The Portrait Of God

I turned on the TV to catch the morning news and the issue of homosexuality  was being discussed.  It’s a subject that’s very much in the news these days.  Parliaments, congresses, and courts are debating “gay rights” throughout the western world.  Many people in support argue that it’s merely a matter of love.  If two people love each other, be they two women or two men, then why shouldn’t they express their love as they so feel?

I find that many Christians don’t understand the issue in the light of God’s Word.  They  may believe it to be an ungodly act, but they don’t exactly know why.  They can’t fully explain it.  Let’s explore together.

I love the verse in Luke 1:37 that reads, “For with God nothing shall be impossible.”  As Christians, we often encourage each other with the words that nothing is too hard for God.  He can do anything.  Yes, He can do anything He so desires to do in our personal circumstances or the circumstances of the world.  Even so, there remains one thing that God cannot do:  He cannot change Himself.

In Malachi 3:6, we read, “I am the Lord and I do not change.”  There is nothing about God’s blameless character that will ever change.   For example:

He is love —  that will not change.  “…God is love.” I John 4:8 

He is Spirit —  that will not change.  “For God is Spirit, so those who worship Him must worship in spirit and in truth.”  John 4:24

He is sinless —  that will not change.   “But now you must be holy in everything you do, just as God – who chose you to be His children – is holy.”  I Peter 1:15   If it were remotely possible for God to sin, then He could never instruct us to attempt to be holy as He is holy. He is the perfection we strive to imitate.  We become more like Him as we mature in our knowledge of Him and as we put His ways into practice.  Final perfection is gained when we enter heaven where sin does not exist.

He is merciful to forgive all sin — that will not change.  “If we confess our sins to Him, He is faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from every wrong.”  I John 1:9

He is also the embodiment of male and female —  that will not change.  “So God created people in His own image; God patterned them after Himself; male and female He created them.”  Genesis 1:27.  

That is why God says homosexuality  is a shameful and unnatural desire.   It’s unnatural for anyone to try and change Almighty God in any way.  “God abandoned them to  their shameful desires.  Even the women turned against the natural way to have sex and instead indulged in sex with each other.  And the men, instead of having normal sexual relationships with women, burned with lust for each other.”  Romans 1:26-27

God blesses the sexual relationship of a male and female in marriage for the very reason that it is a picture of Himself.  God cannot change that and it is an abomination for anyone else to try and do so.

God loves everyone, whether gay or straight.  Remember, His love does not change and He loves the whole world.  “For God so loved the world that He gave His only son that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.”  John 3:16

Even so, it must be stressed and understood — the marriage relationship of one man and one woman is a picture of God.  He can’t change His portrait.  We can’t paint a different picture of Him and call it God, either.

Aren’t we glad that God cannot change?  If He could change in one area, then He would be open to change in all.  Forgiveness of sins would be at stake,  His love would be uncertain, His comfort untrustworthy, His peace a mere wish.

What joyful assurance comes to us because we can say, “thank you Father that you do not change.”