Christ, Eternally Unchanged
Thursday Devotional Thought
Job 35:7
“If you are righteous, what do you give to Him? Or what does He receive from your hand?”
Elihu is a type and foreshadow of Jesus Christ in Scripture. Although Elihu is there, among Job and his three companions, he is not mentioned until the end of their discourses. His name means “He is my God.” His words are full of sound theology.
Here, Elihu states a truth of Jesus Christ as eternal God. If, by God’s grace, we are righteous, we are not giving Him something by our righteousness as if He was lacking. Elihu states a similar truth in the previous verse when he says,
“If you have sinned, what do you accomplish against Him?
And if your transgressions are multiplied, what do you do to Him?” Job 35:6
Our sins, likewise, do nothing to strip Christ of His goodness or holiness. Certainly, we can grieve Him by our sin or please Him by our obedience; nevertheless, the Lord Jesus Christ is sufficient in Himself (John 5:26). He is, therefore, eternally unchanged, as it is written,
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. Hebrews 13:8
This means that Christ’s love for His people is unchanging and undiminished. His mercies are unchanging and therefore they endure forever (Psalm 131:1-26). This is an amazing and blessed truth. Yet it should not surprise us, for grace must be eternal and unchanging, else it would not be grace.
All that Christ does for us, with us, to us, and through us is based upon who He is and what He has done at Calvary’s cross. It’s not based upon our defeats or victories. Therefore, we can truly rest in Christ. We can really trust in Christ. The truth of Christ’s eternal and unchanging nature should be a source of great comfort, an encouragement toward obedient submission, and a provocation for good, gospel works for Christ’s exaltation and the heavenly Father’s ultimate glory. Hallelujah! What a Savior!
Our Lord Jesus, He does not change:
Eternal in His ways;
For through the cross the worlds were fram’d
Unto the Father’s praise.