"Living and Written"

   When considering the Word of God, we must understand the two-fold definition declared in Scripture.

    "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God… the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us" (John 1:1;14).

    "From a child, thou hast known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ.  All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness" (II Timothy 3:15-16).

    The Word of God, both living and written, constitutes our proper devotion to God's communication of Himself and His truth.  From everlasting to everlasting, the Lord Jesus Christ exists as the former; through the prophets and the apostles, God gave to us the latter.  Thus, we may - and must - know Christ in both personal and doctrinal terms.  "God is a spirit, and that they worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth" (John 4:24).  The Lord Jesus graces every page of the Bible - "they are they which testify of Me" (John 5:39).  The Bible illuminates the person and work of Christ, rightly declaring and defining Him to our hearts and minds.  We open the written Word to discover the living Word, and know the living Word in terms of the written Word.  "In Thy light shall we see light" (Psalm 36:9).

    No greater principle serves to guide our walk with God in life and in truth.  If we seek to know the Lord Jesus apart from the Scriptures, we will inevitable end up following "another Jesus" to our deception and peril (II Corinthians 11:4).  Indeed, plenty of supposed Christs beckon our hearts and minds.  Only one suffices, namely, the Lord Jesus proclaimed in and by the Bible.  "He that believeth on Me, as the Scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water" (John 7:38; emphasis added).  If we seek to understand the Bible apart from it's Genesis to Revelation exaltation of Christ, we will miss the main reason for the Bible's existence.  The Apostle Paul wrote that God ultimately purposes to "gather together in one all things in Christ" (Ephesians 1:10).  Such a determination means that if our Heavenly Father writes a book, it will be about His Son.  He did pen such a holy Volume, by His Spirit, through His apostles and prophets, and about the Lord Jesus.  Thus, we read the Book to know the Son, and we know the Son as we read the Book.  Or, in terms of our present consideration, we devote our hearts to the living and the written Word as we seek to love, trust, obey, exemplify, and communicate God and His truth.  

    Human beings possess the God-given capacity for personal knowledge and intellectual understanding.  Such a dual capability enables us to worship God "in spirit and in truth".  Both aspects of His Word present themselves to our hearts and minds as the Holy Spirit leads us to the Scriptures to know Christ, and as He leads us to Christ to know the Scriptures.  Again, "in Thy light shall we see light."  The Word of God, both living and written, beckons to us as a gift of riches unsearchable and love beyond full comprehension…

"Grace and truth came by Jesus Christ."

(John 1:17)

Weekly Memory Verse

   God hath not given us the spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.

(II Timothy 1:7)