'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.
1 Peter 1:24,25
In the first chapter, Peter begins by saying “blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ” and goes on to speak of our great salvation, inheritance, and the faith that will make our hope a reality. He encourages his readers to hold fast to the grace that God has given freely to them, abstaining from the passions of their former lives. He calls his readers to be holy just as God Himself is holy. Peter also speaks of the precious blood of Christ as that from a lamb without spot or blemish, the perfect and all encompassing sacrifice; once for all.
Then we come to the context in which the above verse lies. Peter says in verse 23 that we are now of an imperishable seed through the living and in dwelt Word of God. He exhorts them to live a life of obedience that displays the triumphant victory for all the saints in Christ Jesus.
All flesh is like grass. Last time I checked, grass didn’t last very long. It doesn’t do well in extreme heat or extreme cold. It grows quickly with water and nourishment but then fades in dry conditions. I guess it would be fitting to say that rain is grass’s grace. Without the rain, the grass will wither and die. Without rain, the seed wouldn’t grow at all.
So how is our flesh like this grass? We grow quickly with food (some more quickly than others). Most of us don’t like extreme temperatures any more than grass does, which is why we invented air conditioning, I suppose. Our rain is the grace of God. Without God’s grace, we would not have a possibility of existence. To think that anyone’s life has ever been a surprise to God is just silly! Grace really is like rain. Praise God that He extends so much grace that we could live and experience everything that He calls good.
All it’s glory is like the flower of the grass. And we thought that grass had a short lifetime. Now God is saying that the beauty of the grass, the pinnacle of its existence, is its flower. I love flowers. I think they are beautiful and fragrant. I do, however, have a complaint. They don’t last very long! They wither even faster than grass does!
So what is the glory of the flesh? A big brick house? A shiny red Ferrari? Perhaps something more noble like a best-selling book or starting a foster home. Maybe it is a beautiful family or a family heirloom. Maybe it is solid gold. Regardless, the point that Peter is making as he references this Old Testament passage is this: the glory of that which perishes will also perish. The flesh can strive for all of these great self-gratifying things, but in the end it won’t matter at all. The car one drove, the family one had, the gold bricks stored up. None of it will matter when we die. Maybe you want to argue that knowledge will last. That is man’s purpose...to become knowledgeable of himself and his existence. Let’s see what the wisest man (other than Christ) who ever lived has to say at the end of his life.
The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.
Ecclesiastes 12:13
Solomon had everything he could ever possibly want. He had wives and concubines and riches and palaces and servants and delicious food and power and respect. He had it made except for the fact that all of these things were only as long-lasting as he was alive to enjoy them. What then? What about when we die? What about all of the things that we spent a lifetime chasing after?
There is nothing that now exists on this planet that will be left when the Day of the Lord arrives. Think about eternity. How long can you imagine it to be before your mind just goes numb from trying to grasp it? Now think of the insignificant difference between trying to preserve a banana verses a bar of gold. In an existence that is coming to and end and will be replaced by one that goes on for eternity, is a perishing piece of fruit any different from a perishing precious metal? No! It all will pass away just like we will.
But the Word of the Lord remains forever. Even just reading that gives me chills.
God’s Word says that whoever believes in Jesus Christ will not perish but have eternal life. God’s Word says that those who are in Christ are sealed with the promised Holy Spirit who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we take possession of it. God’s Word says that we are saved by grace through faith in Christ and that it is a free gift of the Father. God’s Word says that we are adopted sons and daughters and fellow heirs of the Kingdom of God with God’s only Son, Jesus Christ!
God has spoken all of these things and so many more. And guess what? His Word will never perish. His Son has made sure of that by coming down from Heaven and taking our debt upon Himself and paying the price of sin. Just as He exists forever, so also will His glory exist forever.
1 Corinthians 11:7 tells us that man is the image and glory of God. So God’s will is that man exist forever along with Christ our Lord. Unfortunately, man’s sin has changed our nature from one of love to one of hate, from one of life to one of death. Since this is the case, God necessarily had to step down and save us from our own destruction. We have inherited the sin of Adam. As adopted sons, we share in the inheritance of God’s own Son. As sons of Adam, we inherit his sin. Sin leads to death. With or apart from Jesus, our flesh is like the grass. It is withering and dying.
There is only one remedy: faith in Jesus Christ. The only way to gain life is by admitting that we can’t gain it. It requires total reliance on Jesus Christ to fulfill the word that He has spoken. If He doesn’t fulfill His Word, we’re all dead, every last one of us. We have all fallen short of the glory of God. We have dishonored Him; we have mocked Him. We have turned our backs on the only true source of love that we will ever know. We deserve to be punished.
But God sees it otherwise. He loves us so much that He keeps no records of wrongs. He loves us so much that He will continue to pursue each and every one of us until the day we die in hopes that we will repent and return to the life God desires for us. And while He pursues us, He blesses us with a beautiful planet with so many wonderful things to see and do. What grace! This is my God! My first love! The One whom I know personally and intimately and desire to know even more every day. He’s so wonderful. Do you really know Him? He wants you to know Him as completely as He knows you.
Perhaps there is now the question “if our flesh is passing away, how do we live forever?” We are resurrected just like Jesus Christ was resurrected. Let’s look at
1 Corinthians 15:42-45 for a better understanding.
So is it with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable. It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power. It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. Thus it is written, ‘the first man Adam became a living being’; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit.
In the same way that a seed must die for a plant to grow, we also must die to bring forth new life. This is why our bodies groan. This is why we are weary. Deep down we know that we weren’t meant for this. It can’t be all there is. We are too rational, too advanced for this to be all that life is. “Life’s a trip and then you die.” How foolish and dishonest.
Deep down, we know the truth. We know there is a God. We know He is so much beyond what we can comprehend. So we put Him in a box. We make our best efforts to define who God is and what He demands of us to be appeased with our puny little lives. We create all these means of being enlightened and seeing God. We think that we can conjure up the meaning of life and become wise and achieve nirvana or oneness with God. Or we say, there is God in all of us. All of us who cheat on our taxes or have abortions or start wars...God is in us. We’re all good people. I’m not as bad as that guy over there.
Remember that infinity idea? Now apply it to an all-knowing God who is completely righteous in every way. In fact, God is righteousness. Do you think that He compares humans to each other? Does He set a percentage scale of good works vs. bad works and if you meet the mark, you go to Heaven? Does He grade on a curve? How would we even know if this were the case? What does this really do for us? It temporarily satisfies our unending search for the truth. It makes us comfortable living in our own little world without fear of being stretched by the notion of a God who really is in control of everything. God forbid that we would ever admit to not being able to understand something that is bigger than ourselves. Will we even admit that there is anything out there bigger than ourselves? If there is, then He/She/It must be more important than us! It would not make sense for Michaelangelo to say that the Sistene Chapel is greater than he is. The created will never be greater than the Creator.
The truth is that we all know there is a God that we will answer to. We know that we can’t possibly create a system that will indicate what we have to do to make God happy with us. The created cannot define the Creator. Just because the Creator may seem intimidating and even unloving does not mean that He is. Our opinions do not define my God! Our bitterness and resentment and hate do not define my God!
Let me tell you about my God. He loves you. He loves you so much that He sent His only Son to earth to die for your sins. The one thing He desires more than anything is a relationship with you. A relationship that defies reason. A relationship that becomes millions of times more precious than every ounce of gold on this planet. A relationship built on reality. Imagine, the God of everything pursuing you and desiring this relationship with you, His creation. He doesn’t need to. You don’t add a single thing to His existence. But He loves you. And He wants to teach you how to love Him and love other people.
For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.
John 3:16
Love. Crazy Love. True Love. God.
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.
1 Peter 1:24,25
In the first chapter, Peter begins by saying “blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ” and goes on to speak of our great salvation, inheritance, and the faith that will make our hope a reality. He encourages his readers to hold fast to the grace that God has given freely to them, abstaining from the passions of their former lives. He calls his readers to be holy just as God Himself is holy. Peter also speaks of the precious blood of Christ as that from a lamb without spot or blemish, the perfect and all encompassing sacrifice; once for all.
Then we come to the context in which the above verse lies. Peter says in verse 23 that we are now of an imperishable seed through the living and in dwelt Word of God. He exhorts them to live a life of obedience that displays the triumphant victory for all the saints in Christ Jesus.
All flesh is like grass. Last time I checked, grass didn’t last very long. It doesn’t do well in extreme heat or extreme cold. It grows quickly with water and nourishment but then fades in dry conditions. I guess it would be fitting to say that rain is grass’s grace. Without the rain, the grass will wither and die. Without rain, the seed wouldn’t grow at all.
So how is our flesh like this grass? We grow quickly with food (some more quickly than others). Most of us don’t like extreme temperatures any more than grass does, which is why we invented air conditioning, I suppose. Our rain is the grace of God. Without God’s grace, we would not have a possibility of existence. To think that anyone’s life has ever been a surprise to God is just silly! Grace really is like rain. Praise God that He extends so much grace that we could live and experience everything that He calls good.
All it’s glory is like the flower of the grass. And we thought that grass had a short lifetime. Now God is saying that the beauty of the grass, the pinnacle of its existence, is its flower. I love flowers. I think they are beautiful and fragrant. I do, however, have a complaint. They don’t last very long! They wither even faster than grass does!
So what is the glory of the flesh? A big brick house? A shiny red Ferrari? Perhaps something more noble like a best-selling book or starting a foster home. Maybe it is a beautiful family or a family heirloom. Maybe it is solid gold. Regardless, the point that Peter is making as he references this Old Testament passage is this: the glory of that which perishes will also perish. The flesh can strive for all of these great self-gratifying things, but in the end it won’t matter at all. The car one drove, the family one had, the gold bricks stored up. None of it will matter when we die. Maybe you want to argue that knowledge will last. That is man’s purpose...to become knowledgeable of himself and his existence. Let’s see what the wisest man (other than Christ) who ever lived has to say at the end of his life.
The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.
Ecclesiastes 12:13
Solomon had everything he could ever possibly want. He had wives and concubines and riches and palaces and servants and delicious food and power and respect. He had it made except for the fact that all of these things were only as long-lasting as he was alive to enjoy them. What then? What about when we die? What about all of the things that we spent a lifetime chasing after?
There is nothing that now exists on this planet that will be left when the Day of the Lord arrives. Think about eternity. How long can you imagine it to be before your mind just goes numb from trying to grasp it? Now think of the insignificant difference between trying to preserve a banana verses a bar of gold. In an existence that is coming to and end and will be replaced by one that goes on for eternity, is a perishing piece of fruit any different from a perishing precious metal? No! It all will pass away just like we will.
But the Word of the Lord remains forever. Even just reading that gives me chills.
God’s Word says that whoever believes in Jesus Christ will not perish but have eternal life. God’s Word says that those who are in Christ are sealed with the promised Holy Spirit who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we take possession of it. God’s Word says that we are saved by grace through faith in Christ and that it is a free gift of the Father. God’s Word says that we are adopted sons and daughters and fellow heirs of the Kingdom of God with God’s only Son, Jesus Christ!
God has spoken all of these things and so many more. And guess what? His Word will never perish. His Son has made sure of that by coming down from Heaven and taking our debt upon Himself and paying the price of sin. Just as He exists forever, so also will His glory exist forever.
1 Corinthians 11:7 tells us that man is the image and glory of God. So God’s will is that man exist forever along with Christ our Lord. Unfortunately, man’s sin has changed our nature from one of love to one of hate, from one of life to one of death. Since this is the case, God necessarily had to step down and save us from our own destruction. We have inherited the sin of Adam. As adopted sons, we share in the inheritance of God’s own Son. As sons of Adam, we inherit his sin. Sin leads to death. With or apart from Jesus, our flesh is like the grass. It is withering and dying.
There is only one remedy: faith in Jesus Christ. The only way to gain life is by admitting that we can’t gain it. It requires total reliance on Jesus Christ to fulfill the word that He has spoken. If He doesn’t fulfill His Word, we’re all dead, every last one of us. We have all fallen short of the glory of God. We have dishonored Him; we have mocked Him. We have turned our backs on the only true source of love that we will ever know. We deserve to be punished.
But God sees it otherwise. He loves us so much that He keeps no records of wrongs. He loves us so much that He will continue to pursue each and every one of us until the day we die in hopes that we will repent and return to the life God desires for us. And while He pursues us, He blesses us with a beautiful planet with so many wonderful things to see and do. What grace! This is my God! My first love! The One whom I know personally and intimately and desire to know even more every day. He’s so wonderful. Do you really know Him? He wants you to know Him as completely as He knows you.
Perhaps there is now the question “if our flesh is passing away, how do we live forever?” We are resurrected just like Jesus Christ was resurrected. Let’s look at
1 Corinthians 15:42-45 for a better understanding.
So is it with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable. It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power. It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. Thus it is written, ‘the first man Adam became a living being’; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit.
In the same way that a seed must die for a plant to grow, we also must die to bring forth new life. This is why our bodies groan. This is why we are weary. Deep down we know that we weren’t meant for this. It can’t be all there is. We are too rational, too advanced for this to be all that life is. “Life’s a trip and then you die.” How foolish and dishonest.
Deep down, we know the truth. We know there is a God. We know He is so much beyond what we can comprehend. So we put Him in a box. We make our best efforts to define who God is and what He demands of us to be appeased with our puny little lives. We create all these means of being enlightened and seeing God. We think that we can conjure up the meaning of life and become wise and achieve nirvana or oneness with God. Or we say, there is God in all of us. All of us who cheat on our taxes or have abortions or start wars...God is in us. We’re all good people. I’m not as bad as that guy over there.
Remember that infinity idea? Now apply it to an all-knowing God who is completely righteous in every way. In fact, God is righteousness. Do you think that He compares humans to each other? Does He set a percentage scale of good works vs. bad works and if you meet the mark, you go to Heaven? Does He grade on a curve? How would we even know if this were the case? What does this really do for us? It temporarily satisfies our unending search for the truth. It makes us comfortable living in our own little world without fear of being stretched by the notion of a God who really is in control of everything. God forbid that we would ever admit to not being able to understand something that is bigger than ourselves. Will we even admit that there is anything out there bigger than ourselves? If there is, then He/She/It must be more important than us! It would not make sense for Michaelangelo to say that the Sistene Chapel is greater than he is. The created will never be greater than the Creator.
The truth is that we all know there is a God that we will answer to. We know that we can’t possibly create a system that will indicate what we have to do to make God happy with us. The created cannot define the Creator. Just because the Creator may seem intimidating and even unloving does not mean that He is. Our opinions do not define my God! Our bitterness and resentment and hate do not define my God!
Let me tell you about my God. He loves you. He loves you so much that He sent His only Son to earth to die for your sins. The one thing He desires more than anything is a relationship with you. A relationship that defies reason. A relationship that becomes millions of times more precious than every ounce of gold on this planet. A relationship built on reality. Imagine, the God of everything pursuing you and desiring this relationship with you, His creation. He doesn’t need to. You don’t add a single thing to His existence. But He loves you. And He wants to teach you how to love Him and love other people.
For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.
John 3:16
Love. Crazy Love. True Love. God.
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