We are living in a time of the greatest changes in history. Over the last 70 years, changes have taken place everywhere and in every way imaginable. Some good, and some bad. But together the whole process of change has left many feeling dehumanised, depressed, bewildered and insecure.
In a world where everything seems to be constantly changing, transient and disposable, is there anything that really stays the same? Anything of permanence that can provide security? Well, the Bible also declares that one thing is completely unshakable, unchangeable and constant: "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever" (Hebrews 13:8).
1. His claims are the same (John 8:12; John 1:4-9; John 14:6; John 10:10; James 1:17)
2. His love is the same (Luke 17; Mark 10:13-16; John 4; John 8:11; Galatians 2:20; John 3:16-17; Romans 5:8; Romans 8:37-39)
3. His power is the same (Romans 1:16; 1 Corinthians 4:20; Mathew 4:23; Luke 8:24; John 19:30)
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1. His Claims are the same: Jesus Christ is like no one else who ever lived. He is the central personality of history dividing it into the time before Christ and after Christ. Today of course plenty of people know about Jesus, but do we really know who Jesus is? Jesus Himself promised that we can have light: Jesus declared “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” (John 8:12). There is so much darkness in the world. Maybe you have battled with the darkness of depression, addiction or dark thoughts about yourself and others. When His light shines on us and in us, we really begin to experience and enjoy life. But we must choose to receive this light and not live lives of moral and spiritual darkness (John 1:4-9). And when we do, we can know God: Jesus declared, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). Jesus said no one comes to God except through Him. He alone is the way. And He has made the way to the Father open for us. Jesus goes on to explain in the following verses of John chapter 14 how, when we accept Him into our lives, God will hear and answer our prayers. But these three points that Jesus is the way, the truth and the life, are the keys which every person must first know for themselves. So many people have lost their way in life. Maybe you feel you’ve lost your direction. You don’t know what to do, what decision to take. But Jesus shows us the way to live and which direction we should go in. Rather than being the killjoy that many people imagine, Jesus is in fact the way to living an abundant, joyful, blessed life (John 10:10). Real life that satisfies is found only in Him. Jesus alone can remove all darkness from your life, replacing it with His light, and He alone can bring you into an amazing personal relationship with God, ‘the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows’ (James 1:17).
2. His Love is the same: God’s intention is for us to know His love at all times and in every situation. Jesus showed this unchanging love to all people: the old and the young; the rich and the poor; the sick and the healthy; religious elites and those rejected by society. Jesus loved those who were sick, diseased and tormented. The gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John detail many accounts of where Jesus made time for the blind, the lame, those who were demonised and distressed, and how He healed and restored them. Jesus also loved those rejected by society. Jesus broke down societal barriers based on race, age and sex, speaking with and teaching those despised by His culture at the time. He cleansed the lepers who were outcast and regarded as unclean (Luke 17). He accepted the rejected and much-hated tax collectors like Matthew and Zaccheus, and spent time eating with and teaching them. Jesus rebuked His disciples who were stopping the people bringing their children to Him, saying ‘“Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them...” And he took the children in his arms, placed his hands on them and blessed them’ (Mark 10:13-16). Jesus first revealed Himself to be the Messiah to a Samaritan woman He met at the well – a woman from a people despised by His own (John 4). And Jesus loved those who did wrong. A woman caught in the act of adultery was brought to Jesus by the religious authorities to trap Him in saying something against their laws. They wanted to stone this woman to death, but instead of judging her Jesus first took all the attention off her. Then, when all her accusers had gone, He lovingly and directly said: “neither do I condemn you...Go now and leave your life of sin” (John 8:11). Instead of judgement, this woman received mercy and the opportunity of a new life. The apostle Paul, who described himself as a violent man and ‘the worst of sinners’ for all he had done before knowing Jesus, experienced the unshakeable and life-changing love of Jesus for himself (Galatians 2:20). And so can you (John 3:16-17). Many people have a negative view of God, thinking He’s all out to punish people for their wrongdoing, but Jesus died for you and me, not because we deserved or earned it, but because of His love for us (Romans 5:8). So, no matter your background, no matter your past actions or mistakes, no matter your current circumstances or what your future looks like at this moment in time – Jesus loves you! And His love is an unchanging, unending, unconditional love (Romans 8:37-39). You are loved. And just like so many people have, you can experience complete restoration in your own life and with God through the warmth of Jesus’s love that extends to you.
3. His Power is the same: The apostle Paul lived under the great power and oppression of the Roman Empire and wrote to those Christians living in Rome who experienced this directly. Yet through his ministry, Paul had seen firsthand how God’s power accompanied his preaching of the good news of Jesus (Romans 1:16; 1 Corinthians 4:20). And as hundreds of millions of people around the world can testify today, Christ’s power is still the same as we read about in the Bible: power to heal, and power to save. Jesus who went around ‘healing every disease and sickness among the people’ is the same Jesus who has the power to heal you today (Mathew 4:23). Jesus who, when in a boat with his disciples in a big storm, ‘got up and rebuked the wind and the raging waters; the storm subsided, and all was calm’, has the same power today to calm every storm in your life (Luke 8:24). And Jesus who declared on the cross that ‘It is finished’, has the power today to break all power of sin, and remove any darkness, addiction, anger, bitterness, grief, jealousy and unforgiveness and in your life (John 19:30). In a constantly changing world, Jesus Christ is unchanging, and you can know His love, power and discover His light.
