When Jesus was tempted, he pretty famously told the Devil, “Man shall not live by bread alone…” Jesus was quoting Deuteronomy 8:3. We “don’t live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord.” The verse tells us that we human beings need more than food to live – to really live. Yes, you can stay alive if you eat, but to really live we need more. Deuteronomy said, and Jesus said, we need the Word of God to live.
What is the Word of God?
Classically, Christian theology taught there was a threefold form of the Word of God. But before I unpack that, let me just say a bit about the biblical words that are often translated “Word”. The Hebrew is dabar. Dabar Adonai – over and over again. It means, “Thus says the Lord” or as Eugene Peterson put it: God’s decree. In Genesis that all things were created by God’s Word, God’s decree, because “Thus says the Lord.”. In Isaiah, we read that God’s Word accomplishes the purpose for which it was sent out. There’s something powerful about God’s Word. In the Psalms, God’s Word tastes sweeter than honey and it is a a “lamp unto my feet” revealing things that might trip us up, and a “light to my path” showing the way. The Word reveals God and God’s ways. In the New Testament Greek, Word is Logos. The Greek philosophers, I’ve been told, loved that word. It’s the central idea, the most elemental principle. It’s the very heart of reason. In the beginning of John’s gospel, he says, “in the beginning was the Word. And the Word was with God. And the Word was God!
What is the Word of God?
Clearly, this concept means a lot in the Bible. And there’s a good reason for that. God’s Word is how God reveals himself. It’s how we come to know who God is, what God is like, what God thinks of us… we come to know who we are and how we’re supposed to live by God’s Word.
But what is God’s Word? Okay – the threefold form of God’s Word.
The first form is God’s written Word. This, of course, points to the Bible. The Bible is essential for hearing from God. We need the help of the Holy Spirit when we read the Bible. People argue for the Bible and about the Bible all the time. They use words like “inerrant” and “infallible”. The Fundamentalists and the Liberals used to argue about such things to, frankly, an intolerable and unproductive degree. I’m not going to revisit those arguments. But let me point out that it is God who is inerrant. It is God who is infallible. If the Bible is as well, then any well-meaning, rational person who reads it would have to believe it. But I have known people who were well-meaning, rational, who even seemed motivated to believe – they wanted to believe – but came away from the Bible unconvinced. I’ve seen the opposite as well – people who read scripture not expecting to be changed, and they were. One of the better-known stories there is the story of Nicky Gumble – who has led the Alpha Course for years. He read the New Testament to find arguments to convince friends it wasn’t true. And his reading convinced him that it was. There’s a reason both of those things can happen. The words of scripture become the Word of God by God’s help. We need God’s help to hear from God when we read the Bible.
The Bible came to us through God’s work. God the Father ordained it and gave it. The Holy Spirit inspired and guided its creation. Jesus fulfilled it and demonstrated it. The Spirit preserved it. And the Father is glorified by it still! When we read the Bible, we need God’s help to hear God’s Word. When the Spirit of God is involved, every “jot and title”. Every single bit of the Bible has the potential to become God’s Word to us. Here’s a practical point – Call on God when you read scripture.
The second form is God’s proclaimed Word. Romans 10:17 says “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.” God’s Word is proclaimed by preachers. But it’s also expressed through activities like music and art and craftsmanship. Good architecture preaches. The sacraments preach, too. I know a woman who was converted when someone handed her communion. God’s Word is also proclaimed in creation. Again, we need God’s help for these things to become God’s Word. I’m a preacher – sometimes. And I can tell you that when I preach, I try hard. I do the work. And sometimes when I preach, people hear from God. But sometimes, they just hear my rambling pseudo-intellectual articulations. But when God gets involved, when the Spirit moves in people’s hearts, they hear God’s Word. When I was in seminary, I went out to preach one Sunday in Leander Texas – and I layed an egg. It may have been the worst sermon ever preached in Leander Texas –. I was so unconvincing, illogical, and not very articulate that day. I bored myself. Following the service, people were politely shaking my hand, but then I saw her. A woman walked up to me in tears thanking me for saying exactly what she needed to hear that day. God had spoken through, what I thought were empty ramblings.
Okay: so we have the written word and the proclaimed word, and the last one is – The Living Word of God. That, my brothers and sisters, is Jesus. In the Bible, you may not catch it, but if you read it carefully you will notice that Jesus let’s people know that he is God. In Mark 2, he tells a paralyzed guy that his sins are forgiven. The teachers who are there are not pleased. “Who can forgive sins but God alone.” And Jesus asks them – which is easier to say – your sins are forgiven or to say rise and walk – but so that you know that the Son of Man has the authority to forgive sins, I say to you rise and walk. And he rose and walked. Who has the authority to forgive but God alone. In John 8, he tells some Jews – before Abraham was, I am. And they picked up stones to stone him to death for blasphemy. They knew what he meant. John calls him the Logos – the Word – by whom all things came into being. On the mountain, the disciples worship him, and he lets them – and every good Jewish believer knew that they were to worship God and God alone. Revelation puts him at the center of worship in heaven. Jesus is fully human – and fully God.
Jesus is the fullest expression of who God is. Jesus reveals God to us. Jesus is living word of God. If you want to know what God is like, look at Jesus. And if you want to know what a human life can be like, should be like, look at Jesus.
But do you know how we come to accept that Jesus is the Word of God made flesh. By the power of God? And it’s possible you are feeling that right now. If so, that means you are feeling drawn to know Jesus better right now – that is God at work in your heart.
So why read the Bible? Well, God likes to speak to us through the scripture. The Bible is the best source for all good proclamation of the Word. And reading the Bible is the best way I know to learn from Jesus how to live like Jesus.
Pray. Ask for his help. Pick up the book. And Read!
In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Three in one both now and forever. He is the Sovereign God who holds your future. He is the suffering God who knows your pain. He is the covenant God who has claimed you and tells you who you are, that you are his child. May he grant you a restful night and strength for the day.
- 100 Day Bible Reading Plan – Week 1 and 2
- Day Day of Week Date Scripture
- Week 1 0 Sunday 1/14 Rest
- 1 Monday 1/15 Genesis 1-14
- 2 Tuesday 1/16 Genesis 15-27
- 3 Wednesday 1/17 Genesis 27-38
- 4 Thursday 1/18 Genesis 39-50
- 5 Friday 1/19 Exodus 1-14
- 6 Saturday 1/20 Exodus 15-28
- Week 2 7 Sunday 1/21 Rest
- 8 Monday 1/22 Exodus 29-40
- 9 Tuesday 1/23 Leviticus 1-13
- 10 Wednesday 1/24 Leviticus 14-25
- 11 Thursday 1/25 Leviticus 26-Numbers 7
- 12 Friday 1/26 Numbers 8-20
- 13 Saturday 1/27 Numbers 21-32
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