We live in changing times. Technology moves
at an unprecedented pace. There have been many advances in medicine,
science, and space exploration. While people and things in life
tend to change, one person who does not change is God. God has
declared, "I am the Lord, I change not" (Malachi 3:6).
Modern man must get back to a faith in the God of the Bible who
is eternal and unchanging. Notice two things about God that are
unchanging.
First, God is unchanging in His goodness.
God has created man and has blessed him with "life, breath,
and all things" (Acts 17:25). God "maketh his sun to
shine on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just
and on the unjust" (Matthew 5:45). God's goodness not only
entails His physical blessings but, also more importantly, spiritual
blessings which He offers to mankind. God's spiritual goodness
is seen in His grace of giving His only begotten Son to be our
Savior. Because of our sin, we deserve to be eternally damned,
but God, in His infinite grace, has given us what we need and
not what we deserve. He has given us a Redeemer. Because "God
so loved the world," he gave us His Son as the ultimate sacrifice
for our sins. We must love God in return. The only way we can
show our love for God is by keeping His commandments (cf. John
14:15). The apostle John wrote, "For this is the love of
God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not
grievous" (1 John 5:3). A contemplation of the goodness of
God will lead man to serve Him.
Second, God is unchanging in His severity.
So many today in the religious world want to emphasize only the
love of God and totally ignore the fact of His wrath. Perhaps
with the same stroke of the pen the apostle Paul penned, "Behold
therefore the goodness and severity of God" (Romans 11:22).
While God is the God of love, grace, and mercy, He is also the
God of justice and wrath. God's holiness has been violated by
man's sin, and, because of God's justice, sin cannot go unpunished.
God provided the sacrifice of His Son to appease His wrath. However,
if we reject Jesus as our Savior, we will have to pay the penalty
ourselves for our sin. Paul wrote, "Knowing the terror of
the Lord we persuade men" (2 Corinthians 5:11), and "It
is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God"
(Hebrews 10:31). When Jesus comes again He will take "vengeance
on them that know not God and that obey not the Gospel of our
Lord Jesus Christ" (2 Thessalonians 1:8). Jesus Himself said,
"But I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear: fear him, which
after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell; yea, I say
unto you, Fear him" (Luke 12:51). We can escape the wrath
of God only through Jesus Christ. A contemplation of the severity
of God will lead a man to repentance and obedience to His Creator.
You can be a recipient of God's goodness or of
God's wrath. The choice is yours. The choice we make as to
what we will receive from God is determined by the life that we
now live. Have you obeyed the gospel of Christ? The apostle Paul
instructs us how to become a Christian, "For ye are all the
children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as
have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ" (Galatians
3:26-27). Are you a faithful child of God? Our Lord commands,
"be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown
of life" (Revelation 2:10). "How shall we escape, if
we neglect so great salvation?" (Hebrews 2:3) We must get
back to the God of the Bible if we would escape His wrath to come.
"Choose you this day whom ye will serve ...
but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord."
(Joshua 24:15). -1311 Sanlor Ave, West Milton, OH 45383.