Exploring God's Immutability and Relational Nature
In this sermon, Preston dives into a deep exploration of Isaiah 46, where God contrasts himself with inanimate idols. Preston elucidates God's unchanging nature, also known as immutability, and His relational aspect toward His people. The sermon includes references to God’s promises in Numbers 23:19, Psalm 102:25-27, James 1:17, and Hebrews 13:8, emphasizing God's and Jesus' unchanging character. Additionally, Preston discusses God's response to human actions, highlighting the importance of faithfulness and the role of God's relational nature in biblical narratives. Concluding the sermon, he encourages Christians to embody reliability and relatability in their daily lives, following God's example.
00:00 Introduction and Gratitude
01:39 The Lesson Begins: Isaiah 46
03:57 God's Immutability: A Blessing for Us
05:24 Exploring God's Unchanging Nature in Scripture
16:39 God's Relational Nature and Human Response
24:57 Christ's Relational Nature and Our Emulation
27:44 Practical Applications of God's Immutability
35:29 Conclusion and Call to Action
Good evening. If you would go open up your Bibles, Isaiah chapter 46. That's where we're going to start our lesson tonight. But while you're turning over there, I just wanted to express thanks for yesterday. So many of the ladies, I know gentlemen participate as well and Abby's baby shower. Just so thankful, like what Reagan already reiterated this morning, you guys are such a generous giving congregation and we've been recipients of that since we've been here.
Especially yesterday and with the baby coming it's a lot of fear and anxiety that comes with that. And so, to be recipients of that love, not only materially, but spiritually, in the last few months has really put us at ease, knowing that so much of you guys care about us. And so, we're really thankful.
And appreciate it for all the books. I'm already reading children's books I never read before. Abby read The Giving Tree to me today. And we're both laughing while simultaneously crying while reading this book. It's like, I can't believe I haven't read this book before. It's so sad. Such a beautiful book.
And simultaneously, they put a picture of Shel Silverstein on the back of it. That's nightmare fuel. That guy is creepy looking. He's terrifying. I can't believe they put that on the back of a children's book. But nonetheless An amazing story and just really beautiful. And, and, you know, we don't want to be the, I also had the realization after reading the fact, the son in the book is kind of a jerk.
He doesn't realize his mom's been giving and giving until the very end. So I hope, long story short, to come full circle, that our time here, however long that may be that we will be able to give back and not be like that jerk son who never gave anything back. But if to switch gears now, if you would look in Isaiah chapter 46, that's where we're going to start our lesson tonight, in verse 8 through 11.
In Isaiah 46, God is talking to the remnant of Israel that's been in exile. Style in Babylon. And here he's contrasting himself with worthless idols that Israel and these other nations have kind of entrusted themselves to. And he says, to whom will you liken me and make me equal and compare me that we may be alike?
God's saying, who can you compare to me? Is there anybody like me? And he will say that, you know, these idols, they've been made by men. They've had to be cared for by men. They can't hear, they can't see, and they can't save. And ultimately, they're carried into captivity just as their makers are. And so God portrays these idols as what they really are.
They're merely inanimate objects. That they can't relate to their makers. But God tells us in, 8, He is so much different from these idols. And He says in verse 8, Remember this and stand firm. Recall it to mind, you transgressors. Remember the former things of old. For I am God, and there is no other. I am God, and there is none like me.
Declaring the end from the beginning and from the ancient times, things not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose, calling a bird of prey from the east, that being Cyrus, King Cyrus of Persia, the man of my counsel from a far country. I have spoken, and I will bring it to pass.
I have purposed, and I will do it. And so unlike idols, our God is a relational God. He, He tells Israel, He's been committed from, to them from the time of their origin, from bringing them out of slavery. And He says, I'll be with you till, till you guys have gray hair, till till always. And in Babylon, he was really the only one who had not only the power, but the willingness and the love to save his people from exile.
And here, God says that he's setting history on this course that whatever he sets out to do with Israel, he is going to make it. Come to pass and throughout the Bible. We have a lot of statements that God kind of makes like like he does here in Isaiah 46 Statements that are really about God's unwillingness to change Or as it's kind of referred to as I've got on the screen God's immutability God's ability if can't even say it.
I'm trying to preach on it immutability meaning not capable of susceptible to change. And so tonight, what I want us to do is kind of look at these kind of two aspects of how God is relational, but also unchanging in nature. And first, I want to kind of discuss the, how God's unchanging nature is something that's a blessing for us.
And then I want us to kind of understand how God's relational nature helps us. Kind of look at these passages throughout the Bible, especially in the Old Testament where it appears that God is changing his mind. Now, how do we square those passages with God's statements of immu immutability? And then thirdly, how is this important to me?
Why does god's, I immutability is unchanging nature? What kind of bearing does that have on me in my faith and how can I emulate him? In that way. So let's jump in. We're going to have several verses to read here. So look on the screen with me. We'll start in Numbers chapter 23 to start out. Numbers chapter 23, a passage we read only a few months ago in our daily Bible readings.
And so let's talk about God's immutability and kind of some, some explicit passages in the Old Testament and the New Testament that talk about God and Jesus as well in kind of an unchanging in their unchanging nature. And then we'll turn and look at how this aspect of God's character is something that should be a blessing for us.
And so, in Numbers 23, this is the second oracle that Balaam is delivering, where, as he delivered one intended to curse Israel, God means it for blessing. He now starts for a second time. He says in verse 18, Balaam took up his discourse and said, Rise, Balak, and hear, give ear to me, O son of Zippor. God is not man that he should lie, or a son of man that he should change his mind.
Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it? And so here in Numbers 23, this again, like we said, Balaam is trying to, to turn God against his people, essentially. And King Balak has kind of hired him to do this because he's afraid of Israel. But now for the, the second oracle is delivered, and God is kind of saying, Didn't you hear me the first time?
I already told you I'm not going to curse my people. I'm going to bless them. But the problem is it takes them three times to kind of, well, three attempts. They don't really actually figure it out. But the problem with Balaam and Balak is really they look at God, Yahweh, as all these other idols that they worshipped, they treated God like all of these other idols that were fashioned in the image of man, that were susceptible to being persuaded and coerced, or enticed, maybe through gifts or different things.
But God here shows His people that He's different, that, that He's not going to be persuaded, that He's committed to Israel, and that His promises are sure. And so unlike man or these idols, God can be trusted because his character is unchanging. Let's look at another passage. Look in Psalms 1 0 2, Psalm 1 0 2, Psalm 1 0 2.
This is a prayer of the one afflicted. It's a lament psalm, but as lament, often as they often do it kind of turn more positive towards the end. And here the, the psalmist kind of begins connecting God's eternal and his immutable. Nature and look. In verses 25 through 27, he says, 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 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. And so here, the psalmist throughout this chapter of Psalm 102, he's calling God to act based upon the covenant that he's made in the past with his people.
And the psalmist knows how God has been faithful in times past, and he rests in that, knowing that just as you've been faithful to Israel, I know that you've been faithful to me. You will be faithful to me. He's the creator and the sustainer of the world. I know you're going to be faithful and you're going to deliver me because you keep your covenant.
And like Isaiah 46, the psalmist recognized there's nobody that can save me but you. So we looked in the law, we looked in the books of poetry. Let's look in the New Testament. Turn to James chapter 1. This is a passage we read quite frequently. James chapter 1. Turn to In verse 17, and here James is a admonishing.
These Christians, Hey, you guys are enduring some trials. Your faith is being tested. Don't get it twisted. Don't think that all these things you're going through are because God is testing you. You're being enticed by your own lusts and desires. And here it's when he tells, tells them in verse 17, he says, every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the father of light.
In whom? With whom. There is no variation or shadow due. And so James is trying to tell these Christians, Hey, you guys need to recognize God wants to bless you. He wants, He's committed to you. And likewise, you can trust Him because His character is unchanging. There's no shadow, no variation or shadow due to change.
And so, in the Old Testament throughout, in the New Testament, we see God kind of described in this way with immutability. Well, also of Jesus. Turn over about one page in Hebrews, in Hebrews chapter 13. And this will be our last verse here for a little bit. So I appreciate your patience here. Look at verse 7 right here, 7 through 9, the beginning of verse 9.
Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith. And read this passage intently. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, and today and forever. Do not be led away by diverse and strange teachings. And so the Hebrew writer here, he's showing not only is God immutable, but Jesus is as well.
And he's already discussed Jesus eternal nature and his place at the right hand of the Father in chapter one. But the, the, the writers reminding these readers that, you know, these leaders who taught you the gospel so long ago imitate them, continue in the path that they started you on. Don't be, don't be distracted by strange and diverse teachings.
But remember that this, this Jesus, He's unchanging. And the message that you heard about Him long ago when you decided to be a Christian, it's not something that's changed. So don't be led astray. So, what's kind of the point that we need to kind of pull away from all of these different verses? Well, I think it's this, and Jesus and God, and Jesus included in this, is unchanging in both His character and His purpose.
We find kind of confirmation of what Jesus, or what God said in Isaiah 46 when we look at all these different verses. When God kind of sets out to do something, like making a covenant, Well, he's faithful to it and he's consistent throughout history and his power and his character and and his purpose.
And he's some, he is a God that can be ultimately relied upon. And so whether in the older New Testament, we can recognize this, and this is something that ultimately should be a blessing for us as Christians, because on the one hand, it gives us confidence in God's unwavering faithfulness. I'm sure we probably all interact with people who are unreliable, people that we can't really trust.
Even people close to us, like our spouses, or our kids, or our parents, they can kind of be shaky at times. As Peyton read at the beginning of our services in Psalm 146, the wisdom literature kind of talks about not putting your trust on the one hand, and people like political leaders saying in verse 3, Put not your trust in princes and a son of man in whom there is no salvation.
And so not only should we look to political leaders for ultimate trust in our lives, but we definitely shouldn't go towards treacherous people, to people we know that are ultimately unreliable. I really love Proverbs 25. It's kind of, as Proverbs usually are, they're kind of humorous because they're meant to be memorable.
But in verse 18 and 19 of Proverbs 25, it says, A man who bears false witness against his neighbor is like a war club. Or a sword, or a sharp arrow. Trusting in a treacherous man in a time of trouble is like a bad tooth or a foot that slips. And, you know, we might think Wad never trusts in a treacherous man, but he says, you know, in a time of trouble.
There's some times where we feel our back is against the wall like we have no other option, and so we feel like we have to put our trust in people, even people we know that are unreliable. But, you know, he says it's like a foot that slips or it's a bad tooth, you know, like granny's old gnawing tooth, you know, she's got to really trust on that bad one last rotten tooth, right?
Nobody else have a granny with a gnawing tooth, just me? Alright, it's a pain handle for it for you. Just kidding, my grandma has all her teeth, my dad's a dentist, she wouldn't have any other way. But there's no hope in all of these men. Men are idols because they're not immutable as our God is. Their character is subject to change.
And so they can't ever fully be trusted. But God's character and purpose, they're unchanging, and so we can have confidence that whatever he tells us he's going to do, that it's going to come to pass. And so we have confidence. But we also have comfort that his standards for us are unchanging. I'm sure you've probably been in a class before where you had a teacher or a professor who Who's just like their syllabus, you know, the beginning of the year by the end of the course.
It just did not match up. Their expectations are always changing. Or maybe you've had a boss who's his expectations for you are super erratic and just unpredictable. You don't know what he's going to be like when he comes in the office or she. Girl bosses, those are a thing now. But also maybe in relationships, you know, in a family or a romance or a romantic relationship as well, where you feel like the expectations that are given to you are kind of dependent on that person's mood or attitude that day.
And these are really uncomfortable places to be in. They're places that are kind of nerve wracking because there's no real consistency and there's no direction. And so, you know, Relationships like this they're either stifled or just broken completely, or they really don't even get up off the ground to start with.
But God, His law, as we point out so often in our last quarter, it's a manifestation of both His character and His purpose. And we can be assured that His, His standards for us are unchanging. I love Isaiah 40, verse 8, it's cited in James as well, a passage we know very well as, the grass withers Man, that's a powerful passage.
Because God's relationship with us is not volatile, it's not always changing. His Word is perfect. And when he speaks it, it is sure. And it's comforting that his word is unchanging, because we can embody that teaching, a reflection of who he is, and not be thinking or trying to guess God's mind all of the time.
We know because he has told us. And so, God is immutable. He's unchanging in character and in purpose, and that's something that's comforting. It gives us confidence in who He is. Well, maybe you talk with somebody who's read the Bible a little bit, or maybe you've read it for yourself, and you say, well, okay, well what about the times in the Bible where it seems like God's kind of changed His mind?
What do we do with these kind of situations in light of God's statements about His immutability, and the fact that He's told us, hey, I'm not, I'm not a God that changes and yet there are situations where it seems like God might be changing his mind. What do we do? with situations like this. Well, I think in each of these cases in the flood and the golden calf or Saul's removal at King they do appear on the outset to kind of look like God changes his mind.
And in each of these instances, there's the same word that's repeated the Hebrew word Nahum. And it's kind of translated when referring to people, a lot of times it can refer to being sorry or, you know, to console yourself or maybe to repent of sin. But of course, that's not what's going on here with God.
But in these instances, it's often translated in our English Bibles as to regret or to relent from a purposed action. And so each story of these, as you probably can tell just from the names from recalling them is they're, they're all stories of unfaithfulness, whether that's creation or Israel at large or Israel's king.
And in each of these stories, God has purposed to do something, but it appears that he's kind of changed his mind. So what do we do with those? Well, in Genesis chapter 6, verse 6, God's seeing this kind of decreation that's taking place because of the wickedness of people. And he basically allows it to run its course before recreating it with Noah.
And it says in verse 6, The Lord regretted that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him in his heart. And so it seems God kind of changes his mind. In Exodus, the people have grown impatient with Moses because he's been on the mountain way too long, and they've just been brought out of slavery, and yet they go and they create this golden calf, and Aaron tells them, These are your gods, O Israel.
These are the ones who brought you out of Egypt. And yet God has just told them not long ago that they are to be a treasured possession, a royal nation, a royal priesthood. And it's here in Exodus 32, in verse 10, where God says, Now therefore let me alone, that my wrath may burn hot against him, and I may consume them, in order that I may make a great nation of you.
And we know Moses comes and he intercedes for the people and ultimately God relents in verse 14 it says, And the Lord relented from the disaster that he had spoken of bringing on his people. And then, in 1 Samuel chapter 15, Saul has disobeyed God time and time again, and so the Lord cuts ties with Saul for his continued unfaithfulness, and later we'll choose the line of David, and it says that, I regret that I have made Saul king, for he has turned back from following me and has not performed my commandments.
And so, if we really wanted to kind of answer each of these situations, it'd take a little bit more time looking at every single one, because they're a lot more complicated than I think what's on the surface. And the appearance that God changes His mind isn't exactly what is going on here. It's not that God made a mistake and He's retracting it.
It's a little bit deeper than that, but I want us to try to find the answer, I think, Without having time to look in each of these, where I think we can find the answer is in the Prophets. If you would, turn in Malachi chapter 3, Malachi chapter 3, in verses 6 through 7.
And here Malachi, he's calling Israel back in repentance to encourage them, Hey, y'all need to start restoring your tithes to the temple. He warns them, hey, there's some coming judgment that's going to take place. But here he kind of delivers them this comforting message. Look in verse 6. For I, the Lord, do not change.
Statement of immutability, right? Therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed. Right? God says he's immutable in his purpose and his character. He's committed to Israel. That's why they're not consumed. They haven't been faithful, but God says, I'm committed to you. Verse seven, he says, from the days of your fathers, you have, you have turned aside from my statutes and have not kept them.
Return to me, and I will return to you, says the Lord of hosts. And so, here, there's this kind of comforting message given after a declaration of judgment that's going to come. That people can repent and God will ultimately return to them. Well, let's look at one more prophet. Look at Jeremiah 18. This is a passage we've quoted in a couple weeks past.
And I know for some of you in the Jeremiah class, this is probably one you're familiar with now. Look in verses 7 through 11 in Jeremiah. He makes a very similar, I think, more clear kind of statement, a more lengthy statement that kind of parallels what Malachi is trying to say. In verse 7, it says, 'If at any time I declare concerning a nation or a kingdom that I will pluck up and break down and destroy it, that I will pluck up and break down and destroy it, And if that nation concerning which I have spoken turns from its evil, I will relent, there's our word, naham, of the disaster that I have intended to do to it.
And if at any time I declare concerning a nation or a kingdom that I will build and plant it, And if it does evil in my sight, not listening to my voice, then I will relent, again our word, of the good that I have intended to do to it. Now therefore say to the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, Thus says the Lord, Behold, I am shaping disaster against you, and devising a plan against you.
Return everyone from his evil way. And amend your ways and your deeds. And so what Jeremiah kind of is showing us here is that our God is relational. That He will respond differently depending on the heart of a nation. On the one hand, if a nation is wicked, well He's going to bring judgment. But He'll also leave the door, the door open for repentance.
So if they repent, that He will relent from His judgment. Think about like Jonah and Nineveh. That's kind of the exact situation that Jeremiah is kind of explaining that kind of plays out there too. And secondly, God says, well, I'm going to bless a nation if they're righteous, but if they relent from doing good, then I will relent from that if they disobey.
And so the point here is really this, that the way God acts towards His people is contingent upon the people's character. commitment to the covenant. And God's character, as we talked about, is unchanging. His purpose is unchanging. But how His people act towards Him determines whether He's going to bring judgment or mercy.
And isn't that the true nature of a relationship? Isn't it that God is obstinate when the people are loyal to Him, when they show faith to Him? It's not that He just ignores that, or He cares less about when Offs sending and, and acting wickedly, no, God is relating to his people depending on how they respond to him.
And so what we find in the Old Testament is that God is immutable and what he's doing is he's calling creation into conformity with his will, with who he is. And what we learn about these texts is about God. Is that, is that while God is immutable, he's also relational. And the fact that God responds to creation in this kind of relational way, it doesn't mean that he's no longer immutable.
His standards and his purpose are still the same, but he changes in terms of how he expresses himself within the context of this relationship to creation. And so God, this immutable God, is also relational. But not only is God, but Christ is as well. The passage that we read, Hebrews chapter 2, if you'll turn over there, we read this last Sunday.
Hebrews chapter 2, we'll continue reading a few verses past. But God is not, He's not this deistic God. He's not so far removed that He's unrelated to what's going on in creation. But he's deeply concerned and he's deeply connected to it and nowhere is that shown more clearly than in Christ's incarnation.
And so if you'll read with me in verse 17 and 18 of Hebrews chapter 2. It says, Therefore Jesus, he had to be made like his brothers in every respect. Again, partaking in the flesh and blood as verse 14 talks about. So that he might become like his brothers. A merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God to make propitiation for the sins of the people For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.
And Hebrews here makes a really profound statement about our God, that this immutable God, this God that has been eternal from the beginning, He's been unchangeable. He's now took on this constantly changing human form in order to act on our behalf, to learn to relate to us and be able to relate who we are to God, to be our mediator.
And with this experience of coming and partaking in the flesh, he now is able to meditate on our behalf, he's able to help those who are being tempted as we just read in this Hebrews chapter 5 verse 1 says. For every high priest chosen from among men is appointed, why? To act on behalf of men, in relation to God, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins.
And so Christ came in the flesh, he came to learn to, or to be able to relate to us and to relate us back to God. And so, like God, Christ himself is relational. So we've kind of talked about tonight God's own kind of self expression of who he is as this unchanging God. We've talked about passages that we think on the surface might appear to be contradicting that and hopefully giving some answers as to why it is God It's not that he's changing his mind, but he's relating to his people within the context of his covenant.
What does that mean for me? What does God's immutability, how does that impact my life as a Christian? Well, hopefully it's obvious that we need to emulate God and emulate Christ in any way possible. But how, how do I do that when I am definitely not an immutable God, right? We don't want to trust in men.
We're, how are we different than any other men? We're constantly changing. We can be persuaded, unfortunately. Well, how can I practice immutability? Well, we know this is obviously an attribute that's unique to God, that Him being a holy God, that this is an aspect of Him that is unique to Him in Christ alone.
But at the same time, it's an example. It's a model for us to follow to the best of our ability. And so tonight, I just want to offer you two quick kind of things to think about in your own life in terms of how can we practice or model God's immutability, His unchangingness in character, and His relational nature.
Well, I think the first one is that we need to be people who are reliable people. We need to be disciples that strive to be unchanging in our character and purpose, not only to our, to God and our relationship with Him, but to others too. And our desire to be unchanging, it needs to manifest in those two ways.
And on the one hand, our character what, how do we conduct ourselves, whether privately or publicly, but also purpose? How do we view the world and how do we focus ourselves? And does our life on the outside match what's going on on the inside? And if our character and our purpose, if it isn't matching in our public and private life, Well, then we're going to be people that ultimately can't be trusted.
If we have a constantly changing character, well, we're going to kind of be somewhere between hypocrisy and a lack of self awareness. We need to have a character that's trustworthy, one that's honest, and one that's above reproach. Because ultimately, that's who our God is, and whether in reference to God or others, we need to be people so consistent in character that when we say that we're going to do something, well, we don't have to dress up our language for people to believe us, but they just simply believe us because as Jesus taught his disciples on the Sermon on the Mount, we talked about last Wednesday, In terms of oaths, he says, let what you say be simply yes or no.
Can you simply give a promise of yes, I'll do this or no, I won't do this, and do people actually listen to you? Do they, do they actually believe you when you say that? Well, if not, well, you might not be a reliable person. Well, what about if we have a changing purpose? Well, if we're, we have a changing purpose, waywardness and despair.
And we want to be people that are dedicated, people that stick to the commitments that we make, whether in reference to God and our faith or to other people. We need to be so reliable that when we put our minds to something, there's not going to be anything that stands in the way from us finishing what we promised to accomplish or what we purposed our mind to do.
We need to be people like Daniel. This is probably the most read verse out of Daniel, at least in my experience. I love this verse. Where it says in Daniel chapter 1 verse 8 where, where Daniel is being tempted to kind of succumb to the, the culture of Babylon to assimilate into this culture and he's refusing to do that.
And it says in chapter 1 verse 8, but Daniel resolved, some of your translations might say purposed in his heart or he set his mind. Daniel resolved that he would not defile himself with the king's food or with the wine that he drank. Therefore he asked the chief of the eunuchs to allow him not to defile himself.
Think about the influence that Daniel had, because he was such a reliable person. Think about the influence he had on the other exiles because of his willingness to set his mind to be a person that was true to, in his character, whether privately or publicly, and the way he he put his mind to a specific purpose and he wouldn't let anything stand in the way, even possibly death for him.
And so when we think about his first point, we'll ask yourself, am I a reliable person? Am I following after God's own example and his immutability? The people, am I a reliable person who other people look to for strength and for help in their own lives? We need to be reliable people. But secondly, we also want to be relatable people.
We need to strive to relate to people as best as possible. Of course, first in our faith we want to try and relate to God, to deepen our relationship with Him as much as we can in terms of our study, in terms of prayer, and as we've been talking about this quarter, finding quiet places to be alone with God.
But not only that what I want us to really focus is, just as we talked about, again, Jesus incarnation. I want you to think about that one more time. This eternal, this all powerful God, He took on this ever changing mortal flesh, and Jesus lowered Himself, from God's side, the closest relationship there ever was or will be so that he could relate to us, so that he could mediate on our behalf as our high priest, so that he could ultimately call us to share in the same relationship that he had with his father, to call us brothers and sisters.
And so, for us, what we need to be doing the same, we need to be willing to humble ourselves on behalf of others. Even people who are really different from us. People who we don't understand. People who make us uncomfortable. And some people who, quite frankly, just really make us upset and angry. And so, by Jesus example, We see our calling to seek and save the lost and to be willing to share our relationship with God that we have with anybody who will be willing to listen.
And we need to be trying hard not to really make other people meet us where we are, but to go and meet them where they are and to relate to them and to call them to know our God as we have. through Jesus. Last passage for tonight, 1 Corinthians chapter 9. I love how Paul puts this in terms of talking about his freedom and surrendering his rights, but he later goes on in verse 19 to talk about how he kind of tries to relate to all kinds of people as he's preaching the gospel.
He says, In verse 19, he says, for though I am free from, from all, I have made myself a servant to all that. I might win more of them to the Jews I became as a Jew in order to win Jews to those under the law. I became as one under the law, though not being myself under the law, that I might win those under the law to those outside.
The law became as one, outside the law, not being outside the law of God, but under the law of Christ that I might win those outside the law. To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some. I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings.
So, on the one hand are we being reliable people, but also are we being relatable to others as well? Are we willing to follow in Jesus footsteps, as we sang about that tonight? Are we willing to humble ourselves to seek after the lost, so they can share in this good news about our great, reliable, and relatable God in heaven?
You know, the great thing about studying something like the immutability of God you know, Kristen, I'll, I'll let you guys down at some point. I may already have and may not even know, but each of us in here, we, we let each other down, right? As much as we try to try our best to always be there, to be reliable, to be relatable.
There are times when we fail in those things, but the good thing about our God is, and hopefully you've seen that tonight in our study, is that our God can be depended on and He is not going to let you down no matter what. And so tonight if you'd like to come and to know this God that we all have related to through Jesus Christ, if you want to come follow in Jesus footsteps and deny yourself, And come and begin a path of relating to this God, to becoming a more reliable person in your life, to be like our great immutable God, our great relational God.
And we ask you to come now as we stand and as we sing.