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A change of mind or a mistake?When was the last time you changed your opinion about someone or something? Was the result of your change of mind good or bad?

Did you change your mind because your original opinion was wrong or did circumstance force you to act in a different way?

1 Samuel 15:29 says that God “does not lie or change His mind; for He is not a human being, that He should change His mind.”

Can God make a mistake? It is probably safe to assume that everyone has done something wrong or made a mistake in life that has caused regret. We all make mistakes. Some more serious than others. People in Noah’s day, however, couldn’t have cared less about their sin. They were totally corrupted by their sinfulness.5 The LORD saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time. 6 The LORD regretted that He had made human beings on the earth, and His heart was deeply troubled. Genesis 6:5-6 (NIV)5 The Lord observed the extent of human wickedness on the earth, and He saw that everything they thought or imagined was consistently and totally evil. 6 So the Lord was sorry He had ever made them and put them on the earth. It broke His heart. Genesis 6:5-6 (NLT) So it must have been pretty serious when it says in Genesis 6:7-8: And the Lord said, “I will wipe this human race I have created from the face of the earth. Yes, and I will destroy every living thing—all the people, the large animals, the small animals that scurry along the ground, and even the birds of the sky. I am sorry I ever made them.” 8 But Noah found favour with the Lord.

Genesis 6:7 says God was sorry that He had made man. So did God make a mistake? As we have discussed in previous studies, some of the promises of God are conditional. God makes certain promises to us based upon our response to Him, for example “Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved”. The promise indicates that if we believe in Jesus we will receive what He promised. If we don’t then we are under different promises and we are not saved. When we change our response to Him the outcomes change for us. So from a human perspective it can seem to us like God changes His mind.

The results of sin have always been death, (Romans 6:23) and all of us are born under the curse of spiritual death, we don’t automatically have a personal relationship with God, and we are also under the curse of physical death in that we will eventually die, and eternal death in that God makes it clear that without Christ we are bound for hell (John 3:17-18. Revelation 20:15). A moment before we trusted in Jesus as Savour we were headed for hell and the next moment heaven. God changes His mind about sending us to hell when we believe in Christ. The promises are solid and unchanging, as is the character of God. He is immutable or unchangeable.

Living the Promises of God Session 5 8 February 2011

There may be times when you find it difficult to reconcile God’s truth to your own opinion or worldview, God’s truth is eternal, it does not change, our understanding of the truth does change as we allow God to work in our hearts and minds.

These sessions are not about opinion, they are about learning truth, the truth contained in the Bible, together we are going to focus on how we apply God’s truth, black & white in a grey world. To set godly priorities, grow in Christian character and live according to God’s standards so that we are a living witness to others. Notes from previous sessions are available from the Bible Study Section of www.ashingdonelim.co.uk.

Faith Service Worship Vision

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We change and God responds to that change in order to save us. God’s attitude to us changes according to our attitude to Him.

“It’s not my fault? The angels made me! The aliens made me! The giants were there. I had no choice! The demons tempted me!”

Why do we so often blame external things for the way in which we choose to respond to situations? Why are we so unwilling to take responsibility for our own thoughts or actions? The bible is clear that you, and you alone are ultimately responsible for how you respond to God. You are either for Him or against Him. There is no middle ground.

“But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.” (Genesis 6:8) What happens when God looks at you? How have you recently experience the grace of God in your life? Grace is the undeserved, unearned favour of God in your life that comes when you believe in Christ, trust in Him, hand over control of your life to Him, and come under His authority in your life.

What do you find hardest about trusting in God? How much control have you handed over to God? Do you give God the role of authority in your life or is He just another source of advice?

Choice or command Noah made a choice towards God. God chose to save him and his family. “Noah was a just and perfect in his generations and Noah walked with God”(Genesis 6:9).

When you believe in a just and perfect God, His character is reflected in you. Noah wasn’t perfect in the sense of being sinless, but he trusted and obeyed a perfect God.

Could you be described as just and perfect in this generation? Should this be a goal for you to reach? When we believe in the Lord Jesus Christ we exchange our sin for His righteousness, and we come under the grace of God.

Can we choose to walk away from God’s grace? Someone described God’s grace like as an impenetrable umbrella - God’s grace is always there, but many choose to walk away from it. And they will receive God’s justice instead of His love and grace.

Sweet Baby Jesus or God of Judgment?Why are people comfortable with the idea of baby Jesus in a manger but uncomfortable with the idea of Jesus as Saviour? We don’t like to think of God destroying mankind. We prefer the tamed version of God. The sanitised, warm, cuddly kind of God who does everything for us but tuck us in at night. The sweet baby Jesus rather than the Jesus who sits in judgment upon the world.

How can we ensure that the people we know see more than a sanitised, politically correct or easy to handle view of God?

Don’t water down sinGenesis 6 presents us with a God who responds to evil with judgment, who doesn’t water down our sin and say “tut, tut, it’ll be alright. I’ll just let that one go.” And He’s not against killing people. He comes right out and says to Noah, “I am about to destroy them with the earth” (Genesis 6:7). That makes some people say, “Well, that’s not the kind of God I want for my life.” At least that’s honest. That’s better than trying to tame God into a god of our own image.

Just AND lovingWhy is admitting that God is just as well as loving probably one of the most difficult things we have to do today? An un-biblical view of God means that God is viewed as less than He is. Listen to the voices in the world, the voices of those who do not want to be accountable to God. Their words and actions can make God appear like a wimp or a butler used only to service our needs. A throw away God that you can use only when you need Him, but He’s at your disposal. Or He has a use-by date. He’s only for Sunday School and people with problems.

But God is the God of the Bible, tough with sin, giving people time to repent but without compromise!

What kind of God is this? He is the God of the Bible. The God who loves us and gives us time to repent. The God who heals us and saves us and forgives us our sin when we believe in Christ.

What kind of God is this? He’s the God who saw one man and his family who were willing to obey Him in the middle of a corrupt and totally perverse and wicked society, and told him to build an Ark. A lot of trouble to go to just to save one family and some animals.

Why would a loving God send a flood? Let me ask you another question - why does a sinful person think that they can dictate the kind of God they will serve? God is just and absolutely fair, even if we don’t understand it at times. But don’t close your eyes to the just side of God. Fear Him with utmost respect as well as love Him with wholehearted devotion. God responds to us according to how we respond to Him.

He “grieves” (Genesis 6:6) over our wickedness and our refusal to allow Him to rule our lives. He grieves over our arrogance and self-righteousness. The world was and is so filled with wickedness, that it was and is in danger of losing any possibility of redemption for future generations. God intervened with a flood. One day He will intervene in a final judgment of the earth.

Trust God that He knows what He’s doing. Trust God that when He sends judgment it is because He has first allowed time, like He did in Noah’s day, for people to repent and believe, trust and rely on Him, instead of trying to make a god in our own image.