One thing that is true of God is His consistency. Indeed, He is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow; He does not change. As James tells us, with God “there is no variation or shadow due to change” (James 1:17). The same God who told Moses to remove his sandals because He was standing on holy ground is the same God who made a way for sinners to enter His holy presence; the same God who guided His people Israel is the same God who guides the believers today. The mind of God has always remained the same and will continue to remain the same. We are people of change, but God is not. We live in a world of change, but God does not, everything with Him is set, even time has no effect on Him. Nothing takes Him by surprise. In this post, I would like to encourage us to remember that God is the same and that includes His power and maybe also caution us to not disregard some of His commandments from the past (i.e., old testament) simply because they were not addressed to us directly.
One of the first commandments of God to Israel was to be set apart as God. He says “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. You shall have no other gods before me” (Exodus 20:1-2). God requires exclusivity from His people. Moreover, He demands that He be revered as holy, He is not to be dealt with like a standard being, no, He is God, and all glory, honour and praise must go to Him. God has always required all of us, not part of us. That is why we see Him instruct Abraham to give his one and only son whom he loves to Him. God wants us to give Him everything that we are and have. One reason I believe is simply because “the earth is the Lord’s and its fullness thereof” (Psalm 24:1). This truth about God does not simply apply to the God of the old testament but it applies to the God of the new testament as well. Jesus came to earth and gave his all to God the Father, similarly, God still demands of us to give him our everything; to surrender completely to Him in order to know Him, to abide in Him and to have life. There is no way around this truth if you want to prosper in the kingdom of God. God must always be first, that is why Jesus who is the image of the invisible God is the firstborn of all creation, he is first in everything. In fact, Colossians puts it better “he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent” (Colossians 1:18). I believe that is why God requires of us the first fruits of our produce because He is first in everything and we must recognize that even with the things He blesses us with. This alone puts us in our place because we tend to think we own the things we have but by giving God our first fruits we are reminded that everything belongs to Him.
Another aspect of God that is unchanging and still related to setting God as God is the aspect of His holiness. God is holy and deserves absolute reverence. In the old testament, there was a way to approach God. No person tainted with sin could dream of coming into the presence of God. Sacrifices had to be made and cleansing rituals to be performed before one could enter the presence of God (see Exodus 19:1-2 among others). Entering the presence of God was always done in God’s terms never man’s. The same is true today. Those who have put their trust and faith in the mighty sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross are able to enter the Lord’s presence without any sacrifices or rituals performed. That is because Jesus Christ performed those sacrifices on behalf of everyone who would believe on him. Jesus’ sacrifice clothes whoever believes in him with the righteousness of God making them free to enter the presence of God. You see, God did not change, but a way was made for you and I to now enter the presence of God freely. Unfortunately, I fear that for many of us who have put our faith and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, knowing our standing before God we might have grown accustomed to speaking to the Father boldly not pondering upon the privilege that it is to do so. Some of us might even be proud and taking this privilege for granted acting as if Jesus owed it to us to die on the cross. I know, you might never say such a thing, but your actions might betray you. If that is you, I would humbly ask that you consider the cost that it took for you to be free in Christ; consider the weight God placed upon His glory as recounted in the old testament, how God would strike people who would approach His presence in an unworthy manner (think Aaron’s sons in Leviticus 10 or Uzzah carrying the ark of the Lord in 2 Samuel 6), consider also the patriarchs who exalted God the right way and gave Him the honour and glory due His name (look at David, Moses, Daniel, to name just a few).
This revelation is as much for me as it is for you. Knowing that God is the same and does not change reminds me that because I have the privilege of calling Him Abba Father does not mean I have to come arrogantly before Him. Because I have the privilege of approaching the throne of grace boldly, does not mean I should come before the Eternal God with pride. Humility and total surrender are still required, and they remain the ingredients to prosper in the kingdom of God. As a matter of fact, the Name that is above every name, the one who is seated at the right hand of the Father and to whom all power and authority in heaven have been given humbled himself unto death; the one who said if you want to be great in the kingdom of heaven be a servant did not escape the rule how much more we? Why would we think we can come into His presence any differently? I pray we do not get so acquainted with our status in Christ that we forget to hallow the name of God as it must be.
A Word Aptly Spoken 