“Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; great is Thy faithfulness.” Lamentations 3:22,23
One of the most blessed ways that the eternal God reveals Himself to men, and this to the individual, is by the word of God. His word is the verbal and written expression of His thoughts, the knowledge of His ways, the very means by which faith can lay hold of Him, proving Him to be all that He has declared. In the book of Isaiah, we read: “The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God stands forever.” (40:8) In declaring this, Isaiah is making a remarkable, even most extraordinary comparison between men and God. He declares, “All flesh is grass, and all its loveliness is like the flower of the field.” (v.6) On the one hand Isaiah, by the direction of the Spirit of God, brings the whole of humanity alongside the eternal God in order to compare the two. The most basic difference in this passage is seen in that humanity is like grass that is fading, passing away, and thus will not endure. God on the contrary is Almighty, Everlasting, Unchanging, enduring forever, always existing, working, and revealing Himself according to His revealed words, the very words that He speaks. Isaiah in a very real way equates the living Word, Christ, with His spoken word, for the latter is the expression of the former. Isaiah sums up the matter so very clearly, and powerfully by declaring: “But the word of our God abides forever.” (v.8) Why does Isaiah write such a truth? It is so that man will understand that God has revealed Himself in, and according to His word, so that man, by truly grasping the truth, and trusting God, can know Him. The objective word of God always leads to Christ, by whom eternal life is communicated to men. It is only according to the word of God, and never contrary to it, that man can be assured of knowing God, being changed by Him, entering fully into that eternal purpose that God has established for man to know according to His glory. How important then is the matter of God’s faithfulness? What does faithfulness mean, and how is man to know God, prove Him, and live by the Spirit of God?
When Jesus was being tempted in the wilderness by Satan, just prior to entering into His ministry, at one point Jesus confronted Satan with the statement: “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every WORD that proceeds out of the mouth of God.” (Luke 4:4) In this one phrase, the Lord Jesus not only counters the temptation of Satan, but provides for mankind a clear knowledge of His ways, by His word. The matter of God’s faithfulness is the bedrock of man’s relationship with God according to that spoken word. God cannot lie, for Christ is the everlasting Truth. When He speaks truth, the whole of His being is in conformity with that truth, and behind it, to fulfill it, to manifest Himself. The faithfulness of God is the expression of His total commitment to accomplish His perfect will and purpose regardless of the multitudes of men and nations that have existed or will exist. The whole of mankind is as grass compared to the word of God, and the faithfulness of God to perform that word. The question then becomes: “And who will believe this, and prove it by the commitment of soul, spirit, and body to God and Christ, to follow Him?”
The Apostle Paul wrote that “God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.” (1 Cor. 1:9) He also wrote that the God of Peace can, and will, “sanctify you completely,” preserving the believer blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” How can this be true for every child of God? The answer is: “He who calls you is faithful who also will do it.” (1 Thess. 5:24) Faith in God’s faithfulness is the key.
Dear Father, Empower us to believe. In Jesus’ name, Amen.