“For the word of God is living, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword.” Hebrews 4:12
Dear Ones:
Why does the Bible speak of “the word of God” in its pages, as being “living?” The answer goes back to the uniformity of God, that oneness of what He IS with what He says, declares, and is written. For example, in Genesis, we find that “creation” as we know it, began by God speaking. All throughout Scripture, we find that His intervention in the affairs of men, has been revealed by Him speaking, or by His word. When we come to John’s gospel, he begins by declaring: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God.” (1:1) Later on in the passage we discover that this “Word” was, and is, the Lord Jesus Christ: “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us.” (1:14) Why is it so very important to see that the Lord Jesus was with the Father and the Spirit, before and during the creation of the world? And why is He revealed to us as the “Word?” In answer to the question, we must consider the matter of “magnitude.” No one can comprehend the greatness of God, but if faith is to believe Him for who He truly is, then we must see Christ in His magnified glory, the utter magnitude of His power, wisdom, and love. As to why He is revealed to us as “the Word,” the “living word,” it is because He IS Life, and His word is the very expression of that Life. Just as He speaks creation into existence, He also speaks LIFE into the dead. He is God, the God who speaks, and LIFE is given, or revealed to men. It is for this reason that John writes: “…and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.” (1:14) So then, how does this knowledge apply to us, where we live, with the backdrop of eternity? The answer lies in the word, “faith.”
When the Apostle Paul wrote his first letter to the Corinthian believers, he declared that his speech and preaching was not with the words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power.” (2:4) The purpose of this was so that the Corinthian’s faith would not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.” (v.5) Paul, in saying these things had already declared that the preaching of the cross was “…the power of God.” He also had declared that Christ was “…the power of God.” How can the two things, the cross and the Christ, BE the power of God? The proclamation of the TRUTH of the cross, the Word of God, was the extension of Christ as the living Word. The word of God was the expression of the power of God IN Christ. So, how does this affect us? God speaks through His objective Word, the Bible. When He speaks, it is the extension, the expression of Himself. The objective word is powerful by virtue of the fact that God SPEAKS in power through it, to accomplish His purposes and will.
When Jesus was walking this earth, ministering to the multitudes, He would preach the Gospel, in the power and demonstration of the Spirit, with an authority that moved men to trust Him fully as their Messiah. By the same act of speaking, He would raise the dead, calm the storm, heal the sick, and deliver the oppressed by the devil. His word was the extension of what He WAS , and IS. It was the expression of the Father’s will, worked out in hearts and lives, by the power of God. It was in the act of truly receiving His words, that Christ would give the hearers “…the power to become the sons of God, even to them, that believe on His name.” (Jn. 1:12)
Dear Father, Thou who didst speak creation into existence by the power and wisdom of Your Word, give us grace to receive, and believe that Word, trusting Thee fully to accomplish it for Your glory. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Love, Dad