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CHAPTER
5
CHAPTER
FIVE
THE WORD
Although Jesus did not say, ‘I am the Word,’ the
Bible assures us that He is:
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word
was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God
in the beginning. Through him all things were made;
without him nothing was made that has been made. In
him was life, and that life was the light of men. The
light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not
understood it-----yet to all who received him, to those
who believed in his name, he gave the right to become
children of God---children born not of natural descent,
nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born
of God. The Word became flesh and made
his dwelling among us.
(John
chapter 1, verses 1-5, 12-14).
So we see yet another name for Jesus, the ‘Word’.
And note, ‘in the beginning was the Word, and the Word
was with God, and the Word was God’. Here we find that
this Christ, this Word who was God and who became flesh
and dwelt among us, is not only our Saviour but also
our Creator. In fact nothing that has been made was
made without Him. He was there at creation. As we read
in the first chapters of Genesis, God spoke everything
into being; His Word created all things---this is our
Jesus, so much more than a wise teacher or a very good
man. The Word of God does not only create,
there is the written word. The whole Bible is His written
word. By this word we can come to know Him, to trust
in Him, and to have faith in Him. And, for the believer,
God’s written word is vital in encouraging us on to
maturity in Christ, in teaching us how to live Christian
lives:
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you
teach and admonish one another with all wisdom.
(Colossians
chapter 3, verse 16).
More connections: not only did God’s Word become
flesh in Jesus, but we now see the inspired Scriptures,
God’s words, are the ‘word of Christ.’ And what of the
wisdom which they teach, and how is the great mystery
of God revealed? It is all in Jesus:
----in order that they may know the mystery of God,
namely, Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures
of wisdom and knowledge.
(Colossians
chapter 2, verses 2-3).
Another marvellous attribute of God’s word, the word
of Christ, besides the power to create or destroy worlds,
or to teach and instruct believers, is the ability to
bring people to faith in Christ. His word has the power
to melt and soften hard hearts; it has the power to
burn up pride, arrogance and conceit; it has the power
to incinerate selfishness, greed and lust; it has the
power to smash to pieces the dry, rock-hard heart of
unbelief:
“Is not my word like fire,” declares the LORD, “and
like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces?”
(Jeremiah
chapter 23, verse 29).
Oh, yes! I know this from personal experience. There
is nothing hotter---the heat of a million suns could
never have melted my heart. There is no blow more mighty---no
earthquake, no atom bomb could have broken my heart
in true repentance. There is nothing sharper---no fine-edged
razor, no intricate laser-beam cutter could have parted
me in such pieces and left me so helpless, trusting
only in God to shape me anew:
For the word of God is living and active. Sharper
than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing
soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts
and attitudes of the heart.
(Hebrews
chapter 4, verse 12).
There is a dramatic, even scary, set of verses in
Revelation in which we see Jesus charging out of heaven
on a white horse to bring justice to the earth. We look
at these verses more fully in a later chapter, but among
them is a very fitting verse for this chapter also:
He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his
name is the Word of God.
(Revelation
chapter 19, verse 13).
‘His name is the Word of God’---we find throughout
the Bible God does all things by His Word. How great is this Jesus who is
from heaven yet lived on earth; who spoke creation into
being, and who still speaks just as powerfully through
the Old and New Testaments to make new creations out
of repentant sinners. If angels fall down and worship
Him, then why not we?
Not Charles Wesley this time, but
two other Christian souls who shared a like faith as
Wesley’s, Edward Perronet and John Rippon:
All
hail the power of Jesus’ name!
Let
angels prostrate fall;
Bring
forth the royal diadem,
And
crown Him Lord of all.
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