A Word in Season: Thou Who Changest Not (Hebrews 13:8)

The Unchanging Christ as the Ground of Christian Faithfulness

We need good reasons to do what we do, and to walk as we walk, and to serve as we serve. In Hebrews chapter 13 from verse 7 we read,. Why do we do what we do? Why do we serve as we serve? Why do we walk as we walk?

Why do we believe what we believe? It is because Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever. You notice how that statement is nestled between on the one hand the exhortation to remember and to follow the faith of those who have been put in positions of authority over the saints, and then not to be carried about with various and strange doctrines, and not to seek after food which has brought no spiritual profit to those who have tasted it in their souls.

And there in the core, in the centre, nestled in the heart of those exhortations is this reminder, Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today and forever. Now we know that God is God and does not change.

The Unchanging God and the Assurance of His People

We read that for example in Malachi chapter 3 in verse 6, and there's an encouragement there that the Israelites of old were not consumed because God was the unchanging God. How much more then for God's new covenant people can we be assured that we will be safe and secure, if we walk as we should walk, if we do what we should do, if we be what we should be, if we serve as we should serve, if we believe what we ought to believe, because Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever.

He is what he always was. He is now what he was and will be, and he will always be all that he is and has been. He is the one who is without beginning and without end in his true deity, but as the saviour here in particular, as the incarnate son of God, as the one who has lived and died and risen again and who now sits at the right hand of the majesty on high, who is interceding for us, who is shepherding and guiding his people, the one to whom the faithful pastors and preachers that these men and women know have served and have looked to and have walked in his ways.

He is the one who is the same yesterday, today and forever, and therefore they can safely follow in the footsteps of those who have gone before them, knowing that Christ will be all to them that he has always been to those who have gone before.

Holding Fast to the Truth in Jesus

And they are to go on believing what they have been taught concerning the Lord Jesus Christ. They are not to be swayed by strange doctrines. They are to be established by grace, not with foods which have not profited those who have been occupied with them.

They are not to pursue the sacrifices any longer because those things have passed away with the one great sacrifice arriving. They are to hold fast then to the truth as it is in Jesus. They don't need to go back to anything because Christ has been, is and always will be all that they need for their true spiritual sustenance.

And that's still going to be what enables us to stand firm. It is because he is with us and for us that we keep going as we can and as we should. It is why despite all the pressures that come upon us, despite all the obstacles that we face, despite all the temptations we have to deal with, despite all the allurings of man-made religion or human notion, we will remain steadfast in following after the Christ who is the same yesterday, today and forever.

Refusing Compromise and Remaining Steadfast

There is our anchor point. That's our refuge when everything around us and sometimes even what is within us screams, just do it the way that they want you to do it. Just adapt, just compromise. Don't call it compromise by the way.

Call it accommodation. It'll be easier that way. But no, Christ is unchanging and so we shall not change from the pattern we've seen in the past or from the requirements and expectations that he has set down for our future.

We will do what we should do, believe what we should believe, go where we should go and serve as we should serve.