Some thoughts on Mark 13: 31: “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but My words shall not pass away.”
We look at our hills and mountains and the other main features of the landscape around us, and we think of them as perfectly permanent. What we see is what our fathers saw — and many generations before them also — and we expect it all to endure indefinitely. If we look at our environment with a mind enlightened by truth, we will see all these features as evidence of our Creator’s power.
It was He who ordered that every aspect of our landscape, and of every part of this universe, should be as it is. And He has ordered the events of history so that heaven and earth — this whole universe — will pass away at the time which He has appointed. Peter, as inspired by the Holy Spirit, thus describes the impressive scene: “The heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up” (2 Pet. 3: 10).
Peter also spoke of the scoffers who ask, “Where is the promise of his coming? For since the fathers fell asleep all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation” (2 Pet. 3: 3f). So our generation wishes to ignore the idea of a God who can intervene in the course of human history or, for that matter, in anything that happens in any part of the universe. Scientists have pronounced on the origins of the universe, and, whatever disagreements there are among themselves, there is something of a conspiracy to make everyone who does not accept the Theory of Evolution appear unscientific.
There are, of course, scientists who believe the Biblical account of creation, but the scientific establishment refuses to countenance this fact even as a remote possibility. Accordingly a writer whose contributions used to appear in the Scientific American, one of the world’s most prestigious scientific periodicals, believes that he was dropped because he believes in Creation, although his articles for the magazine never took to do with this subject. Apparently Scientific American was afraid that its standing in the scientific world might be undermined merely by having as a regular writer someone who was identified with the Creationist camp. So much for freedom of thought in some parts of the scientific world! As so often previously, when man has struggled to be free from God’s authority, he has submitted instead to the authority of his fellow-creatures.
According to the current of thought within the scientific establishment today all questions about the origins of mankind, and of living things generally, have to be explained in terms of uniformitarianism, the theory that current natural processes are quite sufficient to account for the present condition of the world — in other words, that “all things continue as they were from the beginning.” But this is not so, “for this they willingly (or, wilfully, for they do not wish to know) are ignorant of, that . . . the world that then was, being overflowed with water perished” (2 Pet. 3: 5, 6). That there was universal flood is a fact revealed in the Bible, and it is supported by the evidence of geology. When men shut their eyes to the revelation given by God in the Bible they will almost inevitably go wrong in attempting to understand God’s revelation in nature.
This is not to dismiss Science as a whole; far from it. But it is worth making the point that a scientific law, where it meets the tests of time and truth, is only a statement of the principles whereby God orders the course of nature. Einstein’s discovery, for instance, of the relationship between the energy released and the amount of material destroyed during radioactive decay is not only a discovery about how radioactive substances work, but a statement of the properties God gave them when he created them.
Just as this whole universe had a beginning, through the exercise of God’s power at creation, so also by the exercise of God’s power the universe will come to an end; “heaven and earth shall pass away.” Human existence in the time state must therefore come to an end. On the individual, and more immediate, level each of us must leave the world and pass into eternity, for “it is appointed unto men once to die” (Heb. 9: 27).
Yet, though the fact of death is as certain as it is, the time when it will take place is to us completely unknown. The time of our death is just as uncertain as the time when the world will end — that time about which the Saviour gave the warning, “Therefore be ye also ready, for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh” (Mt. 24: 44). We can expect to be taken out of this world by death, rather than by Christ’s coming again at the end of the world, just because the prophecies about abundant and universal spiritual blessing have not yet been fulfilled. Yet, just as Christ will bring directly to the judgement seat those who are alive on earth at His second coming, so we may think of everyone else as being brought to judgement by way of death.
Death is assuredly not the end of our existence — however much today’s unbelievers may wish that it was — for it is not only appointed unto men to die, but “after this the judgement” (Heb. 9: 27). Neither does death bring to an end to the consequences of the unbeliever’s sins, “for God shall bring every work into judgement, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil” (Ecc. 12: 14). And the solemnly awful consequences of unforgiven sin will follow the sinner throughout eternity in hell.
It is absolutely certain that heaven and earth will pass away. Yet there is something even more certain: Christ’s words will never pass away. He, in fact, uses a particularly strong form of words, often translated in no wise, so that it could be expressed, “My words shall in no wise pass away.” The point is not just that they will be accurately preserved in the Bible till the end of time, but that they will have the same authority for each succeeding generation. We must start with the fact that God is the unchanging God. So He is thus addressed: “Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the works of thine hands; they shall perish, but thou remainest; and they all shall wax old as doth a garment; and as a vesture shalt thou fold them up and they shall be changed; but thou art the same, and thy years shall not fail” (Heb. 1: 10-12). These words are quoted from Psalm 102, where they are addressed to God, but in Hebrews 1 they form one of two Old Testament quotations introduced by the words, “Unto the Son He saith” (v8). As the Son of God, Christ shares all the divine attributes with the Father — not only unchangeability, but also truth. Christ’s words are therefore unchangeably true, and they must accordingly have abiding relevance.
Today the relevance of the Bible is generally questioned. It will be allowed that it was helpful centuries ago; it doubtless gave people a feeling of security to believe that there is a God, a God who cares for the individual, and as a result they lived happier and more fulfilled lives — irrespective altogether of the truth of the Scriptures. The Bible may even fulfill the same function today, but what self-respecting intellectual can now believe that the Bible is true? And the uneducated are usually content to assume that Science has proved the Bible false. What is assumed about the Bible is assumed also about Christ’s words in particular. And all such assumptions make it all the easier for man to suppress the facts: that he is a sinner before God, that there will be a judgement and that there is a hell.
Uncomfortable though these ideas are for the man with a guilty conscience, they are facts — and they are relevant facts, even in the scientific age. Christ’s teaching about sin and its consequences is still absolutely relevant — and always will be — simply because every human being is a sinner. Even in 1992 the words, “If ye believe not that I am He, ye shall die in your sins” (Jn 8: 24), demand our attention if we are to have God’s blessing in this life, and in the next.
In a world of sin and sorrow, in a world of so much despair and hopelessness, how tremendously relevant and encouraging should be the words, “God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (Jn 3: 16). Christ could speak in this way because “the Son of man came . . . to give his life a ransom for many” (10: 45). He took the place of the guilty and paid the price of man’s redemption. So He calls, “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Mt. 11: 28). And when Christ speaks like this it is not so that the person who listens to them might feel better, although it will turn out that there is no reality behind them. These words are a divine revelation; they are therefore true, and every one who believes in Christ as a crucified Redeemer has a sure foundation for his eternal well-being.
Christ’s words also have relevance for the day of judgement: “he that heareth my word”, He said, “and believeth on him that sent me hath everlasting life and shall not come into condemnation” (Jn 5: 24). Salvation is a permanent blessing, as Christ promised: “Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again, but whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst, but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up unto everlasting life” (Jn 4: 13f). These promises of Christ are sure, and they are worthy of our total reliance. If we disbelieve then we make Him a liar. If we ignore them we, in effect, say that Christ, His promises and His warnings are of no importance — that, at least, they are irrelevant to this generation. What an insult to the unchanging God!
Such blessings as Christ proclaims would be received immediately and universally were it not for man’s natural enmity to what is spiritual and holy. Apart from the drawing power of the Holy Spirit no one will consider the personal relevance of Christ’s words. It is not only the openly ungodly, the professed atheist and the agnostic who reject the gospel and treat Christ as irrelevant to them personally; many who hear the gospel regularly do exactly the same thing. But we can have no other foundation for our life in this world — at least none that will prove secure. The salvation that God has provided for sinners in Christ Jesus is exactly suited to the needs of every sinner, for it is provided by man’s Creator. In particular, the teachings of Christ are exactly suited to the need of sinners in every generation; they are therefore permanently relevant and reliable. And they are just as relevant to the spiritual need of this generation as to any other. However much he may learn about outer space, the core of the earth, the atom, or anything else, large or small, man without God is lost — and man without God’s revelation is totally without worthwhile spiritual knowledge.
We are to make practical use of this revelation from God — the whole Bible and, in particular, God’s revelation about death and the end of the world. Why have we been favoured with this knowledge if we are not to make good use of it? We should receive it in the light of the Saviour’s counsel, “Take ye heed, watch and pray, for ye know not when the time is” (v33). Accordingly we need to pray, “Give me understanding, and I shall keep thy law” (Ps. 119: 34). And our resolve should reflect the Psalmist’s claim, “Thy word have I hid in mine heart that I should not sin against thee” (Ps. 119: 11).
Christ pointed out the results of how we treat His words: “Whosoever heareth these sayings of mine and doeth them, I will liken unto a wise man which built his house upon a rock . . . And everyone that . . . doeth them not shall be likened unto a foolish man which built the house upon the sand” (Mt 7: 24-27). We all know what happened to each of those houses. Far more serious altogether are the consequences of our reaction to the words of Christ.