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Plainly Speaking
with Karl J. Forehand
The
Living Word
(1 Peter 1:22-2:3)
by Karl J. Forehand
Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you
have sincere love for your brothers, love one another deeply, from the heart.
For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable,
through the living and enduring word of God. For, "All men are like
grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass
withers and the flowers fall, but the word of the Lord stands
forever." (1 Peter 1:22-25a)
In
Washington, D.C. is a place called
the Bureau of Standards. There you
will find the perfect inch, the perfect yard, the perfect pound, etc. All other measurement get their standard
from these measurements. We have an
ultimate standard in the Word of God.
It is our ultimate standard.
My
professor used to say, “The only two things that endure are the Word of God
and the souls of men.” The Word of
God is not just the standard of the day – it is the eternal standard. It was given first by the prophets (Heb.
1:1) – then the Word became flesh, in Jesus Christ, and dwelt among us. Now we have the Holy Spirit and a complete
revelation of God’s Word.
God’s
Word is eternal. What are some things
we notice from this passage?
- The Word Saves Forever
Nicodemus asked Jesus, “What must I do to be saved?” (John 3). Jesus told him, “You must be born again
(anothem).” Anothem means “from above.”
We must be born from above.
Everything on earth corrupts and decays. We must be born again with something that will never
decay. What is eternal? The Word of God is eternal. God is eternal and His seed is
eternal. The Word of God recreates us
by eternity into eternity.
What is
the reason that He saves us? Is it
simply so that we can have fire insurance (not going to hell). Is it just so we can enjoy heaven? Certainly if we put our trust in Christ,
we will have eternal life and never perish (John 5:24). Certainly, in Christ, we will have fire
insurance. But did God just intend
that we get our fire insurance and be miserable until we die and go to
heaven. This passage says
different. It says we have purified
ourselves for “a sincere love of the brethren.”
I
believe God intended for us not just to get fire insurance, but also to
understand God’s love for us and demonstrate that love to others. He wants us to love “deeply” or
“fervently” with a sincere heart.
We are born from eternal seed by
the eternal Word of God into eternity.
1 John 5:11-12 says, “And the witness is this, that God has given us
eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has the life;
he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life.” We have the life
– it is eternal – we must act like it.
God’s eternal Wod saves forever, but also:
- The Word
Lives forever
Zao is a
Greek word that means, “to be warm, to be alive.” The writer of Hebrews said, “The Word of God is living
and active…” (Heb. 4:12). All other
literature can eventually be evaluated and exhausted. If we were to lecture on any other book
long enough, we would eventually run out of things to talk about. The Word of God is not like that.
God’s
Word still makes old scholars say “Wow!”
Why can it still “wow” scholars that have studied it for decades? Because it is alive.
- The Word Abides forever
It is
one thing for my mother-in-law to be alive.
It’s a totally different thing for her to live with me. Abide means “to continue to be
present.” I love my mother in law – I
hope she lives a long life – I’m happy to have her come visit me. But, after about three days, I would have
to say, “Why is she continuing to be present here?” It’s great that the Word of God is alive; but it is even better
that it will always be alive and can “abide” WITH us.
When we
memorize Scripture – and hide it in our hearts – and let God apply it to our
lives – it literally abides with us.
We have to have God’s answers to our problems. We have to have an answer for our
accusers. We have to have answers for
people’s questions. Those things come
from the Word of God. We need more than
it to be alive, we need it to abide and abide forever.
God’s eternal Wod saves forever, it lives forever
and abides forever. It also:
- The Word Endures Forever
God’s
Word has seen many attacks.
Diodetian, the Emperor of Rome in A.D. 303, determined to destroy
every copy of the Word of God. He
also purposed to slay any owner of such a copy. Over one burned copy, he erected a statue with the inscription
“Extincto Momeme Christianorum” (The Name of Christ is extinct). His proclamation was incorrect. His successor, Constantine, replaced all
pagan influence in the area just nine years later.
John
Wycliffe, who translated the Word of God into English, was burned at the
stake with a copy of God’s Word around his neck. His ashes were spread across the River Swift. As his ashes flowed first into the River,
then into the Avon and the Severn, then eventually out to the Sea (which
touches the seven continents of the world – in much the same way his
translations were already headed there.
In 1799,
Voltaire boldly exclaimed, “One hundred years from my day there will not be a
Bible in all the earth except one that is looked upon by antiquian curiosity
seekers.” One hundred years later,
Voltaire’s work sold for 11 cents in Paris, while a copy of the Word of God
(the Codex Simaiticus) sold for $500,000.
He was obviously wrong too.
The Word
of God lives on. The poet exclaimed
it this way:
Last eve I passed beside the
blacksmith's door
And heard the anvil ring the vespers
chimes
Then looking in I saw upon the floor
Old hammers worn out with beating years
of time
"How many anvils have you
had?" said I.
To wear and beat all these hammers so?
"Just one," said he and then
with twinkling eye
"The anvil wears the hammers out
you know.
And so I thought, the anvil of God's
Word
For ages skeptics' blows have beat upon,
Yet, though the noise of falling blows
were heard
The anvil is unharmed, the hammers are
gone.
-
John Clifford
The grass withers, but the
Word of God endures…
God’s
Word does save forever – it lives, abides and endures forever. But what is
our response? Thank you for
asking.
like newborn babes, long for the pure
milk of the word, that by it you may grow in respect to salvation, if you
have tasted the kindness of the Lord. (1 Peter 2:2-3)
They
have many names; but I call them “no-bake” cookies. They are made of oatmeal, cocoa, sugar and sometimes peanut
butter. I can eat myself into a
sugar coma when I taste these wonderful cookies. I simply love them.
No-bake cookies are so good, I have to take my shoes off to wiggle my
toes around. If there are 10 of them
in front of me, I will eventually eat all 10 and want more.
During
the summer, when it’s less likely that we have baked goods, I don’t see my
favorite cookie much. Often, around
Christmas time, when I first notice them at a gathering, I may even walk by
them. Why would I do that? Well, during the summer, I forget what
they taste like. One taste is all it
takes; but because I haven’t tasted them, I foget.
The
“milk” of the Word must be a steady diet for us. We can’t ignore it and forget what it tastes like – we need a
steady diet. Have you ever let your
Bible sit in your car for a full week after church. If you have, then you are asking your pastor to force feed you
His food. Why not read, study,
meditate and interact with the Word all week – then you can share in your
pastor’s rejoicing this Sunday.
You’ll be surprised how “in sync” the two of you are when you’ve both
been in the word.
I can
almost hear you saying “Yeah, yeah, yeah Pastor Karl. I already know this.” My friend used to say, “Knowing and not
doing is the same as not knowing.”
Are you daily studying God’s Word?
Do you think about it throughout your day? And maybe the biggest question – here it comes – are you living
it??
Karl J. Forehand, 2001
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