Over the past 100 years, technology has transformed nearly every aspect of our lives. In the 1920s, the world saw the rise of automobiles, airplanes, and radio communication, marking the start of the modern transportation and entertainment eras. By the mid-20th century, computers began to emerge, with massive machines in the 1940s giving way to personal computers by the 1980s. The internet revolutionized communication in the 1990s, connecting the globe and giving rise to social media, e-commerce, and online information sharing and selling.

 In the 21^st century we have hands free cell phones and 5G networks so we can talk almost anywhere anytime. Cell phones became smartphones, incorporating cameras, GPS, and a multiplicity of apps. Today we have experienced the rise of artificial intelligence, machine learning, and automation, reshaping industries like healthcare, finance, and manufacturing while biotechnology and gene editing are opening new frontiers in medicine. Technology has changed so overwhelming it has had a profound effect on how we live, work, and interacts. Technology has changed us and it has occurred so subtly and we don’t even recognize it.

Change is necessary & good in some cases, but it can be dangerous and immoral in others! Let’s exam…

I. The Conflict with Change. Malachi 3:5, 6

1. We live in a world that is changing all the time. The world changes, the weather changes, fashions change, technology changes, nations change. Culture is changing and we are seeing an alarming trend in religion to change our God.

2. God according to the culture of our time is in agreement with alternative lifestyles and has redefined marriage. No longer is it one man and one woman but frankly whatever kind of union you want. There was a day when an unborn child was safe in the womb of one’s mother, not today. Our congress has established laws that violate God’s laws.

We have changed over time subtly, progressively and we have lost our moral compass and most don’t even know it. So, thank God that in a changing world our heavenly father never changes.

II. God Never Changes

1. James teaches us what a wonderful truth that our God, He never changes. We left off talking on the goodness of God that…Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above and cometh down from the Father of light…Christmas time is a time we celebrate with gifts and light and this verse comes up at the appropriate time. It also a time of lights, light that speaks of the attributes of our Father.

2. God is good and He is good all the time, all the time God is good because He is immutable. He cannot change and James move into this important doctrine. Doctrine is life and important for decisions you and I will make as Christians.

We notice He’s called the Father of lights that is a great statement. That was an ancient Jewish way of referring to God as creator. The lights they have in mind are the sun, moon and the stars. He is the Father of the lights, the celestial bodies. You say, “Why is he choosing that title? He is choosing that title because it fits his illustration.

3. He is the Father of lights, but with Him, there is no variation and no shifting shadow. He is the one who created all the stellar bodies. He created all of them but He’s not like them. They vary, they change, they dim, they brighten, they bring light they cast shadows. They are here in the daytime, gone at night, here at night, gone in the daytime. Their benefit to us comes and goes. God isn’t like that, he is always good and always light.

Psalm 139:12 expresses this truth: Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee; but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to thee.

Psalm 102:26–In explaining the difference between the heavens and God the psalmist said, “They shall perish, but thou shalt endure…. Thou art the same, and thy years shall have no end.

4. God’s brilliant bright light of glory and the light of His goodness and light of His grace is non-changing. … with whom is no variableness. The word for variableness is pä-rä-lä-gāy’” where we get our English word parallax – the apparent displacement of an object as seen from two different points that are not on line with the object; it doesn’t pass from one condition to another…it doesn’t have shadows, it never goes dark.

1 John 1:5 states, “In Him is no…what?…darkness at all.” God is light and he is light all the time.

So, to illustrate our God who does not change James uses the figure of light by saying the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning (1:17b). You can count on the sun, the moon, and the stars to be consistent. Even though at times they may be obscured by the clouds, they are always there, doing what they always do.

However, the God who created them is greater and more consistent than they are. The sun always gives off light, never darkness, and that never changes. In the same way, God does not shift from giving good things to occasionally tempting people to do evil.

5. Since God gives us every good and necessary gift, we do not need to give in to the devil. Only when we begin to doubt God’s goodness in giving us what we need are we attracted to Satan’s enticements. Moses warned Israel not to forget God’s goodness when they began to enjoy the blessings of the Promised Land, lest they fall into sin (Deut. 8:11-16).

4. Things change, but God is unchanging. Many Scriptures tell us that God is unchanging. The Bible speaks again and again about the everlasting God.

 1.Hebrews13:[8] Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and forever. [9] Be not carried about with divers and strange doctrines.

2. Ps.102 :27 But thou art the same, and thy years shall have no end.

3. Malachi 3:6 the Lord says, “For I am the Lord, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.”

4. Rom.11:29 says, “For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance”.

 This scripture is saying that God will not be sorry -He is never going to quit. God does not repent of His gifts and callings; He never laments on a trade. Our unchanging God never varies in His giving. God never changes on His providential care and His pouring out of the daily blessings. —gospel

Illustration:

A few days after September 11, a New York cab driver stopped his car, confused and frustrated. Like thousands of New Yorkers, he had always looked to the twin Towers to gauge location and direction. But, they were gone. Thank God our point of moral compass, direction and reference never disappears, Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever.

III. The Conflict of Change

1. Folks, the culture is changing and with our culture we are seeing an alarming trend in religion to change our God. God according to the culture today is in agreement with alternative lifestyles and has redefined marriage. No longer is it one man and one woman but frankly whatever kind of union you want. There was a day when an unborn child was safe in the womb of one’s mother, not today. Our congress has established laws that violate God’s laws.

2. Our culture wants to say God always changes with the evil deed of humanity. Do you believe that God in the culture of our contemporary times sanctions abortion, homosexually, pornography, adultery, fornication, immoral ministers, discrimination and the like?

3. If you do then one must come to the conclusion that God is fickle and changes with the wind. Our culture and our government’s system of laws contrast greatly with God’s system of moral standards. There was a time when Bible reading and prayer in schools and public places were protected by the laws. Not anymore, that has change for the worst. At the heart of all this is a progressive, changing and compromising God. Can you buy that?

Illustration:

A high school teacher observed a number of boys in the corner of the gymnasium on their hands and knees. Rushing up to the boys, the teacher demanded, “What are you doing?” One of the boys looked up and answered, “We’re shooting dice!” The teacher responded with, “Oh, thank goodness. I thought you were praying.”

Conclusion:

God doesn’t change he’ll be exactly the same God tomorrow as he is Today. He cannot change. Does God ever need to change for the better or with the times? No! How can He who is perfect change