Two Unchangeable Things

Heb. 6:17-18

"So when God desired to show more convincingly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of His purpose, He guraranateed it with an oath, so that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to life, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragment to hold fast to the hope set before us."

God's intent was to show in a more convincing way the unchangeable character of his purpose through the promises of God. He begins by relating His time with Abraham. In order to validate the promises to Abraham, He swore by Himself. However, this is not so with man. Man shows intent and purpose by swearing to something greater than himself, but in God's case, there is no one or nothing greater. He must swear by Himself. He reassured Abraham that what He said was true, and He is attesting to that same fact in this passage for the believers of that day and the believers of this day. Even the fact that the character of His purpose is unchangeable is a reassurance to me. God does not change! He is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow! If He Himself is unchangeable, won't His words and His promises be unchangeable?

So what were the two unchangeable things? First, it says that He swore by Himself, and secondly, God cannot lie. Truth is synonmyous with His nature. It is Who God is. But why does God go to this extent to reassure man? Isn't it enough that He state the truth? Shouldn't the listener be responsible for his own belief? Yet, God's purpose reflects His heart of love. He wants to give believers strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope He has set before them by doing everything 'godly' possible for us so that our belief and our faith might be strong. He makes His Word the believer's sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, an anchor that will not fail. How much more foundational can something be if it never changes? Thankfully, God's Word and His promises are my anchor and my hope.

Father,

Thank You for Who You are and for Your great and unchangeable Word. What an anchor for my soul! Help me hold fast according to Your grace.

In Jesus name,

Amen