1 Peter 1:24-25 – Endures
So
All flesh is like grass
Isaiah 40:6, 8
and all its glory like a flower in the field.
The grass has withered and the flower has fallen,
But the Word of our God lasts forever.1 Peter 1:24-25
This is the word which was proclaimed to you.
I’ve decided to change my way of selected texts for these meditations, but to continue writing meditations. First, I’m going to do these only Monday through Friday, with the option of skipping holidays. Second, Jody is going to send me passages she’d like me to comment on, and I’m going to meditate on those. Today’s passage is the second she’s sent me, after John 16:30-33 yesterday.
I formatted the text today to show just how much of this passage is actually a quotation taken from Isaiah 40:6 & 8. There it serves as part of the powerful introduction to what is sometimes called 2nd Isaiah. Up to this time we’ve been largely thinking about Judah around the time of Hezekiah, with some passages earlier and some later. In Isaiah 40 we are suddenly transported to the time of the exile and given the proclamation that Judah will return and be restored. This is God’s plan.
But one of the clearest messages of 2nd Isaiah is that this restoration is a work of God, and not an accomplishment of the people. People fail; God’s word endures and prevails. At a time when many of the people felt that God’s word had already failed, the message is proclaimed that God’s word is still powerful and will prevail.
We often quote this passage about the Bible. Everything else is temporary, but the Bible will last. This is one of those things that makes us feel very holy, because we can point to a book and call it the word of God. Then we hold something eternal in our hands. You may be getting tense as I speak disparagingly of such a view.
My intent here is not to minimize the value of the Bible, but rather to maximize the word of God. God’s word is not just the Bible. God’s word is what created everything. God’s word is what saves. God’s word is what acts from creation to new creation and even further, from eternity to eternity.
At the time these words were written, the New Testament had not taken form. Many of the books, probably most, had been written, but they had not been collected, and were not regarded as part of scripture as we would see it today.
This passage points to something else that is God’s word–the gospel message proclaimed to the recipients of this letter by which they had been converted. That message was that of a crucified and risen savior, and God’s Spirit empowering and giving life to the church.
You see, I don’t believe that we elevate the word of God when we try to limit it to written scripture. What we generally intend is to provide a standard against which people can judge ideas, something solid, something widely accepted, something we can know is God speaking. Its good to have the written word in the role of a core standard.
But all too often what we’re really doing is making sure that we have control of what the Word of God is doing. We want God’s word to be in our hands and under our control. People like me, who have studied the biblical languages can lord it over others by claiming to have a more accurate knowledge of God’s will due to our intellectual knowledge.
But God’s word is superior to church laws, doctrinal statements, administrative manuals, sermons, and claims to superior knowledge. God’s word is actually eternal, and when people abuse God’s word, when they turn the form into an idol, and make their interpretations into idols, God’s word will still stand.
It’s important that the events in view in the quoted passage come from the time of exile. You see, religious people had created a doctrine that gave them control over what God could do. They thought that Jerusalem and the temple could not be destroyed. If they were living near the temple, they would be safe.
The idol of a human interpretation of the text took over from the word of God, in this case presented by Jeremiah. Jeremiah challenged this view in Jeremiah 7, particularly verse 4, but the entire chapter makes the point.
Here in 1 Peter, we are being told that the gospel proclaimed was also God’s word, and that the gospel proclaimed was and is eternal.
We like organizations, structures, and documents that settle what the Bible means. Many churches have a history of starting out with a simple statement that they believe the Bible, and then they add doctrinal statements. Why? Because people see different things in the Bible, so they have to specify just how you’re supposed to understand your Bible.
Soon, verses are being judged against doctrinal statements and interpretations channeled into precise channels previously approved by the theologians.
But just like the grass and flowers in the field perish, so will everything that is not, in fact, eternal.
I want to encourage you to study the Bible, because there you will find God’s word. But spend your time primarily in going directly to scripture and not in letting others define you into a corner. There were good “scriptural” reasons not to accept Jesus as God’s son. Yet God’s word proclaimed him so. Read Hebrews 7 to see just how this works. In that chapter we see that Jesus, our High Priest, couldn’t be a priest according to the scripture of the time. Yet, Jesus became our High Priest, by which the author lets us know that God’s word stands forever, even if we have to change our understanding, our cherished understanding , in order to see what’s really going on.
What in God’s word has become withered and fallen because you’re clinging to the idolatry of your own opinions?
Let God move you past that dead ground and onto new, eternal ground.
