The Eternal Word of God
I have been loving this series going through 1 Peter. 1 Peter has always been one of my favorite books in the Bible. One of the things I appreciate about 1 Peter is that Peter does not sugarcoat anything. One section of the book that always stands out to me is 1 Peter 1:24-25,
“For all flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flowers of grass. The grass withers and the flower falls, but the word of the Lord remains forever.” (ESV)
Peter gets right to the point. He reminds us that the things of this world come and go, comparing them to the grass of the field. Have you ever tried to maintain grass in the high desert? It’s a feat all of its own! You have to constantly water it and if left unattended those pesky cotton tail rabbits will gobble it all up. Grass is very fragile. Are faith, like the grass of the field, can also be fragile if we don’t nurture it and feed it, much like grass. However, Peter lays out what we need to mature and strengthen our faith, the Word of God.
“But the word of the Lord remains forever.”
There are two things I would like to point out in this section of scripture. The first is this. The word of God is what feeds and sustains our faith for as long as we live. It is so easy for us to turn to other things in this world to fill our needs. Humanity has done this throughout time. The Israelites say the presence of God and heard his thunderous power at Mount Sanai and yet they chose to make their own God by building a golden calf, and that lead to their destruction. If they had trusted and held firm to the Word of God the story would have ended differently. It is important for us to immerse ourselves in God’s word day in and day out. For myself, this can sometimes be tough. One way I stay engaged in the Word of God is by using a good, theologically sound devotional to supplement my Bible Reading. I’ll list a couple of those at the end of this post.
The second thing I want to point out in this passage is the timeless and authoritative nature of Scripture. Let’s read that passage again.
“For all flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flowers of grass. The grass withers and the flower falls, but the word of the Lord remains forever.” (ESV)
The Word of the Lord remains forever. That means the Word of God, the Bible, is still as much the authoritative Word today as it was back when Peter wrote this letter. The Bible never goes out of date. Its words are never nullified by the culture or society that we live in today. It speaks and holds authority over all things. Government, LGBTQ+, racism, morality, all these things are spoken to in the Bible. And here’s the thing, whatever the Bible says about these things remains forever. They never change. How do we know it holds the final authority over all things? Because Scripture says so.
“All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness.” (2 Tim 3:16).
If all Scripture is breathed out by God (spoken by God), then those words remain forever and have authority over our lives throughout time and through all eternity. Why is that? Because if God is eternal (John 1:1-3, Psalm 90:2) then that means so are His words.
My point is this, it’s so important to stay plugged into God’s word. It’s what gives us life in our day to day walk. It’s what gives us answers to societies biggest issues. It’s what gives us comfort and hope in our afflictions. His word never fails. My encouragement to you is two things. First, stay in God’s word every day. Second, never takes society’s word over God’s word. Remember what Peter said,
“For all flesh (what the world tells us) is like grass and all its glory like the flowers of grass. The grass withers and the flower falls, but the word of the Lord remains forever.” (ESV)
Resources:
My Utmost for His Highest – Oswald Chambers
New Morning Mercies: A Daily Gospel Devotional – Paul David Tripp
Daily Strength: A Devotional for Men
https://www.crossway.org/books/daily-strength-hcj/
Daily Joy: A Devotional for Women
https://www.crossway.org/books/daily-joy-hcj/