My Word Stands-I

There is a high-sounding saying among today’s do-gooders that change is the only thing that is constant. Everything moves and transforms. Foundations shift. Everything is relative. No one accepts absolutes anymore. There is no such thing as an immortal, personal or unchanging deity. There are no moral absolutes. There is no everlasting truth. Everything changes with time.

 Ever since the great philosopher René Descartes cast man as ‘a person who makes his own law and takes his own stand,’ there has been an ongoing ‘deliverance’ of humanity from Christian revelational truth. The educated in modern society are taught that God is no longer the guarantor of truth. Each person must shape and guarantee his own reality. The outflow of this flawed reasoning is that few learned people ever want to see themselves as a child obedient to God.

Now that we mention it I do recall that there is one who came long before Descartes. In the harrowing account leading to the crucifixion, Jesus had this conversation with Pilate the Roman governor; "You are a king, then!" said Pilate. Jesus answered, "You say that I am a king. In fact, the reason I was born and came into the world is to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me."  "What is truth?" retorted Pilate. ^{John 18:37-38}

Note that Pilate was not asking so that Jesus could introduce him to the good news of the gospel. Rather he was saying, “You cannot claim that there is such a thing as absolute truth.”

The bible teaches that truth flows from God. It comes to humanity through his word. Man has the freedom to accept, to reject, or even to remain blissfully unaware of God’s word. Truth does not change with the times. God’s word is eternal ^{psalms 119:160}. Jesus said, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.” ^{Matthew 24:35} All other things may change but the word of our God stands forever. Perhaps one of the best illustrations of this monumental truth comes from Isaiah chapter 40.

A voice says, "Cry out." And I said, "What shall I cry?" "All men are like grass, and all their glory 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 stands forever."^{(Isa 40:6)}

All men are like grass.

This is to say that like grass men and women wither and die. Even if they survive the vagaries of life they eventually die of natural elements. Few have the privilege of living to a ripe old age nowadays and I wouldn’t urge you to bank on it. Life is transient.

And ALL their glory is like the flowers of the field

In view of eternity, the greatness of man has as short a shelf life as the flowers in your neighborhood. Think of some of the most famous people you know. Think Mandela the great humanist or Princess Diana who ate life with big spoon.  How about Mwalimu Julius Nyerere or the thought-provoking Muslim apologist, Professor Ali Mazrui? Where are they now? Can their fame or power help them beyond the grave? For the living this is a tacit warning to seek humility in life.

But the word of OUR God stands forever.

When I say "my word stands!" What does it mean? Well it means that I am not about to change my mind about what I said. If I were a judge it would mean that my ruling will be carried out without alterations. If I were a President or Director with executive power it would mean that my communicated decision MUST be implemented. So it is with OUR God.
Every man on earth regardless of how powerful or influential, is just but a passing phenomenon. Not so with OUR God; He is permanent. And His word stands.

In recent times there have been many rapid developments in the technological and moral arena. Some of them are modest but others are simply out of this world. Sample the more tantalizing ones;

• Soon, we shall be able to fly to Mars. Mars One-the company hoping to be among the first to establish a Martian colony is looking for volunteer settlers. Are you young, energetic, intelligent and incurably adventurous?  Don’t worry, you won't be lonely. Some 200,000 people from around the world have already sent in their applications. You too can apply here ☺.
• Soon we shall have ultra-small robots capable of entering people’s bodies to nuke cancer at the cellular level into oblivion.
• Soon we shall have more driverless cars in Europe than human-driven cars courtesy of Google Car Project and others.
• Soon we shall have public transport vehicles capable of 1000km/hr speeds courtesy of Elon Musk’s revolutionary Hyperloop system. That's like Mombasa to Busia in less than an hour!

However I don’t know whether to laugh or cry about some of these developments coming our way.

• Soon we shall be capable of deploying AWSs (Autonomous Weapons Systems) capable of acquiring and destroying targets without direct human oversight.
• Soon we shall be able to fight limited nuclear wars with miniaturized tactical war- heads. The prospect of MAD (Mutually Assured Destruction) will no longer be a primary threat.
• Soon the humanists will win the moral war-and the politics of LGBQT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Queer and Transgender) together with abortion and euthanasia will no longer be something to be debated.
• Soon we shall no longer debate the merits or lack thereof of the traditional family set-up. Blended families, polyamorous relationships and of course the dad-dad and mum-mum families will prevail.
• Soon we shall cast off the final vestiges of god-thoughts and God himself will be deconstructed to a figment of the human imagination. A figure-head conceived by the human mind to offer solace and a sense of belonging in a seemingly purposeless universe.

Soon, soon, soon...