Eternal God, Eternal Salvation
James 1:17-18 says:
"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."
I have read that passage and quoted that passage many times in my life, but reading it this week, I was reminded afresh of the absolutely awesome truth represented by the words "with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change". How incredible that our Father in heaven has NEVER changed!?! Humans have pithy sayings about how much we want, need, or can't avoid change.
"Change is here to stay", "Hope and Change", "Change we can believe in", "The more things change, the more they stay the same", "Keep the change, ya filthy animal"...oh wait...
Anyway, we change constantly in response to our changing circumstances, and yet God never changes. He never goes back on a promise. His past "performance" is truly a perfect measure of his future propensities, because He doesn't change.
Have you been rescued out of your darkness and brought into His light? Then you know He's a loving, merciful, gracious Father. Have you been provided for such that you are alive and breathing today? Then you know God is Provider. You see, God never changes. What He was, he always will be.
And most exciting for us that our standing before Him will never change. He will never lose his hold on us, his grip on us never weakens or tires. He will welcome us for eternal communion with Him one day, and there is nothing that can take that away from us. And from that day forward, we get to join him in no longer being subject to change, and get to worship Him along with all the saints and angels for all eternity, joining in with the songs of worship and adoration that have been going on since creation.
Each Sunday is an opportunity to remember that God is never changing, our salvation is sure because He is trustworthy, and our worship of Him will one day be uninterrupted because He is worthy of unending worship! What a privilege. Let's eagerly anticipate that small taste of things to come and sing to the Lord this Sunday, freshly amazed at his unchanging character and unending grace.
Here are the songs and Scriptures that will make up our service this week.