"For you have been born again not of seed which is corruptible/perishable but incorruptible/imperishable, that is, through the living and enduring Word of God. For, 'All flesh is grass, and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls off, but the Word of the Lord endures forever.' And this is the Word which was preached as good news to you." (1 Peter 1:23-25, NASB)
There is a very real sense in which our text is foundational to, "the Faith of Jesus," or as some call it, Christianity. These Words reveal the contrast between the, "....perishable... grass,.." and, "The Enduring Word of God...." The reality of These Words has affected and determined the history of the human race.
I was looking at my Kindle list today, and some might find it a sort of personality insight. There are quite a few books on Germany of the early Twentieth Century. Now some would attribute this to just some old guy interested in war movies, or a morbid curiosity of totalitarians who had brief moments of military glory, or whatever one's psychological "prowess" might be. Whatever, the Germany which arguably manifested the worst evil the world has ever seen is a fascination to me, perhaps for one reason at least, it was/is a Western Culture, one of which I am a product as well as much of the United States of America.
I come back to the question which William Shirer asked many years ago. "How did it happen that an ancient and cultured people, steeped in Christianity, cultivating the arts and sciences, preeminent in modern technology, who gave us Luther and Kant, Bach and Beethoven, Goethe and Einstein, collapsed into savage barbarism in the mid Twentieth Century?" He went on to say that in looking at these questions and studying this period, we not only gain a greater knowledge of the Germans, but also of ourselves." I can tell you that the more I read of this period of history, its "climate," the atmosphere in Germany of that period, the more I see how what happened in Germany between 1919 and 1945 can happen anywhere to any people. At the risk of sounding presumptuous, the answer to Shirer's question is that most of the "christianity" of Germany, as has been true of most nations throughout history, was/is of, "the seed...corruptible/perishable."
Peter, tells us that we are, "born again...through the Living and Enduring Word of God." There is just no other "answer" for humanity, no religion, no philosophy, politics, nothing can bring us into, "fellowship/partnership," in the Godhead, impart the peace and fulfillment which all crave other than, "....born again...through the Living and Enduring Word of God." All who surrender their lives to Jesus Christ are born out of sin, darkness, decay and the evil which affects all humanity, "into the glorious liberty of the Children of God." Only the New Birth, which from beginning to end is surrender to Jesus Christ, can, "deliver us from the Evil One." Everything anyone does apart from Jesus Christ is simply, "....like the flower of the grass...." Everything done in Jesus Christ, "....endures forever."
Father, in Jesus' Name, I freely confess that I am, "....grass, and...like the flower of grass." Thank You for taking this withering grass and imparting You, "the Living and Enduring Word of God," into my very being. Amen.
When Peter, an 18 year old Norwegian, "heard the call to evangelize China, on that day he not only emptied his wallet into the collection plate, but included a small note with the words, 'and my life.'"
Hebrews 12:2
Hebrews 12:2
