ways, this is good and entirely appropriate for any free society.

Fairness doesn’t mean everyone gets the same thing. It means you get what you deserve. This is our default theology. For those of us who are more melancholy, we live with guilt and gloom we cannot escape, because we have a more negative view of ourselves and the world. Others have a go-get-’em mentality and always see the positive side of things, and they live with the expectation that since they’ve never been arrested they’re all-good in God’s eyes.

But there are some ways in which fairness is unhealthy. Because love isn’t fair: it prefers the beloved over and above all others. I think my kids are cuter than your kids are. I’m sorry, but I just do. And I assume you think your kids are cuter than mine. Because that’s what love does. It’s not fair, but it’s good.

God is love. And God is not fair. But he is good, and he is just.

justice Continue reading “God is Not Fair” →

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