MONDAY August 21st
1 Peter 1:22–25
‘. . . since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God; for “All flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls, but the word of the Lord remains forever.” And this word is the good news that was preached to you.’
In the closing verses of this first chapter, Peter reminds us that we have been born again as a result of the living and abiding word of God, he clarifies it further in the last verse, ‘and this word is the good news that was preached to you’.
You will have heard me often say as to how valuable and important the word of God should be to each one of us, and we should learn to appreciate its value even more in the days in which we are living in when all around us demonic forces are at work to undermine what truth really is. God himself is truth, the Lord Jesus Christ is truth and Gods word is truth. The gospel which we have heard and responded to is truth.
The word of God is so important that while everything else will come crashing down, or will wither and fall as Peter puts it, the word of the Lord will remain forever (v25).
Peter also tells us that the word of God is living, just think for a moment then, of all the books that this world has seen published and which you or I can hold in our hands there is not a single one of them of which it can be said that they are living! It can only be said of the word of God and the Hebrew writer says ‘For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.’
What a wonderful book that has come from a wonderful God who truly has done wonderful things for us through the Lord Jesus Christ. Oh how much we need to treasure this book for its pages unfold to us the wonderful story of redemption and through it we learn what the gospel is all about and come to be born again.
O wonderful, wonderful Word of the Lord!
True wisdom its pages unfold;
And though we may read them a thousand times o’er,
They never, no never, grow old!
Each line hath a treasure, each promise a pearl,
That all if they will may secure;
And we know that when time and the world pass away,
God’s Word shall forever endure.
O wonderful, wonderful Word of the Lord!
The lamp that our Father above
So kindly has lighted to teach us the way
That leads to the arms of His love!
Its warnings, its counsels, are faithful and just;
Its judgments are perfect and pure;
And we know that when time and the world pass away,
God’s Word shall forever endure.
O wonderful, wonderful Word of the Lord!
Our only salvation is there;
It carries conviction down deep in the heart,
And shows us ourselves as we are.
It tells of a Saviour, and points to the cross,
Where pardon we now may secure;
For we know that when time and the world pass away,
God’s Word shall forever endure.
O wonderful, wonderful Word of the Lord!
The hope of our friends in the past;
Its truth, where so firmly they anchored their trust,
Through ages eternal shall last.
O wonderful, wonderful Word of the Lord!
Unchanging, abiding and sure;
For we know that when time and the world pass away,
God’s Word shall forever endure.
Julia Sterling CCLI 788682