THE FATHER DOESN’T CHANGE
THE FATHER DOESN’T CHANGE
“Don’t be deceived, my dear brothers. Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of first fruits of all he created” (Ja. 1:16-18).
James wrote about matters of eternal significance. Among other things, our Heavenly Father chose to give us birth! We are therefore designated as the “first fruits” of “all he created”. That’s why we are warned: “Don’t be deceived!” The devil is a master deceiver and we should not be ignorant of his devices (2 Cor. 2:11). We live in a world of change. Shadows change, the weather changes, governments change, the value of money changes, the meaning of words change, the morals of society change, but GOD DOESN’T CHANGE. The Psalmist knew this and said to God “In the beginning you laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands. They will perish, but you remain; they will all wear out like a garment. Like clothing you will change them and they will be discarded. But you remain the same and your years will never end” (Ps. 102:25- 27).
The unchangeable nature of God is foundational. God is constant! He is the same yesterday, today, and forever.
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Therefore God is a reliable standard in every generation.
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He loves the world and gave His only begotten Son that we should not perish (Jn. 3:16). •
He wants to give eternal life to all who believe!
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He chose to do this by offering us a “new birth” by means of His “word of truth”. •
His word is a spiritual seed that produces spiritual life (1 Pet. 1:23).
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This enables us to be “born again”.
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Our “new birth” makes us a “kind of first fruits of all he created”.
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Since we are the “first fruits”, we serve as an example for others.
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The glorious salvation we experience is part of an eternal strategy. It was planned by God before the foundation of the world (Eph. 3:7-11).
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God never changes and His eternal plan doesn’t change either.
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“Beyond all question, the mystery of godliness is great” (1 Tim. 3:16).
But equally significant to our new birth is the fact that God is our Father. When the disciples asked Jesus to teach them to pray, He said to pray to God as our “Father” (Lk. 11:1-4). This was a radical idea to the Jews. They never never thought of God as their personal father. The Hebrew word for “father” is “ab”. It occurs 1195 times in the O.T. Scriptures. Only 15 times is it used in a religious sense. In those passages which refer to God as a Father it was never used in a personal sense. The Hebrews saw God as the Father of the nation (Deut. 32:6), but not as a personal father. They saw God as the Father of their king, but not as their own personal father (1 Chron. 17:13). It was therefore shocking when Jesus taught His disciples to pray to God as “Our Father”. Jesus, however, went even further. He also referred to God as “Abba” or “Daddy” (Mk. 14:36). In the entire wealth of Hebrew literature scholars have found only one reference to God as “Abba”. That one obscure reference is found in the Babylonian Talmud in the first century before Christ. That one reference is to a group of school children who are supposed to have prayed: “Dear Abba give us rain”.
The devout Jew was afraid of God and wouldn’t dare to call him “Father”. In fact, they wouldn’t even come near Him. Mt. Sinai, as you know, was surrounded by barriers to keep anyone from drawing near to God. Any man or beast that went beyond those barriers was killed (Ex. 19:12,13). The Ten Commandments, written by God on tablets of stone, brought death (2 Cor. 3:7). In fact, 3,000 died on the day these commandments were given (Ex. 32:28). So when God warned not to take His name in vain, the Jews were so afraid that they wouldn’t even attempt to pronounce the name of God (Ex. 20:7).
Jesus, as you know, changed all that! He put new wine in the old wineskins. Now everyone can become the sons of God by faith in Christ Jesus (Gal. 3:26). Not only that, by the blood of Jesus we no longer stand afar off, but enter boldly into His holy presence. As His loving children we respect and reverence Him, but are no longer afraid of Him. That’s why we can call Him “Abba – Father” (Heb. 10:19, Rom. 8:15) We are no longer slaves, we are sons!
Jesus pointed out that we are not afraid of our earthly fathers. If we ask our earthly father for a fish, he will not give us a snake. If we ask for an egg, he will not give us a scorpion. Our Heavenly Father. of course, is far more loving than any earthly father could ever be (Lk. 11:11-13). While the Jews stayed at a distance and wouldn’t even attempt to pronounce the name of God, Christians come boldly into the presence of God and call Him “Abba – Father”.
AN APPARENT CONTRADICTION
With these principles in mind let us return to the book of James and consider what appears on the surface to be a contradiction.
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In James 1:2 we are told “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds”. These “trials of many kinds” do not harm us. In fact, they help us develop perseverance and maturity. That’s why we can face them with “pure joy”.
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Yet in James 1:14 we are warned that other “trials” are harmful. In these bad trials “each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin when it is full-grown gives birth to death”.
The same Greek word “peirazo” is used in verse 2 and also verses 13 and 14 to describe both kinds of trials. Because of this, some have mistakenly assumed that there is a contradiction in the Bible. There isn’t! The Bible does not contradict itself. THE DIFFERENCE IN THESE TRIALS INVOLVES THEIR ORIGIN! GOOD COMES FROM GOD! EVIL DOES NOT!
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In the first instance our trials are good and lead to maturity.
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In the second instance the trials come from “evil” and lead to death.
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There is no contradiction here! Evil does not come from God. Only good gifts come from God!
Just as earthly fathers train their children to be mature, our Heavenly Father also trains his children to be mature. Sometimes He allows trials to help us mature. Just as earthly fathers protect their children from harm our Heavenly Father also protects His children from harm. So it is simple! The helpful trials are authorized by God and the evil trials are not! In the first instance the trials are good and come from God, and in the second they are evil and come from an evil heart.
Understanding the nature of our Heavenly Father helps to make it clear which is which! While our understanding can change, God never changes! We repeat, only good gifts come from God!
In explaining this apparent contradiction James warns “don’t be deceived”. He then reminds us that “every” good and perfect gift comes down from our Heavenly Father. Nothing “evil” comes from God! We can depend on this because God never changes! If our Heavenly Father allows something it is good and designed to help us. When we have an evil idea, however, it does not come from God! Evil ideas originate with the devil for he is the origin of all that is bad (Jn. 8:44). As we have said, the fact that God doesn’t change makes it easy to tell which is which. Good comes from God and evil comes from the devil. Every good thing always comes from God. Every evil thing always comes from the devil.
Malachi made a similar statement to convince Israel that they would never be abandoned by God. “I the Lord do not change. So you, O descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed” (Mal. 3:6).
PURE JOY
James said: “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds” (Ja. 1:2). Like a school boy advancing from one grade to another, overcoming problems that God allows is a cause for celebration.
But as we have already stressed: “Don’t be deceived!” Our Heavenly Father is on our side! He wants to help us! He will never do anything that will harm or destroy us! That’s why when a man is tempted to do evil he cannot blame God. God will never tempt us to do anything that is evil. So: “When tempted, no one should say, ‘God is tempting me.’ For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed” (Ja. 1:13,14). If we face a problem too great for us to handle we can always ask God for wisdom and He has promised to give it to us without finding fault (Ja. 1:5-8).
Yes! Sometimes God chastens us. Every loving father does that! In fact, if you are without chastening you are being treated like an illegitimate child and not a son. Whom the Lord loves He chastens and punishes everyone He accepts as a son ((Heb. 12:5-11). Chastening by a loving father is not evil. While chastening is not pleasant at the time, it is always has a pleasant benefit. That’s why we can look back and be joyful that a little pain in childhood saved us from a lot of pain later on.
Yes! Sometimes God also allows us to suffer. This suffering, of course, is only allowed if it will help us. That’s why: “We rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit whom he has given us” (Rom. 5:2-5).
This promise in Romans is similar to the promise in James 1:2-4: “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything”. As always, our Heavenly Father only allows what will help us.
Paul, as you know, suffered much in his own life. He constantly endured hardship and persecution (2 Cor. 11:23-29). He also had a painful thorn in his flesh (2 Cor. 12:7-10). Even though this was a “messenger from Satan” God would not remove that thorn. He allowed it because it kept Paul from being conceited. God had given Paul so many surpassingly great revelations that he was in danger of being overcome by pride. So God allowed this “thorn in the flesh” because while it hurt him physically, it helped him spiritually. This thorn helped Paul to discover that the power of Christ was made perfect in his weakness. Therefore Paul wrote: “That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then am I strong” (2 Cor. 12:10). And again: “Our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what we see is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal” (2 Cor. 4:17,18).
God always carefully monitors our trials so that we will never be tempted beyond what we are able to bear. Note: “No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, He will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it” (1 Cor. 10:13). This principle is beautifully illustrated in the life of Job. God knew what Job was capable of suffering and carefully restrained the devil from going beyond his limits. The story of Job therefore has a happy ending (Job 42:12-17). When we stay true to God our story can also have a happy ending!
“Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love Him” (Ja. 1:12).
FROM WITHIN
While we have mentioned this before it is worthy of repetition. “When tempted, no one should say, ‘God is tempting me’ For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He tempt anyone; but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death. Don’t be deceived, my dear brothers. Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. He chose to give us birth through the word of truth that we might be a kind of first fruits of all he created” (Ja. 1:13-18).
First, note that God cannot be tempted by evil. God is not only “good”, He is also the source of all that is “good”. God is like light and the devil is like darkness. Just as the sun cannot be accused of darkness, God cannot be accused of evil. C. S. Lewis said: “I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen: not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else.” Lewis also said: “A man can no more diminish God’s glory by refusing to worship Him than a lunatic can put out the sun by scribbling the word ‘darkness’ on the walls of his cell”.
James said that evil temptations come from man’s own evil desires. Jesus said the same thing. “Are you so dull?’ He asked. ‘Don’t you see that nothing that enters a man from the outside can make him ‘unclean’? For it doesn’t go into his heart but into his stomach, and then out of his body” (In saying this Jesus declared all foods ‘clean’) He went on ‘what comes out of a man is what makes him’ unclean’. For from within, out of men’s hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual
immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. All these evils come from inside and make a man ‘unclean’” (Mk. 7:18-23).
The solution for the Christian is therefore quite simple. We “must be “born again”! (Jn. 3:3-5) When we are “born again” we become a “new creation” and therefore have a “new heart” (2 Cor. 5:17). Since we are a kind of “first fruit”, other people can share the same transformation that they have seen in us.
Ezekiel predicted this “new heart” centuries before it came to pass. He wrote this promise from God: “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws” (Ez. 36:26,27).
So when we “receive” Jesus, we have the right to become “children of God” (Jn. 1;12). When we receive Satan we become children of the devil (Jn. 8:44). “Evil desires” come from Satan! Judas, as you know, did not betray Jesus on his own. The Scriptures teach that “Satan entered into Judas”. It was after Satan entered Judas that he went to the chief priest and officers of the temple guard to betray Jesus (Lk. 22:3,4).
Jesus is our example. He understands exactly what we are going through: “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are – yet was without sin” (Heb. 4:15). Note that Jesus was tempted in “every way” that we are tempted, yet without sin! Every temptation we experience was also experienced by Jesus!
After Jesus was baptized “At once the Spirit sent him out into the desert, and He was in the desert forty days, being tempted by Satan. He was with the wild animals, and angels attended Him” (Mk. 1:12,13). Note that the “Spirit” sent Jesus into the desert to be tempted. Obviously these temptations were being carefully monitored by God!
Please consider again that the temptations of Jesus were in “every way” like own own. While there are an infinite number of temptations, they can be grouped into three categories.
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The original sin in Eden involved a tree that was (1) good for food (2) good to look at (3) and desirable to make one wise (Gen. 3:6).
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John wrote that “everything in the world” can be classified under the same three categories, (1) the lust of the flesh (2) the lust of the eyes (3) and the pride of life (1 Jn. 2:16).
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Jesus endured temptations involving these same three categories: (1) The lust of the flesh - turning stones into bread. (2). The lust of the eyes – the devil showed Him all the kingdoms of the world. (3) The pride of life – the devil tempted Him to achieve instant fame by leaping from the highest point of the temple (Matt. 4:1- 11).
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JESUS DID NOT YIELD TO ANY OF THESE TEMPTATIONS!
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First, there was no evil in the heart of Jesus. He really didn’t want to do anything contrary to the will of God!
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Second, Jesus refuted each temptation by quoting Scripture. The weapons of our warfare are not carnal (2 Cor. 10:4). The Scriptures are like a spiritual sword by which we can defeat a spiritual enemy.
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Please also remember that God also sent angels to attend unto Jesus!
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Yes! Jesus was tempted in every way we are tempted, yet without sinning!
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THIS MEANS THAT WE TOO CAN TRIUMPH OVER TEMPTATION JUST AS JESUS DID!
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Christ left us an example that we should follow in His steps (1 Pet. 2:21).
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We can become a new creation, with a new heart that is pure. Remember, “Blessed are the pure in heart for they will see God” (Matt. 5:8).
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We too can study the Bible and use it as a spiritual weapon to defeat the devil. We can also defend ourselves by putting on the whole armor of God (Eph. 6:13-18). When we resist the devil he will flee from us (Ja. 4:7).
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We too have angels to help us in our time of need. “Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation”? (Heb. 1:14).
THE PRODICAL SON WAS WELCOMED BY HIS FATHER
The parable of the Prodical Son is perhaps the best known and most loved parable in the Bible (Lk. 15:11-32). It tells of a son who went into a far country and squandered his father’s wealth in riotous living. When he came to his senses he went back home. While he was yet a long way off, his father saw him, was filled with compassion, and ran to meet him. This is the only time in the Bible when God is pictured as “running”.
The sins of this repentant son were immediately forgiven and he was restored to a place of honor in the family! As James reminds us, it is comforting to know that God is a loving Father who is the origin of every good and perfect gift. It is comforting to know that He never changes! No matter what you have done your Heavenly Father will run to meet you and welcome you home when you truly repent!
JUST IN CASE JESUS HIMSELF ALSO HELPS US BY SPEAKING TO THE FATHER IN OUR DEFENSE! “My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense – Jesus Christ the Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world” (1 Jn. 2:1,2).
So do not be deceived and do not worry! Paul assured us that we can be “confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus” (Phil. 1:6).
(This study was written by Boyce Mouton. No rights are reserved! You are free to use this material in whole or in part for the glorification of Chris and the advancement of His Kingdom)