Thoughts on Discipleship by Dr. W. A. Dillard - HTML preview

THE UNCHANGING GOD

In 1847, Henry F. Lyte penned these words of a most beloved hymn “Abide With Me” that still appears in most church hymnals. One stanza reads:

“Swift to its close ebbs out life’s little day;

Earth’s joys grow dim, its glories pass away;

Change and decay in all around I see—

O Thou who changest not, abide with me.”

About the only thing constant about earthly life is its ever-changing, forward pressing quality. From the cradle to the grave nothing about earthly life is really static. In fact, all bodily cells are locked into a life/death struggle. They succumb, and are replaced every seven years ... until life itself is separated from the body. As a humorous aside to this fact, I like to tell folks that my wife has had eight husbands, and he has had eight wives in our 56 years of union.

Locally and nationally, things are in a state of constant change since the second law of thermodynamics continues undeterred. Still God’s people sing of an “Unclouded Day;” “Where We’ll Never Grow Old,” etc., and look longingly for that glorified state, while possessing the earnest of it. 2 Cor. 1:22.

Indeed, the Bible forthrightly declares that though the outward man perishes, yet the inward man is renewed day by day. 2 Cor. 4:16. God does not allow the saved spirit of man to change. It really is constant, fixed! How can that be? It is sealed by the great Creator God in His expression of the Holy Spirit. Eph. 4:30. But, some folks wonder how can this be true?

It is true because God never changes. “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, today, and forever.” Heb. 13:8. “I am the LORD, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.” Malachi 3:6

Change, decay, trouble, pain, death are inextricably embedded in the present cosmos, but a new cosmos is coming for those who are ready for it. It has been won, bought, and will be implemented by Christ Jesus.

FOR THOUGHT: Do you have Jesus in your heart? Is your mind being renewed, Rom. 12:2, in readiness for His soon return? Do you ever live vicariously in an incorruptible body on a brand new earth? What do you know about your own future?