Imagine an author writing a book, inventing its setting, characters and story. Then imagine the author actually entering the world he wrote about! His characters can see him, hear him and talk with him. Yet most have no idea they are standing face-to-face with the mind behind their entire story.
Sounds like a cool sci-fi plot, but that’s exactly what happened when Jesus Christ came into the world. The book Creator stepped into the world He had spoken into existence. John 1:1 tells us the Word was God, and verse 14 declares that the Word was made flesh. Why would God call His Son the Word? And what does that tell us about the Bible we hold in our hands?
But the story goes back even further. The Word of the Lord existed long before He appeared among His characters. God’s Word did not begin when Moses or any other prophet put pen to parchment. Psalm 119:89 says, For ever, O LORD, thy word is settled in heaven.
Jesus Christ, the living Word, was visible among men for a brief time. But God committed His Word to writing so generations who never saw Jesus in the flesh could hear what God says about Him (in both the Old Testament and New Testament). Those words have remained available across millennia. And Jesus promised, Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away (Matthew 24:35).
The Striking Similarities Between Jesus and Scripture
With that in mind, consider how the Bible describes Jesus Christ and the written Word of God in many of the same ways:
· Bread: Jesus said, I am the bread of life (John 6:35). Yet He also said Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God (Matt. 4:4).
· Light: Jesus said, I am the light of the world (John 8:12). Psalm 119:105 says, Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.
· Life: Jesus said, I am the resurrection, and the life as well as I am the way, the truth and the life (John 11:25 and 14:6). Philippians 2:16 tells believers to hold forth the word of life. His words bring us the message of life because they come from the One who is life.
· Truth: Again, Jesus said I am the way, the truth and the life. He also declared to God in prayer, thy word is truth (John 17:17). Jesus and the Word are the answer to what many increasingly ask, “What is truth?” (John 18:38)
These examples make it plain that the written Word bears the character of the living Word. If the living Word is perfect (Hebrews 4:15), so is the written word (Psalm 19:7). And back to our initial thoughts, they also both are eternal. Jesus said, I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last (Revelation 22:13). Meanwhile, The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever (Isaiah 40:8).
Opposition to the Word
If our salvation and sustenance depend on Christ and the Word, don’t you know that both have an enemy. Christ had a target on His back, and so does the Word of God.
Our closing thought is really a warning. Why should anyone treat God’s Word as a book that needs continuous renovation and updating? There is money in publishing. New editions are continually crafted, marketed, sold and replaced by newer ones that beg the question… which words are the right ones?
We must grasp that God gave and preserved His very Word and not just His thoughts that we can generally get in any version.
God warned Israel, Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it (Deuteronomy 4:2). Proverbs 30:6 adds, Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar. Read here if all this raises any questions in your mind about Bible versions.
The next time you open your Bible, remember whose words you hold. The Word was God. The Word became flesh. And God’s Word is forever settled in heaven. Treat it with the reverence you would give its Author.
R&J Shee