A Never Changing God

The year of 2020 was marked by many things but the one thing that stands out was the ever changing nature of circumstances in all aspects of our lives.  Where we may or may not go.  What we may and may not do.  At what time we have to be home.  At times we may or may not even do something as basic as go to the beach or take a walk around the block we live in.  Major confusion and effort to try to keep up with all the rules and changes that we were and are still facing.   In this ever changing, strange and extraordinary world and circumstances we are facing there is one constant that we can hold on to.  An Anchor of note.  God Himself.  God says in His word that He never changes. He never makes mistakes. He is not surprised by anything because He is already in the future.  He never changes His mind, rules or values.  He never changes the principles His Kingdom function on.  He remains the one constant we can hold on to, knowing it will never give way nor change direction.  In Scripture we read the following:

Hebrews 13:8 ⁸ Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. ⁹ Do not be carried about with various and strange doctrines. NKJV

Revelation 1:8 ⁸ “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End,” says the Lord, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.” NKJV

Genesis 22:8 “While the earth remains,  Seed time and harvest,  Cold and heat,  Winter and summer,  And day and night  Shall not cease.”  NKJV

Jeremiah 33:19-21 ¹⁹ And the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, saying, ²⁰ “Thus says the Lord: ‘If you can break My covenant with the day and My covenant with the night, so that there will not be day and night in their season, ²¹ then My covenant may also be broken..."  NKJV

In don't think we can break God's covenant with day and night - thus His covenant cannot be broken... In our ever changing world there is a God that is The Rock of all ages.

Isaiah 26:4 says:  “Trust [confidently] in the Lord forever [He is your fortress, your shield, your banner],  For the Lord God is an everlasting Rock [the Rock of Ages]. AMP

Let us sing with David in Psalm 18:1-3

I will love You, O Lord, my strength.
² The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer;
My God, my strength, in whom I will trust;
My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
³ I will call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised;
So shall I be saved from my enemies.   AMP

And in Psalm 62:1-2

For God alone my soul waits in silence; From Him comes my salvation. ²He alone is my rock and my salvation, My defense and my strong tower; I will not be shaken or disheartened. AMPC

 

 Come worship the Rock of Ages with this age-old hymn

Who do you say I am?

In the past week I saw several comments in the media about who various people think God is and who not. Some declared that He is a mythical creature, some think He is a cruel God, while actually we just suffer the consequences of our own choices and sin. Some think He is outdated and was only relevant in ancient times when people did not have scientific explanations for complex problems, some think He has given up on creation and walked away from man and all that is on earth. Some think God does not exist.  Interesting though how God almost always is accused that He causes bad things to happen to us.  I wonder how we get there?  We question His existence, certainly do not pay attention to His moral laws, create our own laws and decide what we think is right, wrong and moral.  However, when things go wrong, it's all God's mistake.  Hardly ever do we take responsibility for the mess we create ourselves. 

 

This is not a new phenomenon.  When the Pharisees asked Jesus who He was in John 8, He told them He was the Messiah - they did not believe Him, and so we can quote numerous passages from the Bible where people were challenged with who God is - and who His Son is, only to see how He is denied, His Name slandered and His nature defiled by our own perceptions of who He is.  All this while He has given us ample opportunity to get to know Him in the finest detail with never ending treasures in His character to discover.   

In Mathew 16:13-20 we read how Jesus himself asked His disciples this very question:

13 When Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, saying, “Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?” 14 So they said, “Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” 15 He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” 16 Simon Peter answered and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” 17 Jesus answered and said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.

 

 From this scripture we see that people then also had their own ideas of who Jesus was in their particular context.  But then came Peter's answer.  "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God"  And Jesus' answer:  "...flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven"  The Father testifies and reveals His Son to the World.  He revealed Him as the Word, the Light, Emmanuel God with us.  He revealed Him as His only begotten Son in whom He is well pleased.  He revealed Him as the Messiah, the saviour of the world and so I can continue, but ultimately the question Jesus asks each one of us is, "Who do YOU say I am?"  The revelation of who He is, is here, its available, it has been given from the beginning of time.  The answer is not hidden, the revelation has already been given.  The question is - do we believe what was revealed?

 

I want to challenge you and myself this week to answer this question in unadulterated truth.  Who do YOU really believe God is?  Who do you believe Jesus is?  Take that question one step further and answer the question, What do you believe about the nature of God?  Measure your answer against God's revelation of Himself and His character in the Bible.

 

Let's discover a deeper revelation of who He is and let us worship Him for who He is and not for whom we think He should be or should have been in our opinions.  The result of who He is makes all the difference to who we are.  It changes who we are, it changes our characters, it changes our position, our perspectives, our hopes, it moves us from the kingdom of darkness to the Kingdom of Light.  Listen to this song from Hillsong on who we are, knowing that we can only be who He says we are because of Who He Is. 

 

 Who do you say I am?  Hillsong

 

 

A time of dedication

There is a feast that the Jewish nation celebrates in December, called the "Feast of Dedication" or the "Festival of Lights" or in Hebrew "Hanukkah". This feast dates from 165BC when Antiochus Epiphanies oppressed Israel to such an extent that they were not allowed to read the Torah, or worship at their temple, etc. It was a dark period in Israel's history where their religious and political freedoms were taken away from them. Eventually Antiochus raised himself up in the temple and required the people to worship him as god while offering unholy and abominable sacrifices in the temple.   The Maccabees revolted against this oppression and in a great miracle of God overthrew the oppressive government.  They rededicated and consecrated the temple for service and worship again.  In John 10:22-27 we read that Jesus attended this festival and delivered a sermon during this time in response to the Pharisee's question regarding whether He is the Messiah or not.

John 10:22-27 After this the Feast of Dedication [of the reconsecration of the temple] was taking place at Jerusalem. It was winter,  23 And Jesus was walking in Solomon’s Porch in the temple area. 24 So the Jews surrounded Him and began asking Him, How long are You going to keep us in doubt and suspense? If You are really the Christ (the Messiah), tell us so plainly and openly. 25 Jesus answered them, I have told you so, yet you do not believe Me [you do not trust Me and rely on Me]. The very works that I do by the power of My Father and in My Father’s name bear witness concerning Me [they are My credentials and evidence in support of Me].  26 But you do not believe and trust and rely on Me because you do not belong to My fold [you are no sheep of Mine].  27 The sheep that are My own hear and are listening to My voice; and I know them, and they follow Me. (AMPC)

It is clear that even though Jesus answered their question truthfully, they still did not believe, because they were looking at Jesus through the lenses of history and judged Him with the same measure with which they judged Antiochus Epiphanies (who also claimed to be god and therefore the Messiah). They failed to weigh up all the evidence for the case of Jesus being the real Messiah and therefore eventually missed the time when the Son of God visited them.  They did not recognize the Shepherd's voice. But there were others that did recognize His voice and the time of His visitation, as in vs. 41-42 we read:

41  And many came to Him, and they kept saying, John did not perform a [single] sign or miracle, but everything John said about this Man was true.  42 And many [people] there became believers in Him. [They adhered to and trusted in and relied on Him.]

There are a few things we can learn from this scripture and apply to our lives today.  Firstly, traditionally we are also in a festive season where we celebrate the coming of Jesus as the Messiah and the Light of the world.  The question remains, "Who do you say Jesus is?"  The Son of God?  The Saviour?  The Messiah?  It's a good time to ask Him once again to open our spiritual eyes and ears to hear these truths  and answer this question for ourselves in faith - to declare once again that we are sheep of His fold believing in Jesus as our Messiah.

Secondly, there is no temple in Jerusalem anymore - we now are the temple of the Holy Spirit.  In 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 we read "19 Do you not know that your body is the temple (the very sanctuary) of the Holy Spirit Who lives within you, Whom you have received [as a Gift] from God? You are not your own,  20 You were bought with a price [purchased with a preciousness and paid for, made His own]. So then, honor God and bring glory to Him in your body."  Let's make a decision to dedicate ourselves, spirit soul and body (as Romans 12:1-2 encourages us to do), once again to our Lord Jesus Christ, giving the Holy Spirit a temple redeemed and made holy by the blood of the Lamb to live in.  Let us ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to us any idolatry, or unholy practices that defile the temple in which He resides.  Let us be willing to cleanse our temples through repentance and use this time to rededicate our sanctuary to the Holy Spirit.

This song from Marty Goetz really brings home this concept with words beautifully crafted to encapsulate the essence of this time of the year. 

Hanukkah Song - Marty Goetz 

The Word is life and light

Words have power. Words are powerful to build up but also to break down. In Gen 1 we read God spoke creation into being, Isaiah teaches us that God's Word never returns void to Him but in John 1:1 this all comes together in a huge introduction to the person who IS THE WORD.

John 1:1-4 and 10-14 "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. 4 In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it." NKJV

Jesus Himself is the Word, He was with God, He is God.  When He speaks things are created.  Nothing He says goes astray nor does any Word He speaks return void or empty.  He speaks blessing no less than 3 times in the creation story.  He speaks and there is life and this life is our light in a dark world.  It is a light and a life that the darkness does not understand. So imagine a dark world where there is no light - ever... and then comes God's Word and it brings life and light - imagine the utter wonder and incomprehensibility and surprise. 

 

And then God came and gave us His Spirit in our hearts and His Word in our mouths.  Words to speak blessing, Words to speak healing and life and light into the dark world of another human being.  Words of healing and joy, grace and mercy.  Sometimes words of warning and admonishing in love.  Words of forgiveness and freedom. 

 

What kind of words do we speak?  Let us focus on speaking Kingdom Words that bring the life and light and blessing of the Jesus who is The Word into a dark world that does not comprehend it.

 

Let's worship Him who is:

 

 THE WORD