The most
striking characteristic of nature, from Aristotle’s point of view, was “change.”29
Intellectuals who are of a like mind in our modern age have even coined a
clever maxim: “Change is the only constant.”
It is an
established principle in physics that all things change. The second law of
thermodynamics, entropy, states that spontaneous change in isolated systems
proceeds from a state of order to one of disorder. In simple terms, all things
break down, deteriorate, or decay through time. The general rule in the
universe is change. Everything changes.
The only
exception to that rule is God.
Outside time.
God
declared through the prophet Malachi that He is immutable – He does not change.
“For I am the LORD, I change not…” (Mal
3:6). David repeats that truth in a psalm: “They
shall perish, but thou shalt endure: yea, all of them shall wax old like a
garment; as a vesture shalt thou change them, and they shall be changed: But thou
art the same, and thy years shall have no end” (Ps 102:26-27). God has
passed on this immutability to His Son, who has the same nature. “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to
day, and for ever” (Heb 13:8).
There are
at least two reasons, both backed by modern scientific principles, why God does
not change.
First, as
we have already seen, God, as the Ein Sof
or “Infinite Nothingness” is outside space-time. Changes take place only in
time. Since God is not subject to the passage of time, He is timeless. And,
being timeless, He cannot change. God is immutable.
God is light.
The clue to the second reason is in James’s
reiteration of God’s unchanging nature. “Every
good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the
heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows” (James 1:17-18,
NIV). An additional element, though, appears in the passage: “Father of the heavenly lights.” As
such, God must also be light, which is precisely what John says: “This then is the message which we have
heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no
darkness at all” (John 1:5).
What
is light? It is pure radiant energy -- a form of electromagnetic radiation
consisting of photons, the fastest moving things in the universe. Having no
mass, photons travel through space at some 186,000 miles per second (about
300,000 km/sec.) without any loss of energy. Nothing travels faster than light,
whose velocity is the cosmic speed limit. At the speed of light, time stops.
Light therefore, is also timeless and cannot change. Naturally no less is its
Creator, God, who is light as well. Yes, God is truly immutable.
29Aristotle,
World Book 2005 (Deluxe)
(Excerpted from Chapter 1, The Mysteries of Our Maker, THE DEEP THINGS OF GOD: A Primer on the Secrets of Heaven and Earth by M.M. Tauson)
