There are as many as 15 attributes (characteristics) of God. Each one is eternal. The five main attributes are the following: God is All-Powerful. God is Sovereign. God is Holy and Just. God is Love. God is Merciful. All these attributes separate Him from us. He is creator, we are His creation created in His image. God Sets His Attributes, not us yet we are created in His image, Genesis 1:26-28 (ESV)
“Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”
27 So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them.28 And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
Because we are created in His image, we all have shadows of all His attributes in us. They only find their fulness as we are obedient and allow the Holy Spirit to complete His work in us. He is the only one who can bring us to maturity and consistency as we daily surrender to His leading. At the same time, we are told to seek these characteristics by the Lord, Himself in Matthew 6:33 (ESV)
“But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”
I believe if we spent more time studying His attributes, we wouldn’t be as shaken in our faith as much as we tend to be. We would truly know and trust Him more. One of the drawbacks of American “seeker sensitive” movement has been the emphasis on Christ’s humanity. When we begin to only think of Jesus’ humanity, we begin to think that He thinks and acts like us. Nothing could be further from the truth. There is one attribute that I want to focus on that sets Him apart from the rest of creation. It is His attribute of “immutability”. The definition of being immutable is “never changing” or “not being able to be changed”. That means, we can always trust His ways and His judgements. In fact the Psalmist knew this about God when He received this revelation from Holy Spirit: Psalm 89:14 (ESV)
“Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne;
steadfast love and faithfulness go before you.”
The foundation of all His attributes is the fact that He is Holy. His holiness guarantees his unchangeability. I love this verse out of 2 Timothy 2:11-13 (ESV)
“The saying is trustworthy, for:
If we have died with him, we will also live with him;
12 if we endure, we will also reign with him;
if we deny him, he also will deny us;
13 if we are faithless, he remains faithful—for he cannot deny himself.”
I love that, especially verse 13,” if we are faithless, he remains faithful—for he cannot deny himself.”
He cannot be inconsistent and incongruent. Even when Jesus walked on the face of the earth, He might have emptied Himself of His glory, according to Philippians 2:7 but He did not empty Himself of His attributes. This scripture holds true, Hebrews 13:8 (ESV)
“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever”
And in James 1:17 (ESV)
“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.”
This verse was written by James, Jesus’ half-brother. Same mother, different father. Jesus’ father was Holy Spirit, Jame’s father was Joseph. If anyone could discover weakness or inconsistencies, it would be a family member, especially a sibling. But James testimony is the same as everyone else. Jesus is immutable.
Even when it appeared that God’s changed His mind regarding circumstances (Moses; Exodus 32 and Book of Jonah), the changing of His mind from judgement and destruction to mercy and grace did not cause Him to violate any of His attributes. So what that mean for us?
Jesus can always be trusted, that His judgments are true and that His promises are kept. Take this portion of scripture for example. 2 Corinthians 1:20 (ESV)
“For all the promises of God find their Yes in him. That is why it is through him that we utter our Amen to God for his glory.”
The only thing Satan can try to do is convince us that God is a liar and doesn’t keep His word. He was very convincing in his discussion with Eve. He does the same with us. He will succeed if we don’t know the truth of His attributes. He even tried this tactic with Jesus. Jesus knew the word because He is the word. Satan was no match for our Lord.
The scripture further explains God’s inability to change in Numbers 23:19 (ESV).
“God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?”
It is impossible for God to change who He is. He never wakes up in a bad mood because He never sleeps. Totally opposite were the gods and goddesses of Greek mythology who were constantly in bad moods destroying their worshippers. The scriptures even address this in Psalm 82 (ESV).
“God standeth in the congregation of the mighty; he judgeth among the gods.2 How long will ye judge unjustly, and accept the persons of the wicked? Selah.3 Defend the poor and fatherless: do justice to the afflicted and needy.4 Deliver the poor and needy: rid them out of the hand of the wicked.5 They know not, neither will they understand; they walk on in darkness: all the foundations of the earth are out of course.6 I have said, Ye are gods; and all of you are children of the most High.7 But ye shall die like men, and fall like one of the princes.8 Arise, O God, judge the earth: for thou shalt inherit all nations.”
God is about to do just that. But some would ask, “why is He taking so long to judge the wicked?” It’s because He never changes. Another one of His attributes is that He is merciful. The Apostle Peter sums it up this way in 2 Peter 3:9 (ESV).
“The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.”
So, while it appears that the wicked are prospering, they are literally on borrowed time and justice is coming soon. Even Sodom and Gomorrah filled their cup of iniquity and fire consumed them. Receive this warning from the Apostle Paul from Galatians 6:7 (ESV)
“Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap.”
Now is not the time to be living carelessly without thought of consequence. Sow seeds of righteousness and live as close to Jesus as you can. Fulfill Proverbs 3:5-6 in everything you do.
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.6 In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.”
The issue for us is not to doubt God but press into Him even more as the intensity of the “Day of the Lord” approaches. Don’t allow past failures or present frustration derail your faith because God never changes, He is for you, not against you. The best is yet to come!! Jesus says so and He never changes His mind or His will because His immutability won’t allow it!!