It’s not hard to see the evil in the world; all you need to do is check the news when you wake up in the morning. You’d see a case of kidnapping in one place, killing in another, amongst all forms of atrocities. Looking at all these, it is so hard to see the good in the world. This is why we are on this devotional series: to remind ourselves of the goodness of God.

Yesterday, we looked at the nature of God and we have been able to establish the fact that the problem of evil is not a question of the existence of God: “if God exists, why is there evil in the world?” We also saw how the ultimate proof of God’s goodness is salvation.

Today, we will be answering another question. “Can God Change?”

John‬ ‭1‬:‭45‬
New King James Version‬‬
45 Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found Him of whom Moses in the law, and also the prophets, wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.”

To begin, we need to establish that when examining the principles of the goodness of God, we must consider the whole Bible and not just one part. See what Philip told Nathaniel her, he referred to the scripture, which was only the Old Testament at that time. The Books of Moses and the Prophets is a phrase used to encompass the entire canon of the Old Testament. So, he meant “Come and see the person whom the whole of the Old Testament testifies about.”

This Scripture shows that the central theme of the Old Testament is Jesus. Which goes to show that the entire theme of the Bible is Christ and the Salvation plan because the New Testament is about the life, death of Jesus, and the announcement of salvation.

Matthew 5:17-18
New King James Version‬‬
17 Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill.

18 For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled.
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The New Testament doesn’t cancel the Old Testament; rather it was revealed as Jesus said in Matthew‬ ‭5‬:‭17‬-‭18‬. It is wrong and dangerous to think that revelation changed from the Old Testament and that the Old Testament is false. No, because this would lead to the dangerous heresy that God changed in the New Testament as compared to the Old. And it challenges one of the main attributes of God: his unchanging nature.

God didn’t change from the Old to the New Testament, but as the Bible kept progressing, we had more clarity of the person of God. His Character became more visible and more revealed as you go on reading the Bible.

And this is seen also when the apostles wrote, they were revealing and explaining to our understanding, the mysteries of the Old (as Paul says in Ephesians‬ ‭3‬:‭3‬).
This is why we say that the Old Testament is the New Testament concealed, and the New Testament is the Old Testament revealed.

So, in light of this knowledge, how do we perceive the character of Jesus in all scriptures?
Let’s begin from the Old Testament:

Exodus‬ ‭34‬:‭6‬
New King James Version
6 And the Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth”

‭‭1 Chronicles‬ ‭16‬:‭34‬ ‭
New King James Version
34 Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever.

Psalms‬ ‭33‬:‭5‬ ‭
New King James Version
5 He loves righteousness and justice; The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord.

Psalms‬ ‭92‬:‭15‬ ‭
New King James Version
15 To declare that the Lord is upright; He is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in Him.

Psalms‬ ‭145‬:‭8-‭9‬ ‭
New King James Version
8 The Lord is gracious and full of compassion, Slow to anger and great in mercy.

9 The Lord is good to all, And His tender mercies are over all His works.

Jeremiah‬ ‭29‬:‭11‬ ‭
New King James Version
11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.
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And in the New Testament:

Matthew‬ ‭7:11‬ ‭
New King James Version ‭‭
11 If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!
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Romans‬ ‭8‬:‭28‬ ‭
New King James Version
28 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.
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For the lack of space, we cannot go into the contextual reading and backstory of all these texts but one thing we know is that they affirm the goodness of God!
All through scriptures, the goodness of God is emphasised.

And we are also assured through scriptures that God’s goodness is not a one-off thing. Our God does not and cannot change from his good ways. It is in His nature and attribute to be good and nothing can change that! He told us Himself that He cannot change. We see this in:

Malachi‬ ‭3‬:‭6‬ ‭
New King James Version
6 For I am the Lord, I do not change; Therefore you are not consumed, O sons of Jacob.
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God was speaking to the children of Israel and was instructing the sinful people to return their hearts to Him. He said he does not change!

James‬ ‭1‬:‭17‬ ‭
New King James Version
17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.
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This is what James says and testifies of God! The Bible clearly declares to us that God does not change; there is no variation.
God is not the author of evil; he has never perpetrated evil, and he never would!
God is good, He has always been good, and He will forever be good.

Dear sister and brother, our God can be trusted. You can trust Him and His words for you. He is good and His plans for you are good. His unchanging nature provides stability and security to us in this ever-changing world and this is forever our hope and our trust, even in the midst of the evil of this fallen world.

The writer of Hebrews says it better in chapter 6 of the book.

Hebrews‬ ‭6‬:‭13‬-‭20
New International Version‬‬
13 When God made his promise to Abraham, since there was no one greater for him to swear by, he swore by himself,

14 saying, “I will surely bless you and give you many descendants.”

15 And so after waiting patiently, Abraham received what was promised.

16 People swear by someone greater than themselves, and the oath confirms what is said and puts an end to all argument.

17 Because God wanted to make the unchanging nature of his purpose very clear to the heirs of what was promised, he confirmed it with an oath.

18 God did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope set before us may be greatly encouraged.

19 We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain,

20 where our forerunner, Jesus, has entered on our behalf. He has become a high priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.
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What better assurance can be given than this?! This place says God wanted to swear an oath as a promise to Abraham, but there was no one greater to swear to, so He swore on His own self!

This is what God did to assure Abraham of the unchanging nature of His salvation plan, and we see in verse 15 that Abraham received what was promised. In verse 18, the writer said God did this to show that He doesn’t lie and also so that we that hold on to a hope in Christ would be encouraged. This is such an assurance!

If He can do this much just to assure one man of the salvation plan that He prepared for you, why would He do any less or change now when it comes to your life?

So, once again, God can be trusted. Whatever He has said about you or whatever promise He has given would come to pass, just trust Him and wait earnestly.

Prayer Point
Lord, I remind myself today that you are good and you will always be good. You have never changed and you can never change. I trust you with my life.