DIVINE HARMONY God is consistent; He never contradicts Himself, never reverses Himself, and never responds in a manner that conflicts with His nature. He never looks kindly upon a rebel, or with disdain upon those who are of a humble and contrite spirit. He cannot lie or deny Himself. He cannot hate righteousness, and he cannot love iniquity. His unchangeable nature is precisely why He can be trusted. It is why the one who believes on Him will not be disappointed or ashamed. -- Tomorrow:
"Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD" (Deut 6:4). "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning" (James 1:17)
CONCLUSION #1
God does not abandon what He has purposed. There may be generations He rejects, but His purpose will not be scrapped. In the flood, it repented the Lord that He made man (Gen 6:7) – yet he spared the race, although, at that time, the majority of it perished. His purpose to send a Deliverer for fallen man continued on. There was a Jewish generation that God refused, because they rejected His Son (Lk 19:42-45) – yet His purpose for them has not been abandoned. The Deliverer will yet come out of Zion, and turn away ungodliness from Jacob (Rom 11:26-27).
Further, God governs His kingdom with perfect consistency. His revealed will is an expression of His character, and never calls for a renunciation of any aspect of that character. He "cannot deny Himself," for to do so would cause Him to cease to be God. His words, His works, and His responses are themselves manifestations of His person. No word of God can be pitted against another – they are harmonious and, seen properly, fit into His purpose. No act of God is an uncontrollable outburst, or an expression that is not a precise reflection of His character. He cannot hold dear those He affirms He will damn (Mk 16:16; 2 Thess 1:9), and He cannot thrust from Him the ones He has committed to save (Mk 16:16; Acts 2:21).
This arrangement is conducive to faith, which is, in turn, the means of implementing God's desire for man. It is what enables spiritual understanding, without which, fellowship with God is impossible.
Considerable confusion has been introduced in the Christian community through doctrines that misrepresent God, distorting who He is, as well as what He has purposed. For example, to affirm that God loves you and accepts you just the way you are is, at the very best, very clumsily stated. If such a statement was true, there could be no such thing as condemnation. Also, such a circumstance would negate the need for change – for the new birth. If this is not the case, then Jesus said a person had to be born again, even though God accepted the person as He was (John 3:3,5). Statements like this contort the view of God, introducing confusion, and rendering faith unlikely, if not altogether impossible. One of the modern misconceptions such teachings have fostered is that God can tolerate sin in believers, while He cannot do so in unbelievers – as though the death of Christ changed God. The change – all change – must take place in men, not God – for He is unchangeable. Furthermore, if men are required to change or be changed, then it cannot be true that God accepts people as they are.
Unlike God, the consistency of nature can be countermanded. Natural laws that have been set in motion by the Almighty were, for instance, revoked during the flood of Noah's day (Gen. 7:11-12). Similar revocations occurred in the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah by fire and brimstone (Gen. 19:24), the sending of the thunder, hail and fire upon Egypt (Exod. 9:23- 24), and the parting of the Red Sea for the children of Israel (Exod. 14:21-22). The sun stood still for Joshua (Josh. 10:13), and moved "backward ten degrees" at the word of Isaiah (2 Kgs. 20:10- 11). All of these were contrary to established laws of nature.
There is, however, no record of God's acting contradictory to His own nature nor, indeed, is that possible. He is a completely consistent God; harmonious in all His attributes. Thus is the nature of the kingdom of God determined. It cannot possibly be implemented by either requirements or manners that are not perfectly harmonious with God's revealed nature.
PRAYER POINT: Father, in the name of Jesus, I thank You that You change not.