God has created me, He knows me inside and out, He knows me intimately. (Psalm 139) God is concerned for my welf
are and desires that I know Him – eternally. So concerned is He that He would send His son (who His very Word calls “the Word” (John 1)) to die for me. (John 3:16) To know God’s Word is to know Him – Jesus, the Word; God – In the Flesh. To know the Word is to know God’s heart for the Kingdom and for those who would dwell in it – you and me. To know the Word is to know God’s heart for those who are lost (Ezekiel 18); His heart for righteousness, for mercy, for grace and hope and love. To know the Word is to know the wisdom and intention of God to redeem man and reconcile man to Himself, to embrace him, and betroth him, and walk with him forever. To know the Word is to know that the Father is pleased to give us what we need – to give us the very Kingdom itself – it is to trust God at His Word. (Luke 12) God has created me, He knows me, He loves me and He wants me. Who better than the Word, to give us “everything we need for life and godliness”. Who better than the one who knows me... better than I know my self? Who else should I trust with my eternal welfare or with (the) very knowledge of God (Himself), than the One who loves me so much that He would die for me to reveal to me that love?Jesus himself spoke of the scriptures as one who esteemed, valued and believed its content. In the gospels alone, the “Scriptures” are referred to by or (speaks) directly about Jesus 22 times. In so, Jesus validates the authenticity and authority of God’s (written) Word and (at least) implies the source and power of the scriptures as God’s words and primary mode of life – revelation, regeneration and transformation; “Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.” John 7:38 That, contained in the scriptures, is the path by which we discover the saving and redeeming knowledge of His very person – that by the scriptures – Jesus can be and is known “You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me,” In one statement Jesus affirms the validity of the Word as God’s message to man and that same Word being the very path by which we can receive eternal life (through Him) and attain His likeness. In desiring that we would all be like His Son, God would give all that we need to see His Son so that we might be saved and with the same stroke be powerfully transformed into the likeness of His Son.
the power of transformation, the ultimate “I Love You”… obedience…
Jesus Himself declared that our love for Him is best expressed in obedience to Him, His Word (John 14:23-24, 15:20, 17:6)); declaring that those who were truly His relation were those who “hear God’s word and put it into practice” Luke 8:21. Elsewhere we are reminded that (His) blessing is derived from obedience:
Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it—he will be blessed in what he does. James 1:23-25
“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness,” 2 Timothy 3:16
Isn’t it ironic…
I don’t think that it should be any surprise, even for pure irony’s sake, that the passage in scripture that most pointedly describes the Scripture as a whole for what it is has the same address as the passage in Scripture that most pointedly declares Gods intention (John 3:16) for the Word. (John 1) As I believe the two (Scriptures and concepts) are inseparable, they are intrinsically linked by each other’s simplicity, veracity and profundity – that God intends to redeem mankind to Himself and that He intends to use His Word to do so: the Word made flesh, as well as the Word in written form: That God would not leave us wanting, but has something precious for us by His Word.
No, you’re right, the scriptures were not originally written with numbers and addresses attached to them, but that’s one of the many incredible things about our God, I can’t imagine that God had any less influence over those who systematized the scriptures for ease of discovery than He did with the actual writers of it and that He wouldn’t make sure that His sense of irony was not seen and appreciated.
to preach the Word is to bring good news, to bring life…
“‘The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart,’ that is, the word of faith we are proclaiming: That if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. As the Scripture says, ‘Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame.’ For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, for, ‘Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’”
How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!’” Romans 10:8-15
It is the privilege of the children of God, not only to have His Word to lead, guide and transform, but also to carry. It is our privilege and responsibility to share the good news of Jesus to all who would hear – to live in such a way as to proclaim Jesus with our attitudes, lives and (finally, our) speech. To preach the Word.
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