REFLECTIONS ON HOW GOD CAN BE BOTH UNCHANGABLE AND EMOTIONAL

"God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind." (Numbers 23:19)

"The LORD has sworn and will not change his mind..." (Psalm 110:4)

"For I the LORD do not change...(Malachi 3:6)

"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." (James 1:17)

I find it to be a great comfort that God is unchangeable (theologically we call it immutable) yet passionate. He has a way of feeling and expressing emotions that is unique and peculiar in comparison to us as humans. That is why it is hard to understand His ways in human categories. We are creatures that have all kinds of things that shape our emotions. We see a movie and we suddenly cry or we get cut off on the freeway and we get angry. We hear a joke and we laugh. In short, we react emotinally to outside influences and forces. God is not one who sees something or experiences something and suddenly reacts to it like we do. When we do a bad thing God doesn't just emotionally react like "Oh, I can't believe that he did that!" "I am appalled! I didn't see that coming." "I am so angry" or "I am so sad"

God knows all things and ordains all things is never taken off guard by anything. All of His emotions are planned. He knows that they are coming. He sees His anger or sorrow or joy in a particular event from eternity past (if we can even speak in terms of eternity past). He is never taken off guard with a sudden emotional reaction. He knows the things that are coming. He knows that they are coming and He ordains that they be. His infinitely wise and sovereign will gives rise to actions that receive appropriately tailor made infinitely righteous responses like joy and anger.

I am amazed that the bible says that God has and expresses emotions. Remember when Moses argued with God about his call and it says that God's response was in Exodus 4:14 that "the anger of the LORD was kindled against Moses." (For example read Exodus 32:22;Numbers 11:1, 10,33)? We read of God's joy in Zephaniah 3:17 "The LORD your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing." We see God's sorrow in Genesis 6:6 ,"And the LORD was sorry that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart."

We have to be biblical and allow the bible to express truths about God on its own terms. There are strong images of emotions expressed by God throughout the scriptures. What we have in the bible is a big picture of God's unchangableness and small pictures of appropriate responses ordained by Him for the moment. John Piper has a great analogy to help us to handle the big picture of God's steady, glorious, and solid unchangableness with God's seemingly emotional responses to things.

"It's the difference between riding in a helicopter about 80 yards above the pacific ocean in a monsoon. 60 to 80 foot waves are breaking, winds are galling, and your helicopter is being tossed and turned all over the place. You are thinking, "This ocean is in real turmoil." Now picture yourself in a satellite 200 miles up riding over the Pacific Ocean. What does it look like? When you look at the ocean it is blue and it looks unbelievably serene and calm."

If you take God a piece at a time and get down close to His attitudes and actions look at what happens. For example in Acts 12:23 we read of God's reaction to King Herod's arrogant pride and self exaltation, "Immediately an angel of the Lord struck him down, because he did not give God the glory, and he was eaten by worms and breathed his last." God got really mad at him and killed him! Seems like that is a rather strong reaction wouldn't you think? This seems kind of like the helicopter over the raging Pacific but if you are flying over the entire book of Acts God is totally in charge, totally serene, unflappable.

God is a passionate God who is not a victim of His own passions. Even when God is responding God saw the action coming and planned the response so that His responding is not like our responding. He is not responding to some thing out side of Himself that causes Him to respond. It is planned, foreseen, and completely in His control and appropriate for the moment in time.

"Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! "For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor?" "Or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid?" For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen." (Romans 11:33-36)

In awe and wonder,
Pastor Bill