February 20, 2004

THE UNCHANGING CHRIST

"Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever" (Hebrews 13:8, NIV).

The portrait of the unchanging Christ is always refreshingly relevant and constant. As God, He is inherently changeless. The psalmist expresses it in these words, "From everlasting to everlasting you are God" (Psalm 90:2, NIV). As God, Jesus is absolute perfection. This perfection cannot be improved upon. What God is today, He has always been and will always be. With Him there is "no variableness, neither shadow of turning" (James 1:17).

The message of the unchanging Christ is also unchanging. Part of the good news is that not only is Christ everlasting and unchanging, but so is the gospel. The guarantee of the plan of salvation is that Christ is always the same. Everything about our Saviour is reliable and certain. He is the same "yesterday and today and forever" (Hebrews 13:8, NIV). His unconditional love, His matchless grace, His infinite goodness, His impartial justice, His immutable law, and His sublime attributes are forever the same. In a world of changing values, where everything is tentative and subject to change, we have an unchanging Saviour. In a society where there are no absolute standards of behavior and where everything goes, we have a Lord who is always constant. He is "The way and the truth and the life" (John 14:6, NIV). He is the only route to God and eternal life.

This inspired counsel concerning the unchanging Christ is appropriate: "Let the hand of God mold and fashion you after the divine similitude... Hang your helpless soul on Jesus Christ. He is unchangeable, the same yesterday, today, and forever."--EGW 1888 Materials, p. 143.

My Prayer Today: Lord, may the changeless Christ enable me to become more like Him in devotion and service. Amen.