1 Peter 1:24-25 (NIV)
For, “All people are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of the Lord endures forever.” And this is the word that was preached to you.
I love this verse because it affords us some spiritual perspective on how to view this gift of human life we have received from God. In this opening chapter of his first epistle, we see Peter contrasting the temporal circumstances of our lives with the eternal inheritance that awaits us in heaven. He presents a comparison of things that are “perishable” with those that are “imperishable”. This is a common prophetic message shared by the apostolic writers of the New Testament. “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In His great mercy He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials.” (1 Peter 1:3-6)
Indeed, as we walk this journey of faith, we come to a knowledge of this truth: “Through Him (Jesus) you believe in God, who raised Him from the dead and glorified Him, and so your faith and hope are in God.” (1 Peter 1:21) Jesus is the originator (author) and completer (finisher) of our faith. (Cf. Hebrews 12:2) Yes, with confidence and conviction, we can affirm His declaration: “I AM the Way and the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (Cf. John 14:6) And I feel that these points of reference can provide a useful context for us to examine the larger context of our verse:
1 Peter 1:17-25 (NIV)
17 Since you call on a Father who judges each person’s work impartially, live out your time as foreigners in exile here (or as sojourners on earth) in reverent fear. 18 For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. 20 He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake. 21 Through Him you believe in God, who raised Him from the dead and glorified Him, and so your faith and hope are in God. 22 Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for each other, love one another deeply, from the pure heart. 23 For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God. 24 For, “All people are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, 25 but the Word of the Lord endures forever.” (Quoting Isaiah 40:6-8) And this is the Word that was preached to you.
Here we see the juxtapositions of perishable and imperishable … temporary and eternal. Our temporary bodies are perishable. We are like the grass that soon withers. But our spiritual beings are imperishable. Our souls, reserved for resurrected bodies, will inherit eternal life. Paul addressed this issue of faith as well:
1 Corinthians 15:35-57 (NIV) – The Resurrection Body
35 But someone will ask, “How are the dead raised? With what kind of body will they come?” 36 How foolish! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. 37 When you sow, you do not plant the body that will be, but just a seed, perhaps of wheat or of something else. 38 But God gives it a body as He has determined, and to each kind of seed He gives its own body. 39 Not all flesh is the same: People have one kind of flesh, animals have another, birds another and fish another. 40 There are also heavenly bodies and there are earthly bodies; but the splendor of the heavenly bodies is one kind, and the splendor of the earthly bodies is another. 41 The sun has one kind of splendor, the moon another and the stars another; and star differs from star in splendor.
42 So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; 43 it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; 44 it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. 45 So it is written: “The first man Adam became a living being” (Quoting Genesis 2:7); the last Adam, a life-giving spirit. 46 The spiritual did not come first, but the natural, and after that the spiritual. 47 The first man was of the dust of the earth; the second man is of heaven. 48 As was the earthly man, so are those who are of the earth; and as is the heavenly man, so also are those who are of heaven. 49 And just as we have borne the image of the earthly man, so shall we bear the image of the heavenly man.
50 I declare to you, brothers and sisters, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. 51 Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— 52 in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. 53 For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. 54 When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.” (Quoting Isaiah 25:8) 55 “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?” (Quoting Hosea 13:14) 56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
I realize that we could probably delve deeper into the theology, but I hope what is presented here will stir your thinking further on the temporal versus the eternal. I believe how we envision the eternal will impact how we live in the present. And this is the message of the Gospel: “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16) To perish is both a concrete physical and a potential spiritual reality. But to be clothed with the imperishable, one must be IN Christ Jesus. Only in Him will we experience the immortal … the imperishable … and the eternal. Yes, the eternal is why we are commissioned to be ambassadors for Christ … to go to the ends of the earth to proclaim the truth! So it is important that every person comes to understand what is required to receive eternal life. And here is the instruction: “ Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.” (John 17:3)
And so, I want to leave us with these two thoughts for application:
1 Timothy 2:1-4 (NIV)
1I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people— 2 for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. 3 This is good, and pleases God our Savior, 4who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.
2 Timothy 2:24-26 (NIV)
24 And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful. 25 Opponents must be gently instructed, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, 26 and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will.
So Now You Know 