God Does Not Change! (The Eternity of God Pt 3)
by Isaac Overton
Every so often we are struck by the ways in which people we know tend to change. In the space of our first year of life, for example, we change continuously and significantly. We note it in our children, especially when we see old photos from a few years ago. Sometimes we note it in people we haven’t seen for a time. A few more lines in the face, a frame that is a bit more bent, a face looking more worn or weary, a figure that is a few kilograms heavier or lighter than when last we looked. Over the course of time, we change much. It is not only physical, either, we also change in personality and maturity. We may find a steadiness of character in friends from our youth that was not there before. Sadly, we might also witness a regression of character unfold in people we know. Change is all around us, constantly moving, though often unnoticed.
When it comes to God, this change that we see in ourselves and others is, quite simply, not a factor. God does not change, he remains the same forever, and this quality is an aspect of his eternal nature. We have seen that God’s eternal nature means that he has neither beginning nor end, but it also means that he is changeless or, to use the theological term: immutable. Now, we can explore the immutability of God in more detail later, but for now we’ll focus on change specifically in relation to God’s eternal nature. The first question here is: why do we say that there’s an important relationship between time and change? And why say that God’s unchangeability is part of his eternal nature? To begin with, let’s consider Psalm 102:25-28:
“Of old you laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands. They will perish, but you will remain; they will all wear out like a garment. You will change them like a robe, and they will pass away, but you are the same, and your years have no end. The children of your servants shall dwell secure; their offspring shall be established before you.”
The basic comparison in this passage that I want to point out is that between the passing changes of the created realm (sovereignly ordained by God) and the changeless eternity of God, “you are the same” the scripture says. There is a key contrast being made here, that being the changeability of the created realm as against the eternality and changelessness of God. Ecclesiastes 3 also testifies to the changing nature of time, as there is a “time for every matter under heaven” (Ecc 3:1). The situation on earth is thus constantly changing – it is of the essence of our time-bound existence. We see this in scripture, but we see it too in our own lives everyday if we would take a moment to consider it. We exist in a realm of change, and that change develops as part of the unfolding of time – perhaps it is itself the unfolding of time. Perhaps we can consider it this way: time, as we often think of it, is a unit of measurement. What then does it measure? The answer, I think, is change (or movement – more on that later).
The idea that change is of the essence of time, and therefore gives insight into God’s eternal nature, is also well borne out among the theologians, of whom I shall quote a few:
“God is timelessly eternal, insusceptible to the change that comes with being in time” (Barrett, None Greater, p.141)
“Time is the measure of motion between a beginning and an end… If something doesn’t change, there can be no time for that thing, because time requires movement” – Ps. James Dolezal.
“Time is known to us by a succession of events. It is the way we account for consecutive changes in the universe” (Tozer, Knowledge of the Holy, p.52)
“Time means change” (Rushdoony, Systematic Theology Vol 1, p.183).
Now at this point I want to clarify something important. Perhaps in our own minds, we might gather from all of this that the material world is a place of change, but the spiritual world is not. This is not so, for we ourselves are spiritual beings – and our spiritual faculties are, like our physical faculties, subject to change. For example, Romans 6:13 speaks of the fact that we have been turned in our spiritual state from death to life (this change will also be effected physically hereafter!). Even the angels, as spiritual beings, are subject to change, for some of them fell from the glorious state in which they were made. Eternity, therefore, is not a timeless spiritual realm just beyond sight, it is rather a condition of God’s being. In other words, eternity is not an impersonal place we go when we die, it is a dimension of God himself, a personal aspect of the thrice holy God. Herman Bavinck once said: “Time is not a separate substance… but a mode of existence. If there were no creatures there would be no time” (Bavinck, Reformed Dogmatics Vol 2, p.162). I believe that he has hit the nail on the head, so to speak. Time is not a realm, or a substance that can be bottled up. It is, as he says, a “mode of existence”. “We should not think of eternity as a realm around God in which he lives, for God’s eternity is God himself” (Ps. James Dolazel).
Pushing this thought a little further, we might say that time is intrinsically a question of potentiality. That is to say, time, being the quality of change and motion in which we exist, is always a matter of what we may or may not become. Time is a question of movement, of progress or regress. Again Bavinck highlights that time is most intimately connected with “becoming”, “with the transition from the potential to the actual” (Bavinck, Reformed Dogmatics Vol 2, p.162). With this thought we gain an insight into the perfection of God.
For you and I, we are ever and always striving to grow into that which we may become. There is always progress and improvement that might be made. So too there is always the danger of regress or corruption that may come – at least for as long as we live in this life. We struggle to grow into maturity in Christ, and yet there is always more growth that we need. God is not like this. There is no potential in God, no area of expansion in which he might improve himself. He is altogether “full”, unchanging and perfect in every possible way. Neither is regress a possibility with God, for “God is light, and in him is no darkness at all” (1 Jn 1:5). In his timeless eternity, God transcends all notions of change, progress, or regress, and instead lives in a state of infinite, utter, and complete perfection. He is glorious in his eternity!
In Conclusion, let’s pause and turn again to Psalm 102: “Of old you laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands. They will perish, but you will remain; they will all wear out like a garment. You will change them like a robe, and they will pass away, but you are the same, and your years have no end. The children of your servants shall dwell secure; their offspring shall be established before you.” We are creatures of change. The question for us, then, is simply this: will my change be a change for the better? Or a change for the worse? Scriptures repeatedly testifies that when left to ourselves, this will inevitably be a change for the worse. As we read in Rom 3:11-12 “...no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.” Looking unto the Lord, however, trusting in Christ, we can and will be changed: “And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit” (2 Cor 3:18).
This progress and regress that comes with time is not arbitrary. It is either a progress toward conformity with the perfect pattern of God’s character, which according to our original design is what we are supposed to be as created in his image; or it is a regress of conformity into the opposite of his character – a regress of conformity to the corruption of Satan’s character. Which direction will we go? It’s very simple. What things will you set before your eyes? What things will you allow to take up the attention of your mind? What company will you keep? What things will you spend your time on? If the things and people be God’s truth and word in the fellowship of his saints, then you will grow in conformity to Christ. If the things and people be the things that come from this fallen world system, and that is where your heart is, then we will be conformed to those things. Let us then look to him who stands over all, the timeless eternal and perfect God of heaven, and let us look to him for help in a realm of danger and change. He is our refuge and help, and he will see us safely through. SDG.