1 Peter 1:24-25

1 Peter 1:24–25 KJV (WS)

24 For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away: 25 But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you.

Review

We are called to love.

Brotherly love because we have things in common.

Agape love because we have significant differences.

This love is an impossible task unless we are given new life.

Christians have this new life.

We have received it through the incorruptible seed of God which is the Bible.

Introduction

This isn’t the end of the story, though.

We have the command.

We have new life.

We should be able to love each other the way God expects us to.

Why is it then, that we so often fail to live up to this expectation?

To help us understand this struggle, Peter turns to the Old Testament.

In our passage, Peter quotes Is 40:6-8.

Isaiah 40:6–8 “6 The voice said, Cry. And he said, What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field: 7 The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: because the spirit of the Lord bloweth upon it: surely the people is grass. 8 The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever.”

Peter reminds us of these words so that we will see a contrast between the efforts of man versus the efforts of God..

All natural life is as grass.

Grass is so fragile.

A child can pull it out of the ground.

If it gets too hot, it dries out.

If it get’s too cold it goes into hibernation.

Too dry? Dead

Too wet? Dead

Grass is meant to be walked on.

Grass is eaten by the animals.

Grass is at the bottom of the plant life hierarchy.

Which you rather be compared to?

Grass

Redwood

Isaiah admits that the flesh is capable of producing goodliness.

The flowers of the field are beautiful when they bloom, but they do not last.

I think of road trips from when I was a kid, watching the bluebonnets along the side of the TX highways.

I think of the Cherry Blossom festival in DC.

Flowers are beautiful to behold, but if you don’t go see them at just the right time, you will miss out on their beauty because it is short lived.

Whatever glory or goodliness that comes from the flesh is only fleeting.

We see this truth reinforced continually throughout history.

Nations rise and fall.

Buildings that were once new get torn down.

Technology that was state of the art will soon be outdated.

Clothes that were bright and new will fade and wear out.

What does this mean for efforts to love that are founded in the flesh?

Whatever is born of the flesh is destined to die and decay.

Even if it resembles brotherly love.

Even if it resembles fervent agape love.

If it is born of the flesh, it is corruptible.

Humans are without exception like grass.

Human glory is like the flowers.

They have their day and they are gone.

Christians are not exempt from attempting to act in the flesh.

If we try to build and foster a spirit of love and unity in the church on the basis of our first birth we will fail.

If we build upon the new life that we have received then we will succeed.

How do we develop a lasting love for our brethren?

We must build on an enduring foundation.

We are Christians because we have been born again.

We have received new life.

Is our new life enduring?

Where did we get it from according to verse 23?

The seed of God’s word.

It doesn’t change.

Is the Bible, the source of our new life, a suitable source for producing enduring love in our lives?

What does it look like in practical terms for the Bible to act as the source of our love?

Do I need to take a church member that I’m struggling to love out to eat and place the Bible between us and that will fix it?

No, that’s obviously ridiculous.

The word of God is inseparable from the words of God.

You got saved because the message of gospel was communicated to you.

Now, as a believer, you will only be able to love, the way God wants you to love by allowing the message of the word to continue to work in your life.

The Bible’s definition of love doesn’t change with culture or technology.

This isn’t a moving target.

Aren’t you glad, the Bible’s message of love doesn’t change.

For God so loved the world.

God commendeth his love toward us.

If we are glad that God’s love for us doesn’t change, why are we constantly trying to change God’s standard for our love for others?

Here, God is using Peter to tell us that we are to love our fellow Christians with brotherly love and agape love.

There are not exceptions or excuses.

We don’t get to come up with our own rules.

If we come up with our own rules for who do and don’t love within the family of god, then we are acting in the flesh.

The flesh will not produce what a Christian community needs.

So, what will it be for you, today?

Failing, flesh love or Enduring Biblical love?

Failing love looks around the church and judges.

It shows fake love to our brothers and sisters.

We smile and exchange pleasantries to each other’s faces.

Behind closed doors we criticize and put down our spiritual family.

Shameful.

We put on a mask and pretend to be nice to people have experienced new life, just like we have.

Then we tear each other down when we think the other person isn’t listening.

Or, we see someone who is different than us in some way and withhold love from that person.

They haven’t been at the church as long as me, so they don’t deserve my love.

They made different education choices for their kids than i did for mine, so I’m going to withhold treating them with love.

They’ve got some skeletons in their closet, so I’m going to discriminate against them.

They haven’t paid as great a price for following Jesus as I have.

Biblical love looks around the church for opportunities to show love.

To those that have things in common with us.

To those that are different than us.

Any church can pretend to be loving.

We don’t want to be a pretender.

We want our love for each other to be genuine.

That will only happen if we reject the flesh and live in the new life we have received from God.

We cannot do that apart from God’s word.

It’s how we learned of the gospel in the first place.

It’s how we will live the gospel moving forward.