Hebrews 13:8

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today, yea and forever.

THE CHANGELESS CHRIST

Christ is the changeless one, and this universal truth is called into view at this place for the purpose of persuading the readers that the same Christ who had preserved a previous generation in their trials would no less preserve and bless them in theirs. The profound fact of the unchanging Christ will reward a more particular attention to it.

Why is Christ changeless? Because he is God (see under Hebrews 1:8), and changelessness is an attribute of deity. God said, "For I, Jehovah, change not" (Malachi 3:5). Also, because Christ is perfect, there can be no change; for to change perfection is to mar it.

What consolation for Christian hearts is the changelessness of Christ! Soon or late in every life, there appears the great emotion to "hold to God's unchanging hand." True, change can be quite desirable and exciting for the young and inexperienced; but when swift and basic changes accompany the failure of earthly prospects, the loss of health, the death of loved ones, or the onset of age, the soul of man seeks a haven of rest and finds it in the unchanging love of Jesus. When revolutionary fires sweep the earth, kingdoms rise and wane, or tides of evil engulf nations and civilizations, then the changeless Christ shines as the pole star in a firmament of darkness, an unchanging hope in a sea of troubles.

The changelessness of Christ means that the system he delivered is also changeless. The gospel is the same; the plan of redemption is changeless; Christ's rules for the church, its government, doctrine, purpose, and hope - all, like Christ who gave them, are changeless. His wise and benevolent purpose for humanity, his great love, his assurance of the resurrection and life eternal - all are the same. Why? He is the same yesterday and today, yea and forever!

How fortunate, then, are Christians who may find amidst the "wreck of atoms and the crush of worlds" the changeless and invariable glory of the Son of God! His throne is eternal; he was present, and a participant, in creation itself. The heavens are the work of his hands; they can, and will, perish; but he changes not. They shall wear out like an old garment, and he shall change them and roll them up; but in the words of this author in Hebrews 1:12, concerning Christ, "Thou art the same, and thy years shall not fail."