The Same
“Of
old You laid the foundation of the earth, and the
heavens are the work of Your hands. They will
perish, but You will endure; yes, all of them will
grow old like a garment; like a cloak You will
change them, and they will be changed. But You are
the same, and Your years will have no end”
(Psalm 102:25-27)
In today’s Scripture, the
Psalmist reveals that God is our Creator. And His
creation, the very heavens that surround us will NOT
stay as they are. As it says, they “grow
old like a garment,” and there will be a need
to “change them” at a
time of His choosing. But of God it is revealed, “You
are the same, and Your years will have no end.”
Even the atoms and the stars will no longer be in
their present form, but God is eternally the same.
The author of the Book of
Hebrews in the New Testament, quotes those verses in
Psalms and applies them to Jesus Christ, God the
Son. The Book of Hebrews expressed it this way: “But
to the Son He says: 'Your throne, O God, is forever
and ever,'” (Hebrews 1:8-12), observing, “they
(the heavens) will perish”
(Hebrews 1:11), but “You
(Jesus Christ) are the same,
and Your years will not fail” (Hebrews 1:12).
We don’t truly understand eternity and we don’t know
how the One God can be not only the Father, but also
the Son, however, the Bible assumes They have been "the
Same" – forever!
The Book of Genesis opens
with the words, “In the
beginning God created the heavens and the earth."
The word chosen for “God”
in that verse is the Hebrew PLURAL, “Elohim.”
The singular form for “God”
(“El”) could have been
used, or it might have been the word for Two (“Ella”),
but the human author, Moses, under the guidance of
the Holy Spirit, carefully chose “Elohim,”
which can be translated as “More Than Two Gods.”
Somehow, God, who is indeed ONE, is also even more,
for God includes “the Son,” and They ALWAYS remain “the
Same,” as described in Hebrews and Psalms.
The “plural Oneness” of God
is revealed in Deuteronomy 6:4, the famous “Schma!”
(“Hear”) of the Jewish
people, where it says, “Hear,
O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is One.”
The word for “God” in
that verse is “Elohim”
(More than Two). “One”
could have been the Hebrew “Yaheed”
(“Absolute One”), but
instead “echad” was
chosen, which carries the idea of a Plurality within
One. I have one car which is comprised of more than
two parts. The word “echad”
describes that car, and it also describes the “One
God.”
Jesus Christ, the Messiah of
Israel, Son of God, always was and is in eternity.
In the Book of Micah, in the Old Testament, it was
foretold that He would be from “everlasting,”
literally from “the days of
eternity.” And yet, the same verse (Micah
5:2), relates that He would come from the little
town of “Bethlehem.” I
don’t know about you, but I cannot imagine what it
would be like to live in eternity, to have
everything, and then DESCEND to a lowly,
questionable birth in a small town. But He did it,
out of His love for you and me.
To the extent we CAN
understand, we do know this: Eternity was and is a
place without hunger, sorrow, or lack of – anything!
There is no death. And Jesus Christ, the One
described as “God” in
Psalm 102:24 and Hebrews 1:8, was and always is the
true King. He is the One who utterly “has
everything.” He is the Creator, and if any lack has
existed at any time, He merely spoke and it was made
whole.
And suddenly (though it was
not “sudden” to his human mother, Mary); He became a
human baby. Stop reading if this offends you, but He
drooled, His swaddling cloths had to be changed,
food was required for Him, whereas previously He
needed nothing, and He who spoke the worlds into
existence, now knew no words, and had to learn –
everything!
He was essentially a
fugitive in His youth, for Herod the Great, King of
Judea, sought to kill Him, necessitating a flight
first to Egypt, and then relocation to the region of
Galilee. Note that the prophet Isaiah had said the
Messiah would emerge from “Galilee
of the Gentiles” (Isaiah 9:1, 6). Herod died,
but animosity lived on his son, who took the throne
in Judea. Nazareth was an obscure, small place, and
it is assumed that Jesus trained to be a carpenter,
like His step-father, Joseph. Then came a few years
of public ministry, followed by His arrest as a
criminal, and His execution by the very ones He came
to save: the Jews, who were condemning Him, and the
Gentiles, represented by the Romans who directly
killed Him. And we were there, for it was our sins
that necessitated His death.
He came from eternity. He
was God who descended into the depths of this world,
taking on the nature of a mere Man and then He died
a terrible death. His circulatory system no longer
functioned and He was indeed dead, but then He rose
again, once more to live as King in eternity. Like
anyone who has undergone incredible, stressful, and
amazing experiences, it would seem that He must be
CHANGED by what had happened. Yet we know from
today’s Scripture and others like it, that He is
always “the same.” As
expressed in Hebrews 13:8 – “Jesus
Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.”
– But considering the changed circumstances He
experienced; HOW is He the same?
His CHARACTER is the same.
He was, is and always will be: “Holy”
(Luke 1:35), “Just” and
Righteous and yet Gentle and “Lowly”
(Zechariah 9:9), Innocent (Isaiah 53:9, 1 Peter
2:22), “Merciful”
(Hebrews 2:17), “Humble”
(Philippians 2:8) and Forgiving (Luke 23:34). He is
the type of Friend that deep inside you always have
hoped for, had you even known that such a Person
could exist. He is the kind of God you and anyone
else would want to trust in, once you have
discovered Who He really IS!
Most of all, He always was
and always will be – “Faithful.”
Scripture says of Him, He was “made
like His brethren, that He might be a merciful and
faithful High Priest…
to make propitiation for the sins of the people. For…
He Himself has suffered, being
tempted, He is able to aid those who are tempted”
(Hebrews 2:17-18). He became like you and me, a
human being, with all the frailties implied by what
He did. He was tempted like we are “but
without sin” (Hebrews 4:15). He hears and
understands your need. We are sinners who
occasionally serve God, but most often we serve our
own needs first. Jesus Christ was not like that – He
“was FAITHFUL to Him who
appointed Him” (Hebrews 3:2). He ALWAYS did
the will of the Father. Your Friend On High is
FAITHFUL! He loves you, even to the extent of dying
for your sins; the Innocent for the guilty. Let’s
thank Him who is always the same and loves us all:
Lord, thank You for all
that You have done. Forgive us our sins and Lord, we
TRUST in You. In Jesus Name. Amen.
Ron
Beckham, Pastor
Friday Study Ministries
First Church On The Net
www.FridayStudy.org
Ron@FridayStudy.org
"While
we were yet sinners, Christ died for us"
(Romans 5:8)
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