Literally, all of history hinges on Yeshua, Jesus’ advent. If Jesus does not come, Yhwh’s word falls to the ground, his name is dishonored, and he is proven to be no God at all. God must keep his word.
1 Peter 1:22-25 (ESV) Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart, 23 since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God; 24 for
“All flesh is like grass
and all its glory like the flower of grass.
The grass withers,
and the flower falls,
25 but the word of the Lord remains forever.”
Peter quotes from this Scripture in Isaiah 40:
Isaiah 40:6-9 (ESV) A voice says, “Cry!”
And I said, “What shall I cry?”
All flesh is grass,
and all its beauty is like the flower of the field.
7 The grass withers, the flower fades
when the breath of the LORD blows on it;
surely the people are grass.
8 The grass withers, the flower fades,
but the word of our God will stand forever.
The Greatness of God
9 Go on up to a high mountain,
O Zion, herald of good news;
lift up your voice with strength,
O Jerusalem, herald of good news;
lift it up, fear not;
say to the cities of Judah,
“Behold your God!”
Peter, to this group of scattered Jewish followers of Jesus, recalls God’s word through Isaiah’s preaching that God’s word stands forever. Isaiah preaches that this unchanging word is the good news of God.
Peter, says that this word that does not change and remains forever, is what caused his hearers to be born again, and this powerful and unchanging word of good news is how they are able to love one another well.
The unchanging word of who God is, what he has done, and how mankind is to respond to him hinges on Jesus coming. All of history hinges on Jesus coming and fulfilling God’s word. How?
Peter’s whole assertion is that Jesus is the God of this good news, and this good news is about Jesus. Peter is striving to make his point from God’s word through Isaiah the prophet, who looked forward to Jesus’ coming and preached that God’s word is sure and will stand.
If Jesus does not come, since he is the one Peter is asserting fulfills God’s word, then God’s word is useless. The good news of God is null and void. The good news has no power.
But Jesus, Yeshua, did come. He came just as Isaiah foretold, and therefore, God’s word is proven sure and unchanging, and powerful and able to make this group of scattered followers of Jesus love each other really well among a host of other gloriously good things.
Advent. Jesus comes and fulfills God’s word and causes us to know that we can trust his powerful word to rescue us and cause us to love well. Trust and obey God’s word by believing in Jesus and obeying his instruction.
Theology in the Dirt 