“The times they are a-changin’,” so wrote Bob Dylan almost 55 years ago and the same could easily be said of today’s world. Solomon wrote of the various seasons of life (Ecclesiastes 3:1-8); just like water’s ebb and flow, life presents different circumstances with joys and sorrows. There are political movements, trends in thinking, and advances in technology that all bring about different eras in the history of humanity. But there are some things that cannot change and some things that should not be changed.
God does not change (Malachi 3:6). “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever” (Hebrews 13:8). This should provide comfort for us because it means we can count on God. We’ve all experienced the sorrow that comes from circumstances changing for the worse. Relationships sometimes change because people change. Who hasn’t felt forsaken or betrayed by someone thought to be a friend? Only those who haven’t lived long enough. God will not leave nor forsake us (Hebrews 13:5). We can trust in Him who gives every good and perfect gift; with Him there is no variation or shadow of turning (James 1:17; cf. Romans 11:29).
God’s created order should not be changed and in general it will not be changed. Jesus said that “from the beginning of the creation God made them male and female” (Mark 10:6). At the end of time, when Jesus returns, people will be “marrying and giving in marriage” (Matthew 24:38). Despite attempts to redefine marriage and genders, there will always be men and women with differences between the two. Those who distort this created order go against nature (Romans 1:26-27).
God’s word should not be changed either. It is his perfect will and does not need a human editor (James 1:25). Near the beginning of the Bible, when God had given the law of Moses to Israel, He said, “Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you” (Deuteronomy 4:2). In the middle of the Bible, we find this command, “Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar” (Proverbs 30:6). And at the end of the Bible, this warning is given: “For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book” (Revelation 22:18-19).
At the end of this year we think about what has changed and what will change in the year to come. Hopefully we have changed for the better and will continue to in the coming year. With all the pressure to move out of the way and let the new come in because “the times they are a-changin’,” let us remember to seek the old paths of God’s word (Jeremiah 6:16). His word was of ultimate consequence when “God said…” and the world was created (Genesis 1), and it will be of ultimate consequence when the world ends and we all stand before Him in judgment (Revelation 20:12; cf. John 12:48).
-Mark Day
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