Unchanging Lord

" For I am the LORD, I do not change; Therefore you are not consumed, O sons of Jacob.”
Malachi 3:1

When people list the attributes of God, Immutability is usually there. That is the stuffy, theological word meaning “unchanging.” God’s character never changes and that’s a good thing. People on the other hand can become happy or sad depending on the time of day, room temperature, and degree of hunger. Mood swings can happen in an instant depending on circumstances, so immutability is not a human quality.

The book of Hebrews describes the Lord Jesus: “Like a cloak You will fold them up, And they will be changed. But You are the same, And Your years will not fail"  (Hebrews 1:12). As our great Unchanging Lord, He can be counted on to always be holy, loving, approachable, understanding, forgiving, patient, available, comforting, and real. The exciting thing about this is that He’ll be the same way tomorrow and next year. “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever” (Hebrews 13:8). 

In the Muslim religion, Allah can change his mind and act differently with different people because he is "almighty" and answerable to no one. Although at times some Christians feel God has become distant and unresponsive, it is the human heart that changes and not the Unchanging Lord.

Abide with me; fast falls the eventide;

The darkness deepens; Lord with me abide.

When other helpers fail and comforts flee,

Help of the helpless, O abide with me.

Swift to its close ebbs out life’s little day;

Earth’s joys grow dim; its glories pass away;

Change and decay in all around I see;

O Thou who changest not, abide with me.

Henry Francis Lyte (1793-1847)

Captain of Salvation

For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings.
Hebrews 2:10

For those who are not into comic books, there are lots of superheroes out there. There is Captain America but there is also Captain Britain, Captain Canuc, and Captain Universe. You can also find Captain Atom, Captain Comet, Captain Video, and Captain Marvel (a.k.a. Shazam). Calvin and Hobbs also had their own superhero they called Captain Napalm. Now we add to the list one more, the Captain of Salvation. The only difference between this one and all the others is that this superhero is real and the rest are pretend.

The Lord Jesus is a superhero in His own right. He conquered the power of sin and death and hell by dying and then rising again from the dead. He defeated His arch villain, Lucifer, crushing his demonic army. The Captain of Salvation proclaimed His power before beginning His first adventure: “The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me, Because He has anointed Me To preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives And recovery of sight to the blind, To set at liberty those who are oppressed” (Luke 4:18).

No one else can do what the Savior has already done “Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved" (Acts 4:12). “Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.” (Romans 5:9,10).

Who is this guy who single-handedly rescues people form the penalty of sin? He’s the Captain of Salvation. 

Light that Shines in a Dark Place

And so we have the prophetic word confirmed, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.
2 Peter 1:19

The rainforest is big on bugs. Actually it’s big on big bugs. I have an insect collection from the jungle of Ecuador and several of the specimens are over three inches long, however, the granddaddy of them all is the South American Cave spider that measures 16 inches from the end of its feelers to its back legs.

The critter is terrible to behold and looks more like a space alien than something you’d find on Planet Earth. The spider itself with its long legs is about six inches long but has long antennae that help it to find its prey in total darkness. This specialized arachnid is totally blind, but then, it eats albino crickets that are also sightless. When an insect trips one of the feelers, the spider springs on it and catches it in big bear-trap-like claws that contain long, sharp spines.

Normal people never see this species of spider, because they are found far from civilization and are veiled in thick darkness. They won’t come to you, so you need to go down into a cave to find them and bring with you a light that shines in a dark place. Most of these cave dwellers go through their whole lives without even encountering light, because they are creatures of complete darkness.

The Savior came to a world that was enveloped in spiritual blackness. When the baby Jesus was born, the glory of the Lord turned the darkness of midnight into the brightness of noonday. The ministry of the Lord healed those who were physically blind and enlightened those who spiritually were unable to see. Christ was the Light that Shines in a Dark Place and many demanded He die, because they did not want His light to reveal the blackness of their souls. “And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil” (John 3:19).

Lord God of the Holy Prophets

Then he said to me, "These words are faithful and true." And the Lord God of the holy prophets sent His angel to show His servants the things which must shortly take place.
Revelation 22:6

Old Testament prophesy is hard to get a handle on; it is often disjointed, mixing the first and second comings of Christ in the same chapter and sometimes even in the same verse. It often gives visions and allegories that aren’t literal, so the actual meaning is unclear, but after the prophesy is fulfilled, then it can be understood. These prophets got glimpses of things they didn’t understand, but preached it or wrote it down, even though they were clueless to its meaning. They were given the sacred responsibility of conveying God’s word to His people, so they blindly obeyed out of fear of the Awesome God they served.

Moses, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, and the others saw images of God that the rest of humanity wasn’t privileged enough to see. The experience was sometimes so terrifying that they’d fall to the ground like dead men. In many of these cases, they were seeing the preincarnate Christ. He is the Lord God of the holy prophets.

Now that much of the prophesy is fulfilled and the whole cannon of scripture is given, believers today have a much better understanding of God, His Messiah, His will, and what is going on in Old Testament prophesy, than even the prophets who wrote it. Although those seers were very privileged in their day, above all their peers, the average run of the mill believer who came during or after the life of Jesus of Nazareth was blessed to a far greater degree. The Lord Himself told His disciples: “…Blessed are the eyes which see the things you see; for I tell you that many prophets and kings have desired to see what you see, and have not seen it, and to hear what you hear, and have not heard it" (Luke 10:23,24).

In the last chapter of Revelation, the Apostle John is touring the New Jerusalem at the end of time. All the promises and prophesies that were ever written in God’s word are now fulfilled and Christ stands before the holy men of God that were used to record scripture. He then reveals Himself to them as the Lord God of the Holy Prophets.

Tried Stone

Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: " Behold, I lay in Zion a stone for a foundation, A tried stone… 
Isaiah 28:16

Rocks differ from one another in color, hardness, and composition. However, even the same variety of rock from the same quarry can vary in quality. Unseen hairline cracks within a big block of stone can eventually break it apart once it is part of a load-bearing wall. For that reason, the huge building blocks that were to be used in the Temple were shaped in one place and then transported many miles to the construction site. The movement over dirt roads would jostle and vibrate the heavy stones enough that the inferior building material would never survive the journey. Each block that made it through this testing was considered a tried stone.

When Christ came to this world 2,000 years ago, He didn’t arrive untested. Many times before, God had physically manifested Himself to His people. The second person of the Trinity was in the burning bush before Moses, appeared as the Commander of the LORD’s army to Joshua, and protected Shadrach and crew in the fiery furnace as the Son of God.

Before the Jewish leaders rejected Him as their Messiah, He demonstrated His power and authority to them. He did things that only the LORD’s anointed could do; the lame walked, the blind could see, and the dead came to life again (Matthew 11:5). But it wasn’t just his works that proved that He was the Christ. Other witnesses that bore witness of the Son of God were John the Baptist, God the Father, and scripture itself (John 5:36-47).

The Lord Jesus became the cornerstone and sure foundation of the assembly of God’s people. He came not just stating His claim, but proving to those who had ears to hear that He was the precious and Tried Stone that Isaiah prophesied would come. 

Pierced (One)

And again another Scripture says, "They shall look on Him whom they pierced."
John 19:37

Being pierced with a sword or a spear is not a natural way to die. Certainly in ancient times it was common during a war, but 2,000 years ago was the era of the “Pax Romana” (Roman peace). The Roman empire had conquered all its enemies, so there was no more war. Even criminals who were put to death by crucifixion died over a period of several days or had their legs broken to speed up the process. It was very unusual that Jesus of Nazareth was pierced with a spear.

However, the prophet Zachariah foretold that the inhabitants of Jerusalem would look on their Messiah “whom they pierced” (Zachariah 12:10). King David prophesied similarly when he wrote of Christ: “They pierced My hands and My feet” (Psalm 22:16).

So why is this title important? Who cares if the Lord was pierced or not? This name of Christ matters, because God saw fit to give us the details of the Savior’s death over 1,000 years before the Savior died. It proved that God foreknew what was going to happen and that Jesus wasn’t victimized because he was in the wrong place at the wrong time.

The Jewish leaders should have known scripture and seen the manner of death of the LORD’s Anointed. After the fact, they should have repented in sackcloth and ashes, but instead they bribed the guards to lie about the resurrection.

On the final Day of Judgment, all the Christ-rejecters that ever lived will stand before the Great White Throne. As their sentences are being read, they will see the hands and feet of the Pierced One and begin to tremble. 

Root of Jesse

And again, Isaiah says: " There shall be a root of Jesse; And He who shall rise to reign over the Gentiles, In Him the Gentiles shall hope."
Romans 15:12

When pioneers came to Kansas before the Civil War, they found a treeless prairie with a rugged climate. Summer days often got 110 degrees in the shade, making the ground as hard as rock and with only 20 inches of rain each year, grass was the only thing that grew there.

Today, people have transformed portions of the state into lush gardens and orchards, but to do this, ground water had to be pumped up for vegetation and the soil enriched. Even so, the land has never forgotten its roots. What it once was will return to being grasslands again, if the gardeners ever stop their hard work.

Buffalo grass keeps creeping into cultivated areas and pushes out the flowers and vegetables. The prairie grass sends out runners in all directions and then puts in a 10 inch woody root that goes straight down. It’s not enough to pull out the grass from the garden, the root needs to come out also. If some of that root breaks off below the surface, native grass will come up again just a little later.

Isaiah 11:10 prophesies that the Messiah would come from the Root of Jesse and that the Gentiles would seek Him. According to scripture, the Messiah was David’s son, but Jesse was David’s father, making the LORD’s anointed from Jesse’s root.

Not much is said about Jesse, but it is known that he had eight sons and Samuel the prophet thought that each of them had king-like characteristics. Jesse must have been a good parent and role model, because he taught his boys the fear of the LORD.

It’s not directly mentioned in scripture, but there must have been something in Jesse’s life that reflected a desire to have the one true God known by even the pagans. Apart from the genealogies of Jesus, the only mention of him in the New Testament is in the title of Christ, Root of Jesse, who would reign over the Gentiles. Jesse raised up good sons for the glory of God and out of that hearty root even descended the LORD of glory.