Hope That Never Fades

Isaiah 40:6-8

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I’m not sure where you were watching this from. Maybe it’s in an area of the country where you are enjoying the change of the seasons. For us, I’m from Mankato, Minnesota, we have a season called fall where the leaves on all the trees literally fall off. They turn brown and fall and then decay and blow away.

This is a season of the church year where I’m reminded of a verse in Isaiah chapter 40 about how flowers fade and the grass withers, and it reminds us that we live in a world that is fleeting. It’s fading away. But for you and me, as Christians, we have something that will never fade away. Something that is reliable. Something that we can count on forever. Let me share this verse with you. It’s a favorite verse for many. From Isaiah chapter 40 we hear verses six through eight.

A voice says, “Cry out.”
And I said, “What shall I cry?”
“All people are like grass,
and all their faithfulness is like the flowers of the field.
The grass withers and the flowers fall,
because the breath of the Lord blows on them.
Surely the people are grass.
The grass withers and the flowers fall,
but the word of our God endures forever.” (Isaiah 40:6-8)

The word of our God endures forever. As I’ve grown older, I can appreciate how this speaks of people being like grass, the aches, the pains, the soreness. My body isn’t working or healing as it once did when I was younger. I look at my kids who are teenagers these days, or pre-teens, and how carefree their lives are. And meanwhile, as I try and keep up with them, I’m out of breath and hurting. These words remind us of our mortality as sinful people. We ruin God’s design for us. We were supposed to never fade, but because of sin, because of the fall into sin, because of our conscious decision to disobey, we to face the effects of sin. We too are going to fade and decay. One day our bodies are going to stop working and will fall to the ground and into the ground and decay.

And that’s a scary thing. But again, for you and me as Christians, we have the word of the Lord. We have the word of our God that endures forever. And what does John say that Word of God is? Well, he speaks about that word who became flesh and dwelt among us. It’s our Lord Jesus who stands forever. And that’s something that also Job proclaimed, remember Job? As he was feeling the effects of sin, he was hurting both body and soul, his family, his loved ones, taken away, all of his possessions. He had fallen from a great height. But what did he proclaim? He says, I know that my Redeemer lives and I’m going to see him.

That’s the same hope that you and I have. We have the Word of God. We have the Word of God that points us to our Savior, Jesus Christ, who lived for us. He lived a perfect life. Never once did he fall into sin. Never once was he deserving of any decay or any pain or suffering. And yet he endured pain and suffering as he goes to the cross. And there he takes what we deserved. He takes all of our sins upon himself, and he pays for it all in full. And even though he died, he rises from the dead on Easter. And with his resurrection on Easter, you and I are given a promise that we’re going to rise. We are going to rise from the dust, from the decay, and we will stand with our Lord Jesus forever.

The Word of God that stands forever. That’s what you and I stand on as well. We put our hope, our trust, our faith in Jesus, the Word of God made flesh who is forever. And we will stand with him forever. In this fall season, be reminded that in spite of everything else around us and even ourselves experiencing decay and falling apart, we do have that which we can rely on, that we can count on that which will endure forever. The Word of God, our Savior, Jesus. All glory be to him. God’s peace be with you.