So, we find ourselves at the last section of 1 Peter 1. I want to say again how deeply helped I have been both at the revelation of my own heart and my need for grace, and just the growth of my confidence in the beauty of God's redeeming plan in 1 Peter.
We've really slowed down. We've done 21 editions of this Bible study just out of 1 Peter. Now, 1 Peter is 5 chapters; we're doing this for a year, so that's 52 of these. So, you're wondering if we're ever going to get done with 1 Peter? Well, we're going to take bigger chunks from here out.
I just thought that as Peter felt, these people are suffering, they're suffering mistreatment and misunderstanding, needing to celebrate the depth and completeness of God's work of redemption in His Son. And so, Peter packs a tremendous amount of gospel content in 25 verses. And there's a way in which the rest of 1 Peter is just, "Okay, how do I apply this gospel content in the context of the world that I'm now living in?" And Peter is very comprehensive in his applications, as we'll see.
Well, I want to talk about the permanence of God's Word. Let me begin by reading.
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.
We all know that some advice, some counsel gets outdated; it just doesn't apply as it once did. In fact, I don't know if you've ever seen this, but occasionally an article will come up on the internet with some old city laws that are still on the books. There are hilarious laws in Philadelphia that just don't make any sense anymore that, at one point in time, were important. But Peter wants us to know that's not true of God's Word. God's Word is eternal.
Now, that doesn't just mean that it will last forever; it means that it never fades, it's never out of date, it's never unwise. God's Word will have as much saving, transforming, guiding wisdom, way down the road, as it did when it was first written. But there's something else, if God's Word applies to every cultural setting of generation after generation, then what Peter is celebrating is not just its eternality, but its universality.
I have experienced that in my travel and ministry. It's amazing that I've never been in a culture where the Word of God didn't apply. I can remember telling a rather American story to a group of Indian believers, and I was sort of apologizing for the story. And at the end a lady came up to me at the break and said, "You don't have to apologize because, at the heart, we're all the same, and we all need the same thing." She's exactly right!
My confidence in the Word of God is, I pick it up and I know to whomever I'm going to go to it with, wherever I'm going to go, however old they are, however young they are, whatever culture they're in, this Word will always apply. And at the heart of that Word is the good news of salvation in Jesus Christ.
God's Word is eternal; it will never be outdated. It's universal; there will never be anyone in a cultural situation that won't need the redeeming gospel. That is the heart of God's Word. It is eternal-and that is the best of News!
