Flakey

One of the most recognized cereals today is, without doubt, Kellogg's Corn Flakes.  It is also one of the most tasteless cereals.  It has to be doused in sugar just to be edible.  Bananas also taste pretty good in it.  (Kellogg's knows this and that is why every box has a picture of a banana mixed into the cereal.)

Apart from its dull taste, corn flakes are also known for being brittle.  When dry, it doesn't take much for a corn flake to break apart.  When combined with milk, the flake is transformed into a soggy, mushy sheet.  In both cases, the flake is weak and delicate.  On impact, it will always buckle.  This brittle nature of the corn flake has been applied to those who break their beliefs, or change their mind, on a regular basis.  These types of people are considered, "flakey."  They lack stability.

While the term "flakey" may be somewhat of a neo-American term, its idea has been around for many years.  There have always been those who are "brittle" in their thoughts and beliefs, changing their mind about a subject on a regular basis.  The apostle John knew this, and knew that it was possible that future Christians could become flakey concerning Jesus Christ.

In 1 John 1:1, he wrote,

"That which was from the beginning..." 

This is but only one of John's statements concerning "the beginning" and "Christ."  In John 1:1-2 he wrote,

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  He was in the beginning with God."

In 1 John 2:7 we read,

"Brethren, I write no new commandment to you, but an old commandment which you have had from the beginning."

Furthermore, in 1 John 2:24 he wrote,

"Therefore let that abide in you which you heard from the beginning."

While the contexts of these verses differ, there is an underlying meaning in each of them--there is stability in the Gospel message of Jesus Christ. 

John's message in 1 John 1:1 describes the reliability we have in Jesus Christ.  Most of us are familiar with the words that follow, "which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled..."  After many years have passed, John is still able to vividly recollect his relationship with Jesus.  He writes as if he has just physically been with Him yesterday.  This truth resounds deeply because it relays the assurance that John has in the truth that Jesus really was the fulfillment of the Old Testament prophets.

The contents of the Gospel remain stable.  Unlike Texas weather and worldly philosophies that change "on a dime," the message of Jesus is not subject to "flakiness."  Therefore, we can rely on this Gospel which was "from the beginning," having assurance that we hold the original truth of Jesus in our hands.