THURSDAY, 25 February, 2021 “Change”

Hello my “Walking with Jesus” friends,

CHANGE. . .oh my, that’s a big part of life, isn’t it? From the time of our conception, deep in our mother’s wombs, our bodies have been constantly changing as millions of new cells are formed every day. Our brains change as we learn continually and of course our relationships change because we are alive human beings with emotions and interactions.

Now when we multiply all the changes happening in you and me, by 7.5 Billion other people, oh my… we live in a world of constant change, and that’s a big part of the challenge of life isn’t it? How do we handle and adapt to all the change happening around us all the time? We tend to look for something that doesn’t change, because that may give us some stability in our lives as we navigate the stormy seas of life.

So what about God? Does God change? People have asked that question since the beginning of time, and once again I invite you to join me in listening to the last voice of the Old Testament in the Bible, Mr. Malachi, chapter 3 verse 6. Malachi wrote as the Spirit of God spoke into his heart… “I the LORD do not change.” Wow, 6 short words, 6 very powerful words, 6 words upon which EVERYTHING in our Universe and all humanity is built.

And just in case we might say ‘well, that’s Old Testament stuff written 2400 years ago…’, listen to Hebrews 13:8 “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever.” God has many attributes unique to Him… Omnipotent (all powerful), Omniscient (all knowing), Omnipresent (everywhere present at once), Holy, Sovereign, Creator and ETERNAL. God has always been and always will be. God does not age, and here in both Malachi and Hebrews we learn God does not change with time.

So, what difference should this make in how you and I relate to God, view God, understand God, respond to God and interact with our world? When Moses met God at the burning bush encounter, God said “I am the God of your forefathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob…” (Exodus 3:6). When God commissioned Joshua to be the new leader of the people of Israel as they were preparing to cross the Jordan river and finally move into the “promised land”, God assured Joshua with these words “As I was with Moses, so I will be with you, I will never leave you nor forsake you.” (Joshua 1:5)

The unchanging, eternal nature of God should make a HUGE difference in our lives! Finally, there is something, or better said, Someone who is predictable, reliable, trustworthy, unchanging. Because God is eternal, the Bible is some of the story of how the one, true, Holy God has been dealing with our Universe and humanity since HE created the Universe and started the human race. God existed long before Genesis 1, and will exist forever, long after Revelation 21.

The Bible is our story… planet earth and the human race. The Bible does not tell us what God may have done, or even now may be doing, in the far reaches of our Universe or maybe other Universes God may have created. The Bible calls us to consider who we are, humans; that God created each and all of us, and that God has designed us for a relationship with Him.

Malachi wants us to understand that while we humans are constantly changing, and we live in an ever changing world, the One unchanging constant is the Creator of all, the Sustainer of all, Almighty, Holy God. That truth provides the cornerstone upon which all of life can be lived successfully! Let’s not ever minimize this great truth.

Listen to what God said through Malachi next: “Ever since the time of your ancestors you have turned away from My decrees and not kept them. Return to ME and I will return to you,’ says the LORD Almighty.” (Malachi 3:7) It’s time to pause and look around your world. Then look back over time, centuries of time, in your part of the world.

Is what God spoke to Malachi in 420bc true for your part of the world now and as far back as history goes? Have you and me and our ancestors turned away from God and His decrees for how to live life? YES, YES, absolutely YES is the shout lifted up in every generation, every place in the world. That is the central, core problem of our human race and every society in the world, in every generation!! We, humans created by God, turn away from our Creator, insisting we can live life on our own terms, disregarding how God designed life to be lived. And it has never worked… it has always resulted in chaos, anarchy, destruction everywhere in our world.

And so what is God’s answer to this deeply rooted problem of rebellion? Rather than God exterminating all rebels, God invites us to “Return to ME and I will return to you,’ says the LORD Almighty”! It’s really beyond comprehension.

Why would God keep inviting rebellious humanity to come back to Him, the unchangeable, immovable God? Why not destroy our planet and every person and start all over again, that’s what we would do if or I were God isn’t it?

The answer is either lunacy or liar or love!

Either God has lost His mind and His invitation doesn’t really mean anything because God doesn’t know what He is doing, He’s an idiot, a fool, a masochist who enjoys His pain.

Or, God is a liar. He really won’t accept us back when we return, rather He’ll punish us and find great joy in watching our suffering as He deludes us into thinking it might be safe to return to Him but in fact He’ll punish us?

OR, God is love!

That’s it, that’s the answer! God loves His created human beings, because He made us in His image and He has given us the ability to understand that He exists, and understand that He loves us, and understand that a relationship with Him could be safe and wonderful and fulfilling and joyful.

And therefore despite our rebellion against God, and our refusal to live life as God has designed life to be lived, God invites us to return to HIM so He can help us discover life as He designed it and experience true love, true peace, true life to the fullest, like we could never have imagined. That is God’s hope for humanity. . . and yet look around my friends. Why do we humans insist on rejecting God, refusing His offer, renouncing Him, defiling ourselves and actually destroying one another?

The people in 420bc listening to Mr. Malachi didn’t have any idea. They had heard it from Ezra, and from Nehemiah and now from Malachi, and they were getting bored with God’s messages, just like our world today has grown bored with God. But what they didn’t know was this was God’s last messenger. Once Malachi finished, no one else would stand up to speak a fresh word from God for 4 centuries, 400 years.

Now look back… what do you know about your part of the world in the year 1620 or so? Look at all that has happened spiritually in these past 400 years in our world. Thousands of churches built, millions of messages preached, thousands of missionaries sent, millions of Bibles printed in hundreds of different languages, thousands of songs and poems and books written, and more recently, millions of hours of Christians broadcasting in radio, tv, internet, and films. What if NONE of that had happened in these past 400 years? How different would your world be today?

In closing today, I’d like us to ponder this thought. Malachi was not speaking His message to a heathen land where no one had ever heard of God. Malachi was speaking to Jews, most likely in Jerusalem.

And today, God is speaking to you and me, religious people around the world and God’s message is powerful and simple: “I the LORD do not change. Return to Me and I will return to you, says the LORD Almighty!” And what is our response, you and me, wherever you are hearing my voice today. How will you and I respond to God’s declaration and His invitation? I invite us to worship, receive God’s Words and respond to God…right now, all around the world.

And here’s a song to help you. . .

Today’s Scripture is Malachi 3.

Choose below to read or listen.

Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.

Have a comment or question about today’s chapter? I’m ready to hear from you, contact me here.

Pastor Doug Anderson 262.441.8785
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)

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