Is God himself different at the end than at the

beginning? What is involved in answer to this question?

Immutability and Impassability

- God capable of love, hurt, grief etc  he is not entirely emotionally

detached from the actions and response of his creation (he is
passable???)
• Is 40:11, 43:5-7, 49:15, 63:9
• Eph 4:10
• Gen 6:6-7Vs

- And yet the Bible describes him as not changing

• Ps 102:25-27
• Heb 1:10-12
• James 1:17
• Malachi 3:6
• Heb 8:8

- God is immutable in the fact that he does not change his plans,
purpose, covenant, desires, character.

- However, what do we do with the incarnation?

Incarnation

- Is the incarnation a way in which God acts and as a result he himself is

different than he was before?
 The Hypostatic Union  was the incarnation something new for
God?
 The permament taking on of human nature where before there
was only the divine nature
 Divine and Human nature in Christ, united without confusion
• Heb 1:10-12
• Phil 2:6-11
• John 1:1-14
• Rom 1:2-5
• Rom 9:5
• 1 Tim 3:16
• Heb 2:14
 And what about us? We are now united with Christ also, partakers
of the divine nature… in what sense? And does that have any
 impact on God in himself?

- Seems we would have to say from a human perspective that in some

way God, in himself, was different from the beginning than at the end.

- But… how should we understand God and time?

- God operates within time (eg. Incarnation), but he is not governed or

limited by time
 God is the beginning and the end
• I am the Alpha dn the Omega, the Beginning and the End – Rev 21:6
 Being ‘different’ is a idea which relies on change over time. But if
God exists in himself outside of time then is he really different in
the end than he was in the beginning?

- So from our POV  The way God presents/reveals himself to us in

time means that he appears different as a result of the incarnation
(although he remains immutable)
- But from the POV of God in himself  He is outside of time in himself
so don’t think we can describe him as different