Is God's Word Timeless? — Carol McLeod Ministries
Today, our conversation will be peppered with questions … from me to you.
Are you ready?
Do you truly believe the Bible has impact today in the 21st. Century?
Are you often perplexed at the way the Christian church is treated by the media? By our culture? By the world of entertainment? By politicians?
Is the Bible truly the inspired Word of God? Is it true for every generation?
Why is it so hard to defend our faith in the face of intimidation and disdain?
How can we respond to the harassment by our culture and by those who have no faith?
If you share my mental anguish over what is happening in the world today … you are not alone.
And, allow me to quickly reassure you, this is not the only time in human history when the church has been bullied … battered … and marginalized.
God has a plan … He has always had a plan for His people.
His plan is visible … doable … and well-thought out.
His plan is found on the timeless pages of scripture.
Peter wrote to a church in pain due to the hostility of the government. The words that Peter wrote in the New Testament book of I Peter are as applicable today as they were nearly 2,000 years ago.
My latest book, “Timeless: The Living and Enduring Word of God” is based on the dynamic letter that Peter wrote to the early church. I found that Peter not only wrote to believers who lived nearly 2 millennia ago … but he wrote to all of us today who are caught in the ferocious web of 21st. century liberalism.
Perhaps this excerpt from “Timeless” will encourage you to live wholeheartedly for Christ … regardless of your circumstances.
Therefore, prepare your minds for action, keep sober in spirit, fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. (1 Peter 1:13)
My friend, everything you do counts!
Do not minimize the power of your thought life in your attempt to win the battle for hope and an abundant life.
Your thoughts determine the words you speak.
You must ensure that only the Word of God comes out of your mouth during the most intense and exasperating moments you face. Your thought life matters to the cause of Jesus Christ, and you must not underestimate the value of girding your mind.
Peter calls battle-weary soldiers from every generation to take their faith seriously and to be sober in spirit.
The word translated as sober in spirit is the Greek word nepho, and it can be translated to mean: to be sober, to be calm and collected in spirit; to be temperate, dispassionate, circumspect.
As I read Peter’s advice to a church being fed to the lions, burned at the stake, and impaled with poles, I honestly don’t know whether I should laugh or cry.
How is it possible to remain calm and collected as you hear the death screams of those you love dearly?
Does Peter believe it is possible to remain temperate and circumspect while waiting your turn in front of starving lions?
Once again, I might be tempted to accuse Peter of offering ridiculous advice.
Peter’s instruction would indeed be ridiculous to most—but not to us.
We know Jesus Christ and so we can remain sober in spirit.
We know where our hope is fixed.
Our hope is not tied to an earthly outcome or positive results, but is completely and totally fixed on the grace that is ours because we know Jesus Christ.
We are the people of hope, and we serve the God of all hope.
Hope is the joyful and confident expectation that God will invade our circumstances with His ultimate goodness.
Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. (Romans 15:13)
We are so assured of the goodness of God that we defiantly refuse to settle for anything less than hope.
When despair knocks on the door of our hearts, we answer with the Word of God and begin to sing the songs of faith that thousands have sung before us.
When doubt tries to creep in through the back door, we gird our minds and keep our gaze set on Jesus.
Every believer in every generation has had to settle these issues of faith:
Will I embrace hope or will I give in to despair?
Will I worship or will I worry?
Will I tell the story of Jesus or will I focus on my own pain?
Will I gird up my mind or will I allow it to run wild?
Will I stay sober or will I panic?
And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope; and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us. (Romans 5:3–5)
As I read this corresponding verse written by the apostle Paul in the book of Romans, it reminds me that I was created to sing in the rain and dance in the fires of life.
My job description is to refuse panic and to raise my hands in worship even when receiving a devastating doctor’s report, when I lose my job, or when someone I love rejects me. According to Scripture, it is the task to which I have been assigned by my Creator.
I believe God will always have the last word and it will be a good word. I am convinced God is at work behind the scenes writing the end of each of our stories and His endings are amazing.
Hope is not a hazy and unstable desire that all our wishes will come true. And it is certainly not akin to blowing out the blazing candles on a birthday cake.
Hope is not wishing on a star nor is it blowing the feather-like seeds off a dead dandelion.
Hope, as you know, is the joyful and constant expectation of God’s goodness.
Hope is knowledge.
Hope is factual.
Hope takes faith.
Peter calls all of us, in the middle of turmoil, cultural compromise, and heart pain, to firmly set all our hope completely on Jesus. Our hope is not secure in our jobs, our parenting, the economy, politics, or even in our marriage.
The only safe place to fix our hope is in Jesus. I have heard it said that life without Christ is a hopeless end but with Christ it is an endless hope. I joyfully concur with that statement. Do you?
