God’s Constancy of Purpose and God’s New and Changing Actions
“God’s Constancy of Purpose and God’s New and Changing Actions” – May 25th, 2025 (God: The One Who Loves in Freedom)
What is in your mind’s eye as you think about the creation of all that there is? Who created the world? How did the creation of the universe happen?
Let’s read some perhaps familiar passages and allow God’s word to reshape our understanding.
John 1:1-3a – “1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being.”
In case we didn’t catch onto who John is talking about, he reiterates in verses 9-10 of the same chapter: “9 The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and the world came into being through him; yet the world did not know him.”
The world, which is to say all of the created order, the entire universe, came into being through Jesus Christ, who is God! As we affirm in the Nicene Creed, “I believe in one God, the Father almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all things visible and invisible. I believe in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Only Begotten Son of God, born of the Father before all ages. God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, consubstantial with the Father; through him all things were made.”
Let’s turn back to the very beginning of the Bible, to the first chapter of the Old Testament. We discover there a glorious description given to us, I believe, to evoke in us wonder and awe for and thankfulness and gratitude towards Creator God! We are going to read the first full chapter plus three verses into the second chapter of the book we call Genesis, a name derived from the Greek word for “to be born.” This is how both the universe and life on earth were born!
Genesis 1:1-31 – “1 In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, 2 the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters. 3 Then God said, ‘Let there be light’; and there was light. 4 And God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.
6 And God said, ‘Let there be a dome in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.’ 7 So God made the dome and separated the waters that were under the dome from the waters that were above the dome. And it was so. 8 God called the dome Sky. And there was evening and there was morning, the second day.
9 And God said, ‘Let the waters under the sky be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear.’ And it was so. 10 God called the dry land Earth, and the waters that were gathered together he called Seas. And God saw that it was good. 11 Then God said, ‘Let the earth put forth vegetation: plants yielding seed, and fruit trees of every kind on earth that bear fruit with the seed in it.’ And it was so. 12 The earth brought forth vegetation: plants yielding seed of every kind, and trees of every kind bearing fruit with the seed in it. And God saw that it was good. 13 And there was evening and there was morning, the third day.
14 And God said, ‘Let there be lights in the dome of the sky to separate the day from the night; and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years, 15 and let them be lights in the dome of the sky to give light upon the earth.’ And it was so. 16 God made the two great lights—the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night—and the stars. 17 God set them in the dome of the sky to give light upon the earth, 18 to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. 19 And there was evening and there was morning, the fourth day.
20 And God said, ‘Let the waters bring forth swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the dome of the sky.’ 21 So God created the great sea monsters and every living creature that moves, of every kind, with which the waters swarm, and every winged bird of every kind. And God saw that it was good. 22 God blessed them, saying, ‘Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.’ 23 And there was evening and there was morning, the fifth day.
24 And God said, ‘Let the earth bring forth living creatures of every kind: cattle and creeping things and wild animals of the earth of every kind.’ And it was so. 25 God made the wild animals of the earth of every kind, and the cattle of every kind, and everything that creeps upon the ground of every kind. And God saw that it was good. 26 Then God said, ‘Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the wild animals of the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.’ 27 So God created humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. 28 God blessed them, and God said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.’ 29 God said, ‘See, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit; you shall have them for food. 30 And to every beast of the earth, and to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.’ And it was so. 31 God saw everything that he had made, and indeed, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.”
Genesis 2:1-3 – “1 Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all their multitude. 2 And on the seventh day God finished the work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all the work that he had done. 3 So God blessed the seventh day and hallowed it, because on it God rested from all the work that he had done in creation.”
Notice that the book of Genesis describes for us both the beautiful and bountiful beginnings of life and God’s unwavering and unconditional commitment to creation, in spite of the brokenness to come. The Genesis account of creation points us to the big picture of God, from God’s point of view: No matter what happens, no matter what any part of God’s beloved creation does, no matter what choices we make (and we all know how many poor choices we humans have made!), God remains forever constant, steadfast, and faithful in both character and purpose!
From cover to cover, the Bible assures us of God’s constancy of purpose.
Malachi 3:6a tells us, “For I the Lord do not change.”
Hebrews 13:8 confirms that “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.”
At the same time, the Bible assures us that God, the Trinity – Father God, Jesus Christ, Holy Spirit – does new and changing actions.
If God were absolutely immutable, utterly changeless, then God would not be the living, triune God of Scripture but a dead God. Think about this for a moment. The grace of God revealed through Jesus Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit is constant and reliable, yet new every morning. As Christ-followers, we affirm today, as believers have for 2000 years before us, that God’s faithful, changeless love is manifested in changing, surprising ways.
Psalm 104:30-32 – “30 When you send forth your spirit, they are created; and you renew the face of the ground. 31 May the glory of the Lord endure forever; may the Lord rejoice in his works—32 who looks on the earth and it trembles, who touches the mountains and they smoke.”
Isaiah 43:19 – “I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.”
Revelation 21:5a – “And the one who was seated on the throne said, ‘See, I am making all things new.’”
And so, we hold in tension God’s constancy of purpose and God’s new and changing actions. The important thing to remember is that God’s actions are always consistent with God’s character to fulfill God’s purpose.
God’s purpose has been revealed to us in creation. In Genesis 1:31, we just read that “God saw everything that he had made, and indeed, it was very good.” The Hebrew words translated “very good” here are ṭowb meod, and include many connotations, some of which I’ve grouped together alliteratively to help us to enlarge our vision of the magnificence and awesomeness of God’s wonderful world, design, and purpose. Keep in mind that these descriptors help us to understand God’s purpose, God’s desire for all of God’s creation in general, and for God’s image bearers – all persons – in particular: abundant agreeableness, merry muchness, great gladness, speedy sweetness, enough ease, utter unity, full fruitfulness, exceeding ethicality, whole welfare, bountiful beauty, vehement love. And there is more, so much more! God doesn’t force us in our brokenness to live in the “very good,” to live in shalom, the place of flourishing, wholeness, and delight. But it is clear that this is what God desires for us and for all of his beautiful creation.
Theologian Karl Barth helps us to hold God’s constancy of purpose and God’s new and changing actions in tension with one another by reminding us that in every God does, “He does it in love. But his love is free. It does not have to do what it does. This means that when God becomes the Creator and Lord of the world he does not become anything that he was not before. As Creator and Lord of the world he is not less or more than he was before.”
Sometimes when we read the Old Testament, it’s a hard read and it trips us up, especially when we don’t understand the historical or socio-cultural context. Deuteronomy 6:4, the central affirmation of Jewish faith and the cornerstone for God’s people in the Old Testament, affirms “The Lord is our God, the Lord alone.” The God of the Old Testament is the same as the God of the New Testament. God remains the same in character and purpose – yesterday, today, and forever!
Karl Barth goes on to explain: “Creation cannot bring him any increase, decrease or alteration of his divine being and essence by reason of its existence as the reality distinct from himself, of its essence, its vitality, which grows and decays and alters.”
All of creation, whether plants, animals, rocks, stars, or rock stars (that you and me and all of God’s beloved image bearers!) – like it or not, we all grow and decay and alter. Shakespeare must have been thinking about aging when describing our common destiny “when we have shuffled off this mortal coil.” Notice he didn’t say “when we have skipped or scampered or sashayed or shimmied off this mortal coil.” Even the way in which we can move our bodies alters and eventually decays. (Thus one of my favorite pithy sayings – “Life is hard, God is good, let’s dance! Let’s dance while we can! But I digress …)
Karl Barth unpacks the reason why creation cannot increase, decrease, or alter God’s being and essence: “It cannot do this because it is his creation, the creation of his free love … God is the one who is eternally new. God chose to be the Creator and Lord of the world and to manifest his love in freedom.”
And God’s ultimate purpose has been revealed to us in the life, ministry, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ!
Luke 19:10 – “For the Son of Man came to seek out and to save the lost.”
John 10:10b – “I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.”
N. T. Wright says in Simply Good News that “God made this world of space, time, and matter; he loves it, and he is going to renew it.” He goes on to say, “Creation and judgment meet in resurrection – that’s when the Creator says yes to his world and no to all that damages, distorts, or destroys it.” The heart of the good news of Jesus is that he came to fulfill God’s purpose – to heal, transform, rescue, and renew all people and all of creation!
In the account of Jesus miraculously feeding 5000 people with five barley loaves and two fish, we read these interesting verses:
John 6:11-12 – “11 Then Jesus took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated; so also the fish, as much as they wanted. 12 When they were satisfied, he told his disciples, ‘Gather up the fragments left over, so that nothing may be lost.’”
God loves his beloved creation more than we can imagine. He is going to renew it. All of it. Nothing will be lost! Ephesians 3 ends with this glorious blessing and prayer, “18 I pray that you may have the power to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 19 and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. 20 Now to him who by the power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.”
In 1 Corinthians 15:20-26, Paul summarizes the good news in the phrase “God will be all in all” – “20 But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have died. 21 For since death came through a human being, the resurrection of the dead has also come through a human being; 22 for as all die in Adam, so all will be made alive in Christ … 26 The last enemy to be destroyed is death. 27 For ‘God has put all things in subjection under his feet’ … 28 When all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to the one who put all things in subjection under him, so that God may be all in all.”
The good news about God shows us both God’s constancy of purpose and God’s new and changing actions. We rejoice that because Jesus has been raised from the dead, there is now the possibility of healing and transformation for all. We are not there yet, and we long for and hunger for the fulfillment of the good news that N. T. Wright describes – “there will come a time when what was begun with Jesus will be completed, and the whole creation will celebrate the powerful love and justice of God.”
In his book Faith Seeking Understanding, systematic theology professor Daniel Migliore explains that “the triune God has both constancy of purpose and is engaged in ever new and changing actions to fulfill that purpose.”
How can understanding these things be applied to our lives today?
As I prayed and pondered this, the Lord reminded me of a passage in Lamentations that invites us into the tension from our point of view between God’s constancy of purpose and God’s new and changing actions. Our struggle is real! The way the writer describes his situation is very familiar to us all because we have been there, we know others who have been there, we may be there ourselves today, we know myriads of people are in this place of struggle today.
Many credentialed people have characterized the 21st century as an “epidemic of anxiety.” Anxiety is an emotion characterized by an unpleasant state of inner turmoil and includes feelings of dread over anticipated events. We all experience anxiety from time to time, some much more so than others. At the beginning of my monthly appointments, my therapist always does a very beneficial anxiety, depression, and stress level check-in with me. A recent study published in the journal Dialogues in Clinical Neuroscience says that “according to large population-based surveys, up to 33.7% of the population are affected by an anxiety disorder during their lifetime.” The most frequent types of anxiety include panic disorder, agoraphobia, generalized anxiety disorder, social anxiety disorder, specific phobias, and separation anxiety disorder.
Do not despair, dear sisters and brothers – the Lord is with us! As we learned in our recent series on Jesus the Healer, Jesus continues heal today – Jesus heals bodies, minds, and lives. And we get to participate with Jesus in his ongoing healing ministry through supernatural touch, through doctors and medicine, through the human body’s healing power, through suffering with patience through God’s sufficient grace, and through victorious dying.
If we struggle with any kind of anxiety, I encourage us to get the help that we need, whether it involves therapy, medical care, medication, spiritual direction, support groups, exercise classes, or regular strolls through creation with friends. If you know someone struggling with any kind of anxiety, be present with them, pray with and for them, and encourage them to get help. Jesus calls us into action, as wounded healers, to take his healing and wisdom and peace into the world around us.
Right here, right now, I want to encourage us to enter more deeply into the eternal embrace of God even as we enter into the tension between God’s constancy of purpose and God’s new and changing actions. So, as I read this passage, I pray that we can find and dwell in the place of peace with Christ that no matter what we experience or how we feel, the Lord sees, the Lord knows, the Lord understands, the Lord cares. May we live and rest in the confidence that the Lord loves you and me and every person on the planet with everlasting love. The Lord is present to help and to heal. Come, Holy Spirit!
Lamentations 3:17-26 – “17 my soul is bereft of peace; I have forgotten what happiness is; 18 so I say, ‘Gone is my glory, and all that I had hoped for from the Lord.’ 19 The thought of my affliction and my homelessness is wormwood and gall! 20 My soul continually thinks of it and is bowed down within me. 21 But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: 22 The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to an end; 23 they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. 24 ‘The Lord is my portion,’ says my soul, ‘therefore I will hope in him.’ 25 The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul that seeks him. 26 It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.”
I want to close by praying a prayer that popped up in our Funky Friday readings this week – this is from Jesuit priest William Browning and is entitled An Anxious Person’s Prayer:
O Holy Spirit, give me stillness of soul in you. Calm the turmoil within, with the gentleness of your peace. Quiet the anxiety within, with a deep trust in you. Heal the wounds of sin within, with the joy of your forgiveness. Strengthen the faith within, with the awareness of your presence. Confirm the hope within, with the knowledge of your strength. Give fullness to the love within, with an outpouring of your love. O Holy Spirit, be to me a source of light, strength and courage so that I may hear your call ever more clearly and follow you more generously. Amen.
