If you were asked to select one of the aspects of God’s character as His crowning attribute, what would you select? Would it be His love, mercy, or goodness? Or would it be His sovereignty, omnipotence (all-powerful), or omniscience (all-knowing)?
All of these attributes describe God’s nature. I believe, however, that God has an even greater attribute than these: His faithfulness. All of the other attributes of God, as great as they are, would set us up for total disappointment if it were not for His faithfulness, His constancy His consistency, and His dependability. Paul affirms this view in writing to the Christians in Corinth: “God, who has called you into fellowship with His Son Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful” (I Corinthians 1:9).
We humans are not always faithful, are we? People who stand at God’s altar to be married, and who promise to faithful to the vows they make “until death parts us” often break those vows. Politicians often make promises that are ignored or forgotten. People in business are not always faithful to do the things or provide the services they have advertised. People, even those we think can be trusted, are not always faithful. But God’s faithfulness never wavers.
What if God only loved us some of the time? Imagine what life would be like if God were gracious only under certain conditions? What if His goodness vacillated from time to time or according to circumstance? What if He were moody, given to playing favorites, or if He compromised His righteousness and justice? Life would be an absolute madhouse, wouldn’t it?
Because God is faithful we can sing with Henry F. Lyte, “Swift to its close ebbs out life’s little day; Earth’s joys grow dim, its glories pass away; Change and decay in all around I see, O Thou who changest not, abide with me.”
And God definitely does abide with us. He never acts out of character, never ceases to extend grace, and never contradicts His own nature. He will always love us. He stands by the covenant He has made with those who trust Him. We can always count on His promises being kept. The dominant note of the Bible is His faithfulness. He is always faithful to His own nature – and to us.
God’s faithfulness is rooted in His holiness. He is the one fixed point in a world that is in a constant state of change. “He is the same yesterday, today, and forever” (Hebrews 13:8). He can be counted on – always!
“Always” is a very long time. In the midst of the calamities so often present in our fallen world God relentlessly seeks to bring us into relationship with Himself. Only He can say without the possibility of contradiction, “I will always love you!”
The psalmist said, “I will sing of the mercies of the Lord forever; with my mouth will I make known your faithfulness to all generations” (Psalm 89:1). The word “faithfulness” is used at least six times in this psalm.
Even when Jerusalem was overrun by enemies the prophet Jeremiah would not give up his dogged belief in the faithfulness of God, “This I will call to mind, therefore I have hope. Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; great is His faithfulness” (Lamentations 3:21-23).
It is at the foot of Calvary’s cross that God’s faithfulness can most supremely be seen. This never ceased to amaze the apostle Paul. We see this in the words he used to encourage young Timothy, “If we remain faithless, He (God) remains faithful; He cannot deny Himself” (2 Timothy 2:13).
This is possibly the best definition of God’s faithfulness in the entire Bible: “He cannot deny Himself.” He will always be who He is – always! It is because He is faithful in that all the other aspects of His nature are true and will never fail. You can depend on Him – always!
The Paper Pulpit 
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