THE WORD OF GOD
Why is the Word of God so important?
The short answer is, It has the power to change me! The Word of God as described by Paul in Hebrews 4:12 as the most effective agent for change in the human heart.
“For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires.”
The master surgeon using this spiritually surgical tool divides soul from spirit and joint from marrow. Before we explore that truth from scripture lets take a moment to better understand what is meant when we say THE WORD OF GOD. In Christian theology, the term "Word of God" holds profound significance and encapsulates multiple dimensions of God's communication with humanity. It is a phrase employed to convey the essence of divine revelation, authority, and the nature of Scripture.
As Christians we refer to the Word of God as divinely inspired. This means that the authors of the biblical texts were guided by God’s Spirit to write truths that are necessary for faith and practice. The concept of inspiration is pivotal, as it suggests that although human beings wrote the texts, there is a divine authority and authenticity behind them.
We believe in the inspiration of scripture for good reason. It is provable. the Bible can be authenticated historically, prophetically it is undeniably accurate. In the Old Testament there were 444 prophetic predictions about Jesus coming as the Messiah. The last was 400 years before He was born and it gave us the exact place where Jesus would be born, Bethlehem. Each of those prophetic predictions were fulfilled in the life of Jesus.
Another crucial understanding of the "Word of God" in Christian theology is found in the person of Jesus Christ. The Gospel of John begins with the powerful declaration, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God" (John 1:1). This passage introduces the concept of the Logos, a term that encompasses the idea of Jesus as both a divine messenger and the embodiment of God's revelation to humanity. That is what gives this book we call the Bible its life changing capabilities. It is not just a collection of words, stories of history, poetry, wisdom literature, it is ALIVE!
We see a powerful visual of the power of the Word of God for transformation in this passage from Nehemiah 8:5,6
5 “Ezra stood on the platform in full view of all the people. When they saw him open the book, they all rose to their feet. 6 Then Ezra praised the Lord, the great God, and all the people chanted, “Amen! Amen!” as they lifted their hands. Then they bowed down and worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground.”
This passage is the inspiration behind why we stand each Sunday for the reading of God’s Word at the Grace Place Church. If you read through the book of Ezra and this chapter in Nehemiah you will see the profound change that happened in the lives of the people gathered who heard the Word of God and opened their hearts to receive it. Powerful and dramatic change took place immediately in hearts and lives of the people gathered. They took action to align themselves with the commands of God’s Word. They repented, and their repentance led to worship.
Why would God want to divide the soul and spirit, joint and marrow? The soul refers to our self-consciousness, mind, emotions, and will. It’s who we are as an individual. The spirit refers to the part of us that connects with God. Our spirit is “born again” when we accept Christ (John 3:3), and serves as the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19). So the soul refers to our individual humanity, while the spirit relates to our spiritual life in God. If our sourish nature is allowed to rule our lives we are easily conquered by sinful temptations. We cannot free ourselves from the entanglements of basic lusts of life. We are driven in a direction of self-fulfillment as the key objective of life. The Word of God divides soul from spirit so that the control center of our life is connected to God not our own minds, will and emotions. The use of the language joint and marrow is significant in that God seeks to be glorified through us. Our bodies are referred to in scripture as the Temple of the Lord. Our bodies are to glorify God not just gratify ourselves.
“Run from sexual sin! No other sin so clearly affects the body as this one does. For sexual immorality is a sin against your own body. 19 Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, 20 for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body.”
-I Corinthians 6:18,19
Finally, let me speak to a popular term coined by some former Christians who rejected their faith upbringing and are attempting a comeback on new scriptural terms. Some were hurt in formative years of their lives by people who called themselves Christians but did not live Christian lives. Others just abandoned Christian faith in their college years seeing the Word of God as out of date for the times, or misread and misunderstood and so they began to tear down core tenants of Christian faith. Identifying as “deconstructionist” working to bring new understanding to Christianity. In some cases a more inclusive message that is more culturally palatable. DECONSTRUCTIONISM is not new as to relates to efforts to redefine scripture. The first documented case of it goes back to Genesis 3 when the serpent tempted Eve.
To do justice to the subject matter of deconstructionism I would need to dedicate another post so let me just says this about it as we bring this post to a close….
“If you change the Word Of God, it loses the power to change you”
It is sufficient enough to bring complete life change. Man made efforts to change the meaning of the Word of God will only hurt man.