Sound Versus Light Waves

Recently I watched a show for kids that explained the difference between sound and light waves. The speaker explained that sound waves could not travel through vacuums, like empty outer space, but needed materials or mediums to bounce off. In the process of bouncing off, they lost energy and eventually dissipated. The light waves, on the other hand, could travel through vacuums, including empty outer space; as such, they continued forever.

I found this distinction interesting since one of my Christian friends in college, a scientist, made a passing remark that I didn’t understand then. He said, “Unlike sound waves, God’s words remain forever, stored in rocks.”

Peter would agree – God’s words are eternal.

“Being born again by imperishable seed through the word (logos) of the living and abiding God because every flesh is like grass and all its glory is like a flower of grass. The grass dries up, and the flower falls. But the word(rima) of the Lord endures for eternity. And this is the word (rima) we gospelized to you.” (1 Pet 1:23–25)

Using the synonyms logos and rima and the metaphors of grass and flowers, Peter explained the indestructibility of God’s word. Unlike regular sound waves that deteriorated over time and space, God’s word did not.

The reason for its durability was the author of the word, whom Peter described as “the living and abiding God.” Because of God’s indestructibility and eternity, his word, too, had the same quality. The words of God were so unified that Peter used the singular form for it, the word.

If the Lord said something, it happened without fail. We see this every day. God said,

“Let there be lights in the sky to separate the day from the night and to mark days, years, and seasons. Let them be lights for the day and the night.” (Gen 1:14–15)

This word has been fulfilling for centuries – every morning, the sun rises, and every evening, it sets. Every evening, the moon rises, and every morning, the moon sets. This action repeats day after day for centuries and millennia. God’s word is ever-living; in Peter’s words, “The word of the Lord endures for eternity.”

Just as God’s word in creation endured forever, so was his word of salvation, called the gospel. The psalmists often connected God’s creation with his salvation. Psalm 19, for example, begins with talking about God’s creation: “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the works of his hands” (v. 1). But then the psalm swifts to God’s law, his word and source of salvation: “The law of the Lord is perfect, refreshing to one’s soul. The statues of the Lord are trustworthy, making the simple wise” (v. 7). God’s sustains the creation and salvation by his word, which is everlasting. As such, creation and salvation are also everlasting.

Peter had connected God’s word in creation with the gospel to assure his readers that both have lasting value. As we marvel at God’s creation – a beautiful sunset, a rainbow, flowers in the field, beaches, mountains, desserts, whales, dolphins, babies, and life – let’s remember they exist by God’s word. The same is true of our salvation – by his word are we saved, not our works.