Image by Jeff Jacobs from Pixabay

It is almost a truism in Christian circles that “God never changes.” One oft-cited verse is found in the Old Testament book of Malachi: “I the Lord do not change. So you, the descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed.” (Malachi 3:6, NIV) A reading of the entire chapter makes clear that the context here is God’s moral judgement of wrongdoing. God is a moral being, and His morals and judgements do not change. 

But is there any sense in which God might change? It is worth reflecting on what we celebrate at Christmas—the Incarnation, God becoming one of us: “The incarnation of Christ (or Incarnation) is the central Christian doctrine that God became flesh, assumed of human nature, and became a man in the form of Jesus, the Son of God and the second person of the Trinity.” (Wikipedia, extracted December 24, 2024) That is to say, the second person of the Trinity (Jesus) was not human before the Incarnation, but he was human after. That indeed is a remarkable change! 

God became human and in so doing declared oneness with humanity. By taking on flesh and blood—which are part of the created order—God likewise tied himself to the Creation.  As one theologian poignantly observed, the baby Jesus looked out from the manger towards the heavens to see the stars that he had created. 

That is something to celebrate. Merry Christmas!