Literally, all of history hinges on Jesus’ advent. If Jesus does not come, God’s word fails and is proven untrue, 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.”
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 Christians, recalls Isaiah’s preaching that God’s word stands forever. Isaiah preaches that this unchanging word is the good news of God.
Peter, says 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 the way God loves.
The unchanging word of who God is, what he has done, and how mankind is to respond to him hinges on Jesus’ coming. How?
Peter’s whole assertion is that Jesus is the God of this good news, and this good news is about Jesus coming and providing salvation for all who will believe. Peter is striving to make his point from 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 fails. The good news of God is null and void. The good news has no power.
But Jesus did come. He came just as Isaiah foretold, and therefore, God’s word is proven sure, unchanging, powerful, and able to make this group of scattered Christians love each other the way God loves.
Advent. Jesus comes and fulfills God’s word and causes us to know that we can trust his word to rescue us and cause us to love as God loves. Trust and obey God’s word by believing in Jesus and obeying his word.
Theology in the Dirt 