The Faithfulness of God

The glorious image of Christ’s return given by revelation to John should captivate our complete attention. The heaven opens and a brilliant white horse comes bounding toward the earth with an innumerable host of angels trailing behind the gallant Leader who sits upon that glowing steed. He that will sit upon that horse will be called “Faithful and True” (Revelation 19:11). There is no other name so appropriate for the changeless God who is the same “yesterday, today, and for ever” (Hebrews 13:8). The Lord is consistent, steadfast, reliable, and worthy of complete trust and confidence. Because He is changeless, the Lord must be faithful because being unfaithful would necessitate a change in His very nature and character. Such a change is simply impossible.

Unfaithfulness is caused by fear or feebleness to another influence. God is the highest authority and does not submit Himself to these emotions. Surely, Thomas Chisholm was captivated by the faithfulness of God as he penned the words to the song, “Great is Thy Faithfulness.” How poignantly these words ring through the heart and soul of every believer:

“Great is thy faithfulness, O God my Father;
there is no shadow of turning with thee;
thou changest not, thy compassions, they fail not;
as thou hast been thou forever will be.”

As a result of such impeccable faithfulness, God constantly projects all aspects of His nature.  Though theology parses the specific attributes of God in order to develop a better understanding of God, the Lord remains a “perfect whole” who cannot be divided into parts. He is constant and consistent in His projection of love and justice, righteousness and compassion, holiness and forgiveness, and all other magnanimous and magnificent qualities. Most pointedly for the salvation of sinners, His faithfulness to Himself and to the world allowed Him to devise a plan that assures that He can be both Just and the Justifier of sinners without detriment to His nature. God can be holy, save the unholy, and impute holiness to their account based on the precious atoning blood of Jesus Christ upon the sinners’ repentance and faith.

The faithfulness of God is integral to our daily life. Each day Christians will put their faith and trust in something. The fleshly lusts of the sinner will cause him to put confidence in himself; the intellectual wants to trust in his genius; the strong desire to place assurance in their power. Each day a choice is made to either trust in oneself or to trust in God. Is God so unworthy of confidence that we find in ourselves a better solution? Has God been unfaithful? Has God demonstrated weakness when power was needed? Has God been unstable when assurance was needed? Has God misapplied His knowledge to the detriment of His people? An untrustworthy God should be rejected (though millions place their faith in a myriad of false gods). However, God has proven Himself to be faithful yet the faith of His people wavers. The Lord is worthy of trust, but until the believer recognizes His great faithfulness he will fail of the grace of God and flounder in his faith. May each Christian arise and give God the glory for His faithful mercies that are new every morning!

My Prayer for Today:
Heavenly Father,
I put my hope in You today because of Your great faithfulness. You have proved yourself time after time, not just in Your Word but also in my life. I put all my trust in You for my salvation, and now I put all my trust in You for my daily living. As You are faithful, help me to be faithful! Help me not to be moved from the promises of Your Word. Lord, I need Your grace to be faithful. I pray that you will to rest upon Your promises that cannot fail! In Jesus’ name, Amen.