The Enduring Word

​‘Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart, having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever, because
“All flesh is as grass,
And all the glory of man as the flower of the grass.
The grass withers,
And its flower falls away,
But the word of the LORD endures forever.”
 
Now this is the word which by the gospel was preached to you.’
                                                                                                                 1 Peter 1 vs 22-25

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​Everything in this world is temporal. Created order as we know it is not forever. The Bible tells us that ‘the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up’ (2 Pet 3:10). But while ‘the things which are seen are temporary’ we are assured ‘the things which are not seen are eternal’ (2 Cor 4: 18).
 
It was that great master of words, Winston Churchill, who said: ‘Words are the only things which live forever’.
 
Like God Himself, His word is forever. He declared this fact through His prophet Isaiah:
 
All flesh is grass,
And all its loveliness is like the flower of the field.
      The grass withers, the flower fades,
Because the breath of the LORD blows upon it;
Surely the people are grass.
      The grass withers, the flower fades,
But the word of our God stands forever.
                                                              Isaiah 40:6-8
 
Peter quotes these words from Isaiah, apart from lines 4 & 5, to emphasis the permanence of the gospel. It is the word of the LORD which endures forever. Therefore the gospel, God’s good news concerning the Lord Jesus, is unchanging in its message and eternal in its significance. It is not an evolving idea open to change and meaning different things to different people. No, it is the once for all message of God upon which we can depend in time and, most important of all, for eternity. If heaven and hell are at stake, and they are, we must be sure that what we believe will not let us down in the end.
 
Isaiah speaks of the enduring word of the LORD in contrast to the passing nature of man. The mighty nations and leaders who dominated world affairs in Isaiah’s day and in our day are, says God, so transient and temporary like the grass of the field. This is the perspective of the Almighty Creator who further declares that the nations are ‘as a drop of a bucket, and are counted as the small dust of the balance’ (Isa 40:15). Humbling. This truth though, in no way is intended to diminish the value of people, rather God speaks so that proud man might be humbled and have proper perspective on what he is in this world compared to God who made him.
 
Therefore, to put confidence in men instead of God, even the strongest and greatest, is a fatal mistake no matter who or what they are. The glaring obvious fact that demonstrates how limited and weak men are is the reality of death. Nobody avoids it no matter how great, famous or powerful. In the end all men wither like grass.
 
Think with me about these two things: The Passing Nature of Man and The Enduring Power of the Word of God.
 
A. The Passing Nature of Man
 
The words from the prophecy of Isaiah which are not included in Peter’s quotation give the reason why the grass withers and the flower fades,
 
Because the breath of the LORD blows upon it;
Surely the people are grass,
 
In the Middle East the grass that grows and the wild flowers that bloom in springtime soon wither and die under the heat of the hot dry wind from the east that blows in May ‘that can turn the countryside from green to brown in 48 hours or less’. Grass is of limited duration and the beauty of the flower a passing glory. Man at his best is just like grass and the flower of the field.
 
These words though are illustrative and indicate a greater reality. ‘All flesh is as grass’ and just like the effect of the hot withering desert wind on natural grass, so the breath of the LORD, that is, the Spirit of God by His power brings to nothing the designs of the proud nations by blowing upon them.
 
But at the same time the Spirit who blows upon mortal men also assures the fulfilment of the word of the LORD in bringing life and salvation to the withered hopes of the helpless. All people are like grass. The difference is, some know it, but many don’t.
 
Peter’s focus is not upon what causes the grass wither, but upon the enduring word of the LORD compared to the transient nature of all that man is.  
 
From this comparison we learn three things:
 
1. The Frailty of Man
Man is just like the grass and the flower. How transient and temporary we are. How weak and helpless. How insignificant and forgettable. How many of us could name our great grandparents? If you can good, but just keep going back and see how well you know the names of your ancestors and for the names you can remember, what do you know about their lives? Or the lives of their contemporaries? Despite what this generation might think, we and our ideas and way of life are not anywhere as significant as we would love to think in the grand scheme of history. Today we reckon we’re pushing boundaries and tearing down old conservative values to create a Brave New World. Well, there is nothing much brave or new about it. It’s just the same old world and the same old sins. The book of Ecclesiastes reminds us:
 
That which has been is what will be,
That which is done is what will be done,
And there is nothing new under the sun.
Is there anything of which it may be said,
“See, this is new”?
It has already been in ancient times before us.
There is no remembrance of former things,
Nor will there be any remembrance of things that are to come
By those who will come after.
                                              Ecclesiastes 1:9-11
 
We are dying men and women in a deteriorating universe. Even should we live into old age, and I hope you do, we grow weaker and are all too aware that the destiny of our bodies is the grave. But, the burning question is, what about the destiny of my soul?
The Bible says:
 
Man who is born of woman
Is of few days and full of trouble.
He comes forth like a flower and fades away;
He flees like a shadow and does not continue…
For there is hope for a tree,
If it is cut down, that it will sprout again,
And that its tender shoots will not cease.
Though its root may grow old in the earth,
And its stump may die in the ground,
Yet at the scent of water it will bud
And bring forth branches like a plant.
But man dies and is laid away;
Indeed he breathes his last
And where is he?
                          Job 14:1-2, 7-10
 
2. The Brevity of Life
Yes life at best is very brief. Again, the New Testament writer, James, asks; ‘For what is your life?’ He gives this answer; ‘It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away” (James 4:14). Just like the mist of the morning that soon disappears or the steam from a boiled kettle, the life of man is just for a brief moment compared with eternity. Moses writes in Psalm 90 these words:
 
The days of our lives are seventy years;
And if by reason of strength they are eighty years,
Yet their boast is only labor and sorrow;
For it is soon cut off, and we fly away…
So teach us to number our days,
That we may gain a heart of wisdom.
                                                          Psalm 90:10, 12
 
3. The Certainty of Death
Benjamin Franklin said: ‘In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes’. None of us are keen on either the two! But why is death so serious? Because it’s not the end of us. Death is but the entrance into the eternal world. In that realm the destinies are but two – Heaven or hell? To be forever with God or forever without Him. As we have lived so we will be forever. If I have rejected God, He will forever reject me. If I have received Christ as my Savior and Lord, I will forever dwell with Him. The poet wrote searching words:
 
Dear ones will give me there last embrace,
Faces will bend o’er my still cold face,
Shadows of mourning will fill the place,
Five minutes after I die.
 
But the sorrowing faces I shall not see,
The murmuring voices will not reach me,
And where, O where will my spirit be,
Five minutes after I die?
 
The Bible says: ‘It is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment’ (Heb 9:27).
 
But, remember, The Passing Nature of Man stands in contrast with the
 
B. The Enduring Power of the Word of God
 
Peter reminds his readers that it was through the truth and power of the word of God that they had been brought to experience new birth – new life in Christ. Unlike natural generation which is by the perishable seed of men, they had been born again by regeneration through the imperishable seed of life eternal imparted by the life giving Spirit of God and, it was by the power of God’s truth and through hearing the gospel Peter’s readers were convicted of sin and converted to Christ. The Spirit of God is the source of life, the word of God the means by which sinners come believe the gospel.
 
Peter says two things about the word of God that explain why the gospel is so unique and so effective.
 
1. It is a Living Word v 23
As God is, so is His word. It is living and powerful. It is real and relevant. It convicts and converts. His word communicates His truth and carries His voice as He speaks to men through it. The word of man is like the nature of man. The word of God is like the nature of God:
 
The word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.  And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account (Heb 4:12-13).
 
May its message reach you? May its truth convict you? May its promise convert you?
 
2. It is an Abiding Word vs 23, 25
God spoke and wrote His word over a period of 1500 years through human means. The canon of scripture, all the inspired books of the Bible, was complete by around A.D. 95. Yet, from the 1st to the 21st century the Bible has remained the primary book of the centuries. Why is this? Because it speaks to the issues of life like nothing else does. Its message offers hope in a world of darkness and despair. It is evident that ‘when the chips are down’, as the Covid 19 pandemic has again demonstrated, that two things are universally important to people – life and hope.
 
The word of God endures or abides because it is true, more, it is the truth. Its message is unchanging. It can be depended on in time and for eternity. Peter tells his readers, having quoted from the prophet Isaiah, ‘now this is the word which by the gospel was preached to you’ (1 Peter 1:25). To put it another way, the gospel is the unchanging word of the LORD. It is His message of good news concerning salvation through Christ the only Saviour. It will not fail or let you down. No matter what happens it stands forever true and its promises are forever sure.
 
Jesus said: “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6). He is the truth, He is the centre of all that God has spoken, He is the message of the gospel which endures forever and will not alter irrespective of what men think, say or do.
 
The heart of the gospel is that Lord Jesus gave His life for others, you and me, and rose again from the dead. Isaiah, from whom Peter quotes, wrote of the Cross and its reason 700 years before it ever took place:
 
But He was wounded for our transgressions,
He was bruised for our iniquities;
The chastisement for our peace was upon Him,
And by His stripes we are healed.
All we like sheep have gone astray;
We have turned, every one, to his own way;
And the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.
                                                                                  Isaiah 53:5-6
 
Peter wrote based on the words of Isaiah 53 concerning the Lord Jesus: ‘Who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree’ (1 Peter 2:23).
 
Earlier in this very chapter he says:
 
Knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. He indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you who through Him believe in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God (1 Peter 1:18-21).
 
This is the enduring truth of the gospel. This is the message of the Cross. This is our only hope for eternity. The call of the gospel is – Believe and Live:
 
For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life (John 3:16).
 
AJC