“I testify among you this day, which ye shall command your children to observe to do, all the words of this law. For it is not a vain thing for you: because it is your life.” Deuteronomy 32:46,47
After the baptism of Jesus, when the Spirit of God came upon Him in a most demonstrative way, equipping Him for his ministry and mission, He was led by the Spirit into the wilderness. There in the solitude, though He would certainly know profound fellowship with the Father, there came the devil to tempt Him. The object of the temptation was to deceive, trick, or simply appeal to Jesus strongly to act independently of the Father, and the Father’s words to Him. Immediately, as we look a little deeper into this temptation, we see that Christ’s devotion to the Father was intrinsically tied and blended together with the knowledge of the Father’s will, as revealed in His word. There can be no true faith in God unless it is according to truth, the truth of God as revealed in His word. Hence, the attack of the enemy was to disassociate Jesus from the words of the Father. However, the enemy would fail in his efforts, for Jesus told him a TRUTH that would expose the temptation, and at the same time, provide the remedy for overcoming it. Jesus told Satan: “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by EVERY WORD that proceeds out of the mouth of God.'” (Matt. 4:4) By Jesus’ words, in using the whole word of God to counter the enemy, He provided for all men a knowledge of God’s dealings with men. It is His word, spoken and written. Why? Simply put, it is because of the association of God with that word. The word is the expression of the nature, ways, and objectives of God. It is by that word that man has been called to know God, to commune with Him, and to appropriate Him as one’s life. We see this in the Lord’s words, by the mouth of Moses, when He spoke concerning His law that the Israelites were supposed to command their children. He said so simply, clearly, and powerfully, “…For it is not a vain thing for you: because IT IS YOUR LIFE.” The disciple of Christ is called to live by the faith of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is also called to live by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God, for by that living word, life itself is communicated by the Spirit to the heart and life of the believer.
How does this subject of the value and power of the word of God, work out in the life of the believer? It begins by realizing something very important, and that is that the context of the word of God being spoken, and the believer receiving it to believe and obey it, is that of a very real spiritual conflict. We see this in the parable of the Sower who went forth to sow seed. God has miraculously preserved His written word for mankind down to this present hour. However, it has always been contested by unbelievers, and the enemy. God’s Great Sower was, and is Christ, now dwelling in His church, which is his body. His work through the church is to sow the seed, led by the Spirit, in the place and circumstance of His choosing. However, even as we observe in the parable, the enemy is there to snatch it up and away before it takes root. He is also there to cause all kinds of obstructions to the growth of the plant from the seed. The essential of knowing the word will always be contested. The second essential of the seed “falling into the ground and dying,” in order to bear much fruit, will also be contested, by many a temptation and means of opposition. The servant of Christ, who sets himself to know the word of God, and the God of the word, will be greatly blessed and certainly opposed.
Dear Father, Speak life into us. In Jesus’ name, Amen.