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Today's Little Lift
by Jim Bullington
Beginning today in this column, you will see true daily devotionals in the form of TODAY’S LITTLE LIFTS. I am not ruling out future series, but these seem not to hold reader interests as much as “stand alone” articles. This is the reason you will start seeing the day/month designation (e.g. 4/28) correspond with the primary scripture reference (e.g. 4.28). We begin like this: “For thus says the LORD: ‘The whole land shall be desolate; Yet I will not make a full end. For this shall the earth mourn, And the heavens above be black, Because I have spoken. I have purposed and will not relent, Nor will I turn back from it.’” (Jeremiah 4.27-28; emphasis mine, jb)
The certainty of the thing prophesied by Jeremiah (i.e. the punishment of Jerusalem) was affirmed with stark simplicity; it would occur merely because God had said it! He (God) had spoken and that settled the matter. On another occasion, God affirmed the certainty of His word with these words: “So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, But it shall accomplish what I please, And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.” (Isaiah 55.11). In a similar vein, Jesus said, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away.” (Matthew 24.35). The word of God is incorruptible and it “…lives and abides forever,” according to 1 Peter 1.23. Because of the permanent quality of the word of God, Jesus said, “He who rejects Me, and does not receive My words, has that which judges him—the word that I have spoken will judge him in the last day.” (John 12.48). Clearly these passages and scores more like them affirm that God’s word is absolute, powerful, enduring, and much higher in authority than any word or collection of words by men.
The Psalmist made these marvelous statements relative to the creative power of God’s word: “By the word of the LORD the heavens were made, And all the host of them by the breath of His mouth. He gathers the waters of the sea together as a heap; He lays up the deep in storehouses. Let all the earth fear the LORD; Let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him. For He spoke, and it was done; He commanded, and it stood fast.” (Psalm 33.6-9). The apostle Paul took the Psalmist’s statement a step further when he wrote, “For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist.” (Colossians 1.16-17). Not only did God create the universe, He spoke into existence the laws which sustain it even to this very date. We can correctly conclude that since God made the universe, and sustains the universe by the same powerful word, that it will continue until such time as He decides to call time to a halt.
Drawing from these statements that relate to the absolute certainty of God’s word, great comfort comes to those who believe and obey Him. Since His word is trustworthy, then the promises which He has made in the past are legitimate bases for our hope. If one could look back on past eras and show a broken chain of promises or, that God’s word has not consistently been trustworthy, our hope would be ill-founded. However, not being able to point out such flaws, we conclude that His word can be absolutely trusted, and that His future promises will be kept even as His past ones have been!
“Because I have spoken,” God says, “these things will come to pass!” In an age of uncertainty (economically, politically, nationally, internationally, etc., etc.) how refreshing it is to point to one thing that is constant; God’s word is that constant. When all material things have grown old and have been folded up as a garment, God’s word will yet be fresh and powerful, sustaining all who call upon Him!
Questions:
1. What did God’s word have to do with Creation?
2. What does His word have to do with the continuance of the universe?
3. What will His word have to do with the end of the world?
4. What will His word have to do with our final judgment?
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