Articles
The Change God Seeks
The ancient Greek philosopher Heraclitus, a contemporary of Daniel, once said, "There is nothing permanent except change." Change is certainly something every individual will experience, but it is not always needed, welcomed, or wanted. Some thrive on change, while the majority seems to avoid it at all costs.
While there are an abundance of quotes by wise men and women of history regarding the inevitability, results, and character of change, not all human wisdom on the subject is accurate. For example, Winston Churchill once said, "To improve is to change; to be perfect is to change often"; while he is correct on the first part, he is not correct on the second part. Case in point: God.
Perfection is one of the defining characteristics of God, for Jesus said, “Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect” (Matt. 5:48). The perfect God is one who demands His people be holy because He is holy (cf. 1 Pet. 1:15, 16), and in whom the psalmist noted, “there is no unrighteousness” (Psa. 92:15). The psalmist also noted, “The Lord is righteous in all His ways” (Psa. 145:17), so God is righteous in all He is and in all He does. So, even as we note the perfect character of God and the lack of fault in anything He says or does, we must note another, related, characteristic: He does not change!
God Himself would tell His people, “I am the Lord, I do not change” (Mal. 3:6). This is either a source of great comfort [for the righteous who faithfully follow Him] or great fear [for the disobedient and unbelieving], but it is a defining characteristic of God: He does not change. There is no need for improvement, and there is no need for alteration of any kind because He is perfect. His word does not change, either, for there is no need. What He speaks is truth (John 17:17; Psa. 119:160), and if truth is changed, it is no longer truth. God cannot lie (Titus 1:1, 2), so there will be no change of His word, regardless of what man may think or desire.
Since Jesus is also part of the Godhead, the same characteristic of perfection applies, as does His changeless character. As the writer of Hebrews put it, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever” (Heb. 13:8). Like God the Father, Jesus is perfect in all He does and says (Heb. 5:9) and “in Him there is no sin” (1 John 3:5). There is no need for change because change would not — could not — be an improvement. With this, disciples can find comfort and assurance, knowing the words He has spoken and the promises that yet await are certain.
With all this true of God and Christ — the perfection and unchanging nature — we must then turn to self and see that, while they are perfect and in need of no changes, the same cannot be said of us. We need to change. We must change, if we seek to please God and if we seek eternal life. As we are, neither could be true, for “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23). Since all have sinned, none could — in that state — expect to be a part of God's kingdom, for “the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God” (1 Cor. 6:9).
So, what is the kind of change that is needed — the change God seeks? As we might expect, it is a change of self.
First, the one who would come to God and be pleasing to Him must realize a change of heart, or the mind, is where we begin. Paul made it clear that those “whose end is destruction” are those “who set their mind on earthly things” (Phil. 3:19). He also noted just as clearly, “the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God” (Rom. 8:7, 8), so it is doubtless a change of mind must occur. While outside of Christ, every man is thinking carnally, with no thoughts for what God desires or even of eternal things, and many live with the philosophy, “eat, drink, and be merry” (Luke 12:19). Our thinking must now be changed and we must ask, “Lord, what do You want me to do?” (Acts 9:6). Put plainly, Paul wrote, “Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth” (Col. 3:2).
This change of mind — what God calls repentance — is one that must also lead to a change of life. Where once we “walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air” and “we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind” (Eph. 2:2, 3), we must now “not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God” (Rom. 6:13). Our pursuits must no longer be physical and material things that are temporal in nature, but we must seek the spiritual and eternal things.
A change of life is something that must result from the necessary change of mind; Jesus told the apostles “that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations” (Luke 24:47, and the very first time the gospel was preached, when the apostles were asked by the audience what they must do, the first word Peter said was, “Repent” (Acts 2:37, 38). Paul would later look back on his teaching and tell King Agrippa that he had taught all “that they should repent, turn to God, and do works befitting repentance” (Acts 26:20). A heart that is changed must, of necessity, result in a life that is changed. We must become that “new creation” (2 Cor. 5:17).
Change is difficult for most people for the simple fact they have been traveling down one path for so long, it is hard to change direction or change what they have always done. Most people like routine simply because it makes them feel comfortable; if someone comes along and forces them to change, it will be done with much resistance and dislike. Those who would, and do, change must see the change as something done for the better, and their lives will be better for having done the change.
It is no different for those who would change their spiritual direction in life and for all eternity. Some changes may be more difficult than others, and we may not completely understand the need for change or what will result, but we can and must trust the One who has promised us forgiveness and eternal life that it is for our good. God's people of old understood that the commandments given to them were, as they stated, “for our good always” (Deut. 6:24); this is something we must understand, too, if we are to accept that change is necessary — and then make the necessary changes.
God does not change, nor does His word; Jesus does not change, and neither will His words of promise and hope. But we must change. We must change from being earthly-focused to being heavenly-focused. We must put away from us the old fleshly desires and put on the character of the new man “in true righteousness and holiness” (Eph. 4:24). We must cease seeking to please self and live to please God (2 Cor. 5:9).
The change God seeks in us is a change of self — for the good. — Steven Harper
