Two weeks ago, in the message, we looked at the dark stain sin has cast over this world and God’s answer to it – the Lord Jesus Christ. Sin is truly devastating and the brokenness and havoc it wreaks are awful. But it does raise a question. Are there not many good and wonderful things in this world? The answer is ‘yes’.
Many years ago, a very great man, the Apostle Peter, likened life in this world to the flower of the field. In Palestine, fields were often beautiful with flowers. They were truly lovely. So, in the world we live in, despite the awful effects and out workings of sin, we do see ‘the flower of the field’, the many acts of human kindness and sacrifice. The pandemic has at times not only brought out the worst of human nature but also its very best. Amazing advances in science benefit us daily. How thankful many of us have had occasion to be, for what the medical profession can now do. So this world is not as bad as it might be. We call that God’s common grace whereby He restrains sin and allows the ‘flower of the field’ to appear.
But there is a lesson which the Apostle Peter calls us to reflect on, which is that the flower of the field passes away. In comparison, Peter says, ‘but the Word of the Lord endures forever’. That Word, says Peter, is ‘by the Gospel preached unto you’. So all of the flowers, which beautify our lives, have a ‘use by date’ – the day we die. We need something, or rather ‘Someone’, Who lasts beyond this life and indeed forever. That Someone is the Lord Jesus Christ, Who came into this world to save people like you and me with the unchanging promise that if we believe on Him we shall not perish but have everlasting life. This is the Gospel – the Word of God – which endures forever. Are you anchored to this Gospel or, as yet, solely trusting in the flower of the field which passes away?
Psalm 34 vs 8
