In the past, whenever I read this verse, I believed that Jesus’ name would never change. When He came again, He would still be called Jesus, and do the work of redemption again. However, I felt confused about this verse when I knew that the Lord has a new name prophesied in the Book of Revelation and He will do the work of judgment in the last days. Then how do I understand this verse? Later, one passage in a spiritual book has solved my confusion, “There are those who say that God is immutable. That is correct, but it refers to the immutability of God’s disposition and His substance. Changes in His name and work do not prove that His substance has altered; in other words, God will always be God, and this will never change. If you say that the work of God is unchanging, then would He be able to finish His six-thousand-year plan of management? You only know that God is forever unchanging, but do you know that God is always new and never old? If the work of God is unchanging, then could He have led mankind all the way to the present day? If God is immutable, then why is it that He has already done the work of two ages? His work never ceases to move forward, which is to say that His disposition is gradually revealed to man, and what is revealed is His inherent disposition. In the beginning, God’s disposition was hidden from man, He never openly revealed His disposition to man, and man simply had no knowledge of Him. Because of this, He uses His work to gradually reveal His disposition to man, but working in this way does not mean that God’s disposition changes in every age. It is not the case that God’s disposition is constantly changing because His will is always changing. Rather, it is that, because the ages of His work are different, God takes His inherent disposition in its entirety and, step by step, reveals it to man, so that man may be able to know Him. But this is by no means proof that God originally has no particular disposition or that His disposition has gradually changed with the passing of the ages—such an understanding would be erroneous. God reveals to man His inherent and particular disposition—what He is—according to the passing of the ages; the work of a single age cannot express the entire disposition of God. And so, the words ‘God is always new and never old’ refer to His work, and the words ‘God is immutable’ to what God inherently has and is. Regardless, you cannot make the work of six thousand years hinge upon a single point, or circumscribe it with dead words. Such is the stupidity of man. God is not as simple as man imagines, and His work cannot linger in any one age. Jehovah, for example, cannot always stand for the name of God; God can also do His work under the name of Jesus. This is a sign that God’s work is always moving in a forward progression.” “God is always God, and will never become Satan; Satan is always Satan, and will never become God. God’s wisdom, God’s wondrousness, God’s righteousness, and God’s majesty shall never change. His essence and what He has and is shall never change. As for His work, however, it is always progressing in a forward direction, always going deeper, for He is always new and never old. In every age God assumes a new name, in every age He does new work, and in every age He allows His creatures to see His new will and new disposition. If, in a new age, people fail to see the expression of God’s new disposition, would they not nail Him to the cross forever? And by doing so, would they not define God?”

God is always new and never old. It refers to that God’s work and His name has changed along with the times. For example, God, whose name was Jehovah, issued His law and led the people to live on earth in the Age of Law. When the Age of Grace arrived, His name was called Jesus and He did the work of redemption of mankind through the crucifixion. However, God is still God. His substance, His holiness, His righteousness and majesty, His authority and wisdom will never change because of His different work. That is to say, God is immutable. The verse, “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever,” means that God’s substance never changes.