The Eternal and Unchanging King

By Pastor Chad

What you believe has an impact upon your life. I cannot stress this point enough: your beliefs are important! Thus, it is imperative that Christians understand–to the best of one’s ability–who Jesus is, what He has done, and why He did it. No, we will never fully understand an infinite God, but that doesn’t mean Christian doctrine and belief are unimportant. God forbid that a Christian ever say, “It doesn’t matter what one believes as long as one loves Jesus.” Or God have mercy on anyone that would ever claim, “I don’t care about doctrine!” If something is in Scripture, it is given to us for a reason. 

Over the last three Sundays, we have begun our look at the book of Hebrews. The first three messages were a trilogy discussing the divinity and attributes of Christ. Though these truths may not have immediate direct application to one’s life, they are vitally important. In other words, these truths about Christ may not help you balance your checkbook (if one does such a thing), but these truths are massively impactful to one’s life and faith. 

This last Sunday, from Hebrews 1:8-13, I highlighted three attributes of Christ given to us by the author of Hebrews. It is within these verses that we see Jesus is the victorious king (verse 8-9 & 13). He is victorious over sin, death, and Satan. Of course, it is clear what the life implications are with such a claim. Since Jesus is victorious over sin, death, and Satan, we now can benefit from His triumph. Because He conquered these foes, all who repent of their sins and believe in the gospel can be saved; we are freed from the sin, eternal death, and principalities that have enslaved us. 

The author of Hebrews also claims that Jesus is eternal (verse 10 & 12b). By that we mean that Jesus has no beginning and has no end. There was never a time or point at which Jesus did not exist. He has always been the Son of God. He has always existed, and will never cease to exist. Verse 10 says, “You [that is, Jesus]...laid the foundation of the earth in the beginning, and the heavens are the work of your hands…” If Jesus created all time, space, and matter–all of the universe and everything in it–then He must have existed prior to the universe. Thus, He is from eternity past. He has always been. 

And last, the author of Hebrews emphasizes that Jesus is unchanging (verse 11-12a). That means Jesus does not change in His plans, promises, purposes, character, or essential attributes. Sure, there was a change (of sorts) by Jesus when He assumed human flesh in the womb of Mary; however, no essential divine quality of who He is changed. The wonderful truth about Jesus being unchangeable, is that even as this world fluctuates from bad to worse and back again, our God is unchanging. He does not change with the seasons. He does not change based on the opinions of man. He does not change when the world changes. He does not change His ways. 

In a world that is completely out of tune, it is nice to know we have a God that is eternally unchanged. He is the measure and standard by which all things are judged.