This is the manuscript of the eighth sermon in the "Doctrine of God" series. It was delivered on Sunday July 3, 2022 at Christ Church, Los Angeles, CA.
2. What does the constancy of God mean from the human point of view?Listen to an audio recording of the sermon by clicking on the YouTube link at the end of the manuscript.
You can watch a video recording of the entire service on the Christ Church YouTube Channel https://youtu.be/NYxli83VCcI
Scripture Reading: Malachi 3:1–6
Malachi 3:1-6 ESV “Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts. But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner’s fire and like fullers’ soap. He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, and they will bring offerings in righteousness to the Lord. Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the Lord as in the days of old and as in former years. “Then I will draw near to you for judgment. I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, against the adulterers, against those who swear falsely, against those who oppress the hired worker in his wages, the widow and the fatherless, against those who thrust aside the sojourner, and do not fear me, says the Lord of hosts. “For I the Lord do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed.
Text:
Malachi 3:6 ESV “For I the Lord do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed.
Introduction
Everything on earth changes. Everytime I go downtown there is something new and different. Old buildings have been raised and new ones built in their place. Even the old places have been changed.
The mom-and-pop stores and restaurants are gone, and franchise businesses have taken their places. Neighborhoods are changing through gentrification. We may not like all the changes but we can’t stop change. However there is one thing that never changes. The God who our parents and grandparents, aunts and uncles, cousins and friends talked about and taught us about has not changed. His goodness and mercy have followed you and blessed you all the days of your life, as Psalm 23 says.
Let’s look at our text again;
Malachi 3:6 ESV “For I the Lord do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed.
Malachi, who was a prophet, took hold of the truth of the constancy of God and he wanted to show the people its implications. This morning,, let us explore some of these implications from two points of view.
What does the constancy of God mean from God’s point of view?
What does the constancy of God mean from the human point of view?
I. First, what does the constancy of God mean from God’s point of view?
A. Even though people have changed their attitude about sin, God has not and will not.
The humanist is a person that bases their understanding of the world on reason and scientific method. They reject supernatural or divine beliefs. A humanist says there is really no such thing as sin. They say yes there is some selfishness in us and a bit of the beast in us but not sin. They say that sin is a Middle Age convention that doesn't exist. There is a psychologist that even said, “Sin is a psychopathic aspect of adolescent mentality.”
There are others who do not agree with the humanist and the psychologist who still apply the wrong test to their actions. They justify their deeds by the test of popularity. They feel that if everyone is doing a certain thing, it must be all right. Others justify immoral acts by the test of legality. But just because something is legal does not make it moral. For others the eleventh commandment is, “Thou shalt not get caught.”
The reality is that sin has not changed; sin is still rebellion against God. And the person who rebels is God’s enemy.
This is what is so astonishing about the reality of the cross.
Romans 5:10-11 ESV For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.
It is because God does not change his attitude toward sin that Christ went to the cross.
B. God does not change in his love toward all people.
We are valuable in his sight. God loves every man, woman, boy, and girl in this world. He loves everybody, everywhere.
John 3:16-18 ESV “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.
In an earlier sermon in this series, the one on“The Gentleness of God”, I said that God’s gentleness reveals our value in his sight.
Matthew 10:29-31 NIV Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.
We are valuable to God. We are infinitely loved and valued no matter what. We are chosen because of His great love, and that love will be sustained until the very end. His love is constant. It doesn’t change because God doesn’t change.
C. God does not change in his evaluation of your worth .
Here’s want David said,
Psalm 8:3-8 ESV When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him? Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor. You have given him dominion over the works of your hands; you have put all things under his feet, all sheep and oxen, and also the beasts of the field, the birds of the heavens, and the fish of the sea, whatever passes along the paths of the seas.
And centuries later,
Matthew 12:11-12 ESV He said to them, “Which one of you who has a sheep, if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will not take hold of it and lift it out? Of how much more value is a man than a sheep! So it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.”
Both texts, though thousands of years apart, point out the extreme worth of people to God. God’s evaluation of human worth does not change.
D. God does not change in his plans and purposes.
His methods may change. His approach may vary. He may even discard one group because of disobedience and choose another to be used in carrying out his plans, but his program does not change.
Romans 11:7-16 ESV What then? Israel failed to obtain what it was seeking. The elect obtained it, but the rest were hardened, as it is written, “God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes that would not see and ears that would not hear, down to this very day.” And David says, “Let their table become a snare and a trap, a stumbling block and a retribution for them; let their eyes be darkened so that they cannot see, and bend their backs forever.”
So I ask, did they stumble in order that they might fall? By no means! Rather, through their trespass salvation has come to the Gentiles, so as to make Israel jealous. Now if their trespass means riches for the world, and if their failure means riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their full inclusion mean! Now I am speaking to you Gentiles. In as much then as I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry in order somehow to make my fellow Jews jealous, and thus save some of them. For if their rejection means the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance mean but life from the dead? If the dough offered as firstfruits is holy, so is the whole lump, and if the root is holy, so are the branches.
Someone once said, “The apparent changes in God are simply his unresting desire to bless men.” And I am saying God does not change. So His plan for salvation and to reconcile man to Him does not change.
Numbers 23:19 ESV 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?
James 1:17-18 ESV Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.
God’s goals remain the same.
1. God’s first goal is the salvation of all who will believe.
1 Timothy 2:1-4 ESV First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.
2 Peter 3:8-9 ESV But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.
2. God’s second goal is the instruction of those He has saved.
As we read in 1 Timothy God desires all people to come to the knowledge of the truth.
Let’s read that again;
1 Timothy 2:1-4 ESV First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.
Instruction is part of Jesus’ Great Commission
Matthew 28:19-20 ESV Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
3. God’s third goal is the consummation, the completion, the finalization of His kingdom.
1 Corinthians 15:24-28 ESV Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death. For “God has put all things in subjection under his feet.” But when it says, “all things are put in subjection,” it is plain that he is excepted who put all things in subjection under him. When all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to him who put all things in subjection under him, that God may be all in all.
E. God does not change in his judgments and His mercy.
Let’s go to Malachi 3:5
Malachi 3:5 ESV “Then I will draw near to you for judgment. I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, against the adulterers, against those who swear falsely, against those who oppress the hired worker in his wages, the widow and the fatherless, against those who thrust aside the sojourner, and do not fear me, says the Lord of hosts.
God’s changeless nature guarantees his judgment when He says that He will punish certain behaviors, He does. We can see God’s judgment in history. Consider, for example, the account of the flood in Genesis 6:9-9:17 and of the destruction of the Tower of Babel in Genesis 11:1-9.
But history also illustrates God’s mercy. Let me give you and example;
1 Samuel 7:1-4 ESV And the men of Kiriath-jearim came and took up the ark of the Lord and brought it to the house of Abinadab on the hill. And they consecrated his son Eleazar to have charge of the ark of the Lord. From the day that the ark was lodged at Kiriath-jearim, a long time passed, some twenty years, and all the house of Israel lamented after the Lord. And Samuel said to all the house of Israel, “If you are returning to the Lord with all your heart, then put away the foreign gods and the Ashtaroth from among you and direct your heart to the Lord and serve him only, and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines.” So the people of Israel put away the Baals and the Ashtaroth, and they served the Lord only.
What was the result of them putting away the idols?
When the people repented, God’s mercy broke through.
1 Samuel 7:12-14 ESV Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen and called its name Ebenezer; for he said, “Till now the Lord has helped us.” So the Philistines were subdued and did not again enter the territory of Israel. And the hand of the Lord was against the Philistines all the days of Samuel. The cities that the Philistines had taken from Israel were restored to Israel, from Ekron to Gath, and Israel delivered their territory from the hand of the Philistines. There was peace also between Israel and the Amorites.
Now some things happened between verse 4 and 12 but the end result was the mercy of God, which never fails because God never fails and He doesn’t change.
Psalm 103:17-19 ESV But the steadfast love of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear him, and his righteousness to children’s children, to those who keep his covenant and remember to do his commandments. The Lord has established his throne in the heavens, and his kingdom rules over all.
II. What does the constancy of God mean from the human point of view?
A. The constancy of God warns us of the certainty of God’s judgment.
We talked about that earlier. His judgment is on the unrepentant, upon those who rebel against him. Sin has not changed, and the penalty for sin has changed.
Ezekiel 18:4 ESV Behold, all souls are mine; the soul of the father as well as the soul of the son is mine: the soul who sins shall die.
Romans 6:23 ESV For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
God doesn’t change so the penalty for sin doesn’t change.
B. The constancy of God assures us of the dependability of his promises.
We talked earlier about God’s mercy.
He has promised to receive us, answer our prayers, sustain us, and protect us. He has promised relief from our burdens and strength for our trials.
Matthew 11:28-30 ESV Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
He has promised an abiding fellowship with us.
Matthew 28:18-20 ESV And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
He promised us power.
Luke 24:49 ESV And behold, I am sending the promise of my Father upon you. But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.”
Acts 1:8 ESV But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
And He promised us eternal life.
John 10:27-30 ESV My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me,is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.”
God`s promises are not empty words. His changeless nature is their guarantee.
C. The constancy of God guarantees the security of believers.
God’s changeless nature is guaranteed by His sovereignty. Sovereignty means security. The security of believers is based on the sovereignty of the God who does not change.
Look at John 10:27-29 again.
John 10:27-29 ESV My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me,is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.
The value of faith is in its object, and the object of our faith is Christ. The only way that someone who trusted their life to God could be lost is if God were to change and God changes not. God’s sovereignty is the rock on which our faith rests.
Numbers 23:19 ESV 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?
Isaiah 40:8 ESV The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever.
Psalm 90:2 ESV Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God.
D. The constancy of God provides the incentive for living.
Because God changes not, life has meaning, purpose, and direction. If we are going in the same direction hand in hand with God, life has incentive. Otherwise life is meaningless and empty.
Conclusion
Two questions consume people today. What does life mean? And what in this world can be trusted to stay the same? Both questions are answered in a changeless Christ.. But life takes on new meaning when a person enters a relationship with a changeless God through Jesus Christ.
Father,
Thank you for your amazing power and work in our lives, thank you for your goodness and for your blessings over us. Thank you that you are Able to bring hope through even the toughest of times, strengthening us for your purposes. Thank you for your great love and care. Thank you for your mercy and grace. Thank you that you are always with us and will never leave us. Thank you for your incredible sacrifice so that we might have freedom and life. Forgive us for when we don't thank you enough, for who you are, for all that you do, for all that you've given. Help us to set our eyes and our hearts on you afresh. Renew our spirits, fill us with your peace and joy. We love you and we need you, this day and every day. We give you praise and thanks, for You alone are worthy!
In Jesus' Name, Amen.
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