There are concepts about God that we readily believe and trust in, but we still don’t fully comprehend. For example, the Bible calls Him omnipotent (Revelation 19:6), which means He has all power. We believe it, but our minds cannot fathom having all power. Likewise, the Bible calls Him immutable or unchanging (Malachi 3:6, Hebrews 6:18). For beings as changeable as we are and will continue to be, we cannot truly measure or comprehend what it means to be unchanging and always the same. Years don’t affect Him, no power in the universe can match Him, and forever into eternity, these elements will be as unbending and abiding as they have ever been. However, when it comes to the correlation between His omnipotent ability and His unchanging nature, there are collision points that must be understood to have even a decent grasp of who our God is.
Cannot Do: While God has all power, the Bible freely declares that there are things He cannot do. He cannot lie (Titus 1:2), and that is a stronger thought than He could do it but doesn’t. He can’t do it. This “lack” of ability doesn’t remove a portion of power from His omnipotent ability. Rather, this inability informs us that His unchanging nature cannot do things that are contrary to it. Because justice and judgment are the habitation of His throne (Psalm 89:14), nothing that detracts from that is found within His personal presence. To do things contrary to justice and judgment would be contrary to the unchanging nature of God. It is not a lack of omnipotent ability. Rather, it is an immutable nature that will never be anything other than the all-powerful and eternally loving Being that He is.
Turning: Because of God’s immutable nature, it would be logical from man’s perspective that He would never turn, “change,” or repent. However, we read in Jeremiah 18 that God compares Himself to the potter down in the potter’s house. In this revelation of Himself and His nature, God tells Jeremiah that if His people or a nation repent from goodness when He thought to do them good, He would repent of the goodness He thought to bring to them. On the other hand, if His people or a nation repented from their evil, He would repent of the evil He thought to bring to them. Does this mean the unchanging God has changed? No, it means He has turned (repented) from a direction that is in keeping with His will and character. When Jonah preached to Nineveh, they turned from their wickedness, and as a result God turned from His wrath. This is less a change, but more a determined response that God has declared about Himself that we can expect when we see certain circumstances. In a nutshell, God punishes evil and blesses goodness. That is His character and nature. These changes and turning are part of His unchanging nature as they have ever been present with Him.
Power and Nature Meet: The reason these concepts are so vitally important to contemplate and ponder is from these elements springs our only hope of deliverance and justification. Had God not had all power, there would be no one with the ability to save us from wrath and eternal torment. As some of the old fathers used to say, “It took a Godman to be our deliverer, because without a man, we have no brother. Without God we have no deliverance.” Therefore, His humanity was offered on the altar of His divinity. Without His power, none could save us. Without His immutability, none could love us for our rotten condition. However, God’s everlasting love is set ever upon us, and His outstretched arm has brought salvation unto Himself in the Person of Jesus Christ. As Paul declares in Hebrews 6:18-20, these concepts give us even today a strong consolation to flee for refuge in the work of Jesus Christ and the promises of Almighty God.
We are changeable creatures. Age affects us, power weakens over time, and we change our minds and ideas. However, in this changing and changeable world, thank God we have Him who changes not. We lack the ability and wisdom to do many things. Certain things remain high above our comprehension and ability to perform. Thank God we have a friend that sticketh closer than a brother who has embraced us and will never let us go. There is an old philosophical (and foolish) question that men have asked for years, “Could God create a rock bigger than He could lift?” No matter what God creates, it cannot compare to its Creator, but more importantly, God’s will and nature are so rock solid and steadfast, that such scenarios are not even part of His will. They enter not into His mind or heart, but we have been placed there by Him to ever think upon and love us world without end.