1 Peter 1:24-25 For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away. But the word of the Lord endureth forever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you.
Yes my Friends, that’s how Peter concludes the first chapter of his general letter ‘to the strangers scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia.’ (vs.1) He’s calling out to them to dedicate themselves to Christ, using an analogy proclaimed by Isaiah long before. ‘ And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together; for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it. And the voice said, Cry. And he said, What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field. The grass withereth, the flower fadeth; because the spirit of the Lord bloweth upon it: surely the people is grass.’ (Is.40:5-7) There’s no doubt about that people, mankind is very fragile, easily damaged, and our life span is also short. Isaiah put it in terms simple folk could understand, and Peter reiterated it. ‘For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of the grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away.’ At no time in history has that been ever more appropriate than now. That scenario is played out everyday, where men rise to power, to stardom, or some such exalted position in a bright burst of glory; brilliant academic treatises, physical accomplishments of heroic proportions, or leadership capabilities that take us by storm, and they ride the crest of that wave of popularity, until some achilles heel is discovered and they plummet from glory in scorn and disdain. Then they become has beens, which our fickle society has no time for. ‘Man that is born of a woman is of few days, and full of trouble. He cometh forth like a flower, and is cut down: he fleeth also as a shadow, and continueth not.’ (Job 14:1-2) What an apt description! But Friends, there’s no need to despair over our short life spans and even shorter time in the limelight, those things are not important. The really important things last. ‘But the word of the Lord endureth forever.’ Yes my brethren, ‘The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand forever.’ (Is.40:8) That means the best thing to hang on to in this scary, wicked world is God’s word, cause it’s all that’s guaranteed to last forever. And Peter drives home this point, reassuring the ‘strangers’ by concluding, ‘And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you.’ Letting them know in no uncertain terms that’s the Lord’s word rules the universe, and obeying it is the only sure way to find true peace and comfort. ‘Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God.’ (Is.40:1) The Lord instructed Isaiah to begin that chapter with a call of reassurance to His people. Peter is trying to communicate the same thing to the newly minted Christians: worldly things won’t last, only the Word of God, so they should not put their trust in stuff that will rot and tarnish, but in the powerful, promising, everlasting pronouncements of the Most High God Jehovah. Why? Because, ‘In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was in God. The same was in the beginning with God.’ (John 1:1-2) And that hasn’t changed one iota people, meaning that those same values still apply to us today. The Word of God is the only thing worth clinging to in this life, since ‘All things were made by him, and without him was not anything made that was made.’ (John 1:3) Like all the things we buy that come with instructions on how to use or assemble them; the best people to tell us how, are those who created or made them. The same logic applies to our God; He created the world and all therein, so His instructions on how to conduct ourselves within it are obviously going to be the best. So let’s forego all the worldly garbage that man throws at us, on the enemy’s behalf. If it doesn’t jive with God’s Word, then it’s not of God, and we ought not to get caught up in it. Simple as that. Remember, the things of the world are fickle and foundation less, are here today, but gone tomorrow; whereas, ‘The Word of the Lord endureth forever.’ That’s what we must study, build and regulate our lives upon. Much LOVE!…only the Word Friends…only the Word…can set us free…
Yes my Friends, that’s how Peter concludes the first chapter of his general letter ‘to the strangers scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia.’ (vs.1) He’s calling out to them to dedicate themselves to Christ, using an analogy proclaimed by Isaiah long before. ‘ And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together; for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it. And the voice said, Cry. And he said, What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field. The grass withereth, the flower fadeth; because the spirit of the Lord bloweth upon it: surely the people is grass.’ (Is.40:5-7) There’s no doubt about that people, mankind is very fragile, easily damaged, and our life span is also short. Isaiah put it in terms simple folk could understand, and Peter reiterated it. ‘For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of the grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away.’ At no time in history has that been ever more appropriate than now. That scenario is played out everyday, where men rise to power, to stardom, or some such exalted position in a bright burst of glory; brilliant academic treatises, physical accomplishments of heroic proportions, or leadership capabilities that take us by storm, and they ride the crest of that wave of popularity, until some achilles heel is discovered and they plummet from glory in scorn and disdain. Then they become has beens, which our fickle society has no time for. ‘Man that is born of a woman is of few days, and full of trouble. He cometh forth like a flower, and is cut down: he fleeth also as a shadow, and continueth not.’ (Job 14:1-2) What an apt description! But Friends, there’s no need to despair over our short life spans and even shorter time in the limelight, those things are not important. The really important things last. ‘But the word of the Lord endureth forever.’ Yes my brethren, ‘The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand forever.’ (Is.40:8) That means the best thing to hang on to in this scary, wicked world is God’s word, cause it’s all that’s guaranteed to last forever. And Peter drives home this point, reassuring the ‘strangers’ by concluding, ‘And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you.’ Letting them know in no uncertain terms that’s the Lord’s word rules the universe, and obeying it is the only sure way to find true peace and comfort. ‘Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God.’ (Is.40:1) The Lord instructed Isaiah to begin that chapter with a call of reassurance to His people. Peter is trying to communicate the same thing to the newly minted Christians: worldly things won’t last, only the Word of God, so they should not put their trust in stuff that will rot and tarnish, but in the powerful, promising, everlasting pronouncements of the Most High God Jehovah. Why? Because, ‘In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was in God. The same was in the beginning with God.’ (John 1:1-2) And that hasn’t changed one iota people, meaning that those same values still apply to us today. The Word of God is the only thing worth clinging to in this life, since ‘All things were made by him, and without him was not anything made that was made.’ (John 1:3) Like all the things we buy that come with instructions on how to use or assemble them; the best people to tell us how, are those who created or made them. The same logic applies to our God; He created the world and all therein, so His instructions on how to conduct ourselves within it are obviously going to be the best. So let’s forego all the worldly garbage that man throws at us, on the enemy’s behalf. If it doesn’t jive with God’s Word, then it’s not of God, and we ought not to get caught up in it. Simple as that. Remember, the things of the world are fickle and foundation less, are here today, but gone tomorrow; whereas, ‘The Word of the Lord endureth forever.’ That’s what we must study, build and regulate our lives upon. Much LOVE!…only the Word Friends…only the Word…can set us free…
SCRIP-BITS 