Meditation – The Word of God the Father (The Truth of God – Pt. 4)
by Isaac Overton
Q. What is the word of God?
A. Jesus Christ is the living and abiding word of God the Father, truly and fully reflecting his heart, being the image of the invisible God in whom all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell. Through Christ, who is the very word of his power, God created all things and upholds them continually. Through the reading, preaching and teaching of the word of God, as contained in the scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, Christ is continually preached and speaks that we may have life and life abundant.
What is a word? When studying the truth of God, and the fact that God is truth, we cannot neglect to address the subject of the word of God. It’s inescapable. “Your word is truth”, so spoke our Lord in the high priestly prayer of John 17 (Jn 17:17). How then do we begin to open up our topic? Let’s start with that simple question: What is a word? In his masterful 1828 edition dictionary of the English language, Noah Webster offered 14 entries, all of which can be used in different contexts. Most of them address some nuance of the idea that a word is a verbal or written expression of an idea. Under the sixth entry he uses the interesting expression of a word being a “living word” or language and speech. The thirteenth entry by Webster is wonderfully expressed with a singular word: “Christ”. What is a word? As Webster does, we might give multiple definitions depending on our goals, but in general terms we might give the following simple and general definition: a word is a verbal or written expression of the mind of a person.
In the scriptures of the New Testament, one common word in the Greek language is used to express what we generally translate as “word”. The Greek word is “logos”. It’s often used just as we use our translated version – expressing speech or words that have been spoken (e.g. Mt 5:37; 7:24; Lk 1:20). I think, however, that we need to take our understanding of this concept to a deeper level. The definition we have before us is sound, but perhaps it can (and should) be expanded upon.
Human words and speech, as is the case with all human faculties, are reflective of an original in God. There is no aspect of our being that is not an aspect of our nature as image bearers. There is a correlation, then, between human words and the word of God – his being the original, ours being the image. The word of God as presented in scripture is consistent with our general definition of words, being a verbal or written expression of the mind of God. In Genesis 15:1, for example, we read the following account on an occasion when the word of God came to Abram: “After these things the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision: “Fear not, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.” But Abram said, “O Lord GOD, what will you give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?”” In this example, we see clearly that the speech of God came to Abram in a vision, and that Abram himself responded by speaking as well. In Exodus 19:10 God speaks to Moses, who in turn speaks to Israel, passing on the word of God.
This is a common pattern in redemptive history, God speaks by secondary means through his prophets (and in various other ways – see Heb 1:1-3). The concept of the word of God is also expressed in reference to the written word of God in scripture (e.g. Num 15:31; Deut 4:2). All these scriptural uses of the word of God are so far in close accord with our starting definition (i.e. a word is a verbal or written expression of the mind of a person).
There is also, however, a certain quality of power and life that is associated with words in the scriptures, and this is where we begin to step out onto more foreign territory in our understanding. A word, generally speaking, is an expression of the mind of a person. Our minds are part of what scripture refers to as our “inner man” (e.g. 1 Cor 4:16). This “inner man” is referring to our spirit, and thus words – as an expression of the spirit within – are by nature spiritual. Thus Jesus said of his words spoken to his disciples: “The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life” (Jn 6:63). Do you see the significance of that? Jesus’ words are spirit! And because they are spiritual in nature, being expressions of the inner man, words are also living. Thus in Proverbs 15:4 we read: “A gentle tongue is a tree of life, but perverseness in it breaks the spirit.” Because they are spiritual in nature, our words have a spiritual impact upon the soul of those who hear them.
Our words, since the fall, are governed naturally by the lies of Satan, and thus there is no longer life in them but death. The word of God, on the other hand, remains a living word. He has and always will speak a word that is imbued with almighty power and life. Genesis 1 is a supreme and original example of this powerful, lifegiving quality of the word of God as he spoke the cosmos into existence, but that was only the beginning. In Deuteronomy 32:47 God says that his written word to his people “it is no empty word for you, but your very life”. Proverbs 4:10 speaks to the life-giving power of the inspired word given, in this case, to Solomon. In Philippians 2:16 God’s word is entitled plainly as “the word of life” (so also in 1 Jn 1:1). In this regard we might consider our own life as being created and sustained by God’s word (Heb 1:1-3). As author N.D.Wilson puts it: “We are incarnate words”. You and I are the living, breathing words of God. He spoke our world into existence (Gen 1) and we ourselves are words, as it were, with all our days written in his book (Ps 139:16). We are also continually sustained by the word of his power (Heb 1:3). So then, the word of God, as well as being a verbal or written expression of his mind, is also powerful and life-giving.
Building further on this, and now we stretch our minds yet more, God’s word is not only powerful and life-giving, but it is itself a living, personal word. In Hebrews 4:12 we thus read: “For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart” (see also 1 Pt 1:23). Ultimately, this living word is not some vague force of life either, but is personal, for it comes as a revealed title of Christ, the Son of God, who is that very same living word of God. So then we find that one of the titles of our Lord revealed through the pen of the Apostle John is that he is “the word of God” (Jn 1:1; 14), and again also that God has spoken to us by his Son (Heb 1:1-3). Our words are expressions of the inner man, and thus come with living force as we speak them. The Word of God the Father is the full and perfect expression of his inner life and Spirit, perfectly reflects his being, and with almighty, omnipotent power, eternally generates and personally subsists in the person of Christ – the living Word. As the word of God, he comes too with power and life in him, for he is the living and true word (Jn 14:6).
This, at least to me, is a mystery, and yet is also plainly true. What is a word? A word is a written or verbal expression of the mind of a person. So it is with Christ, who is eternally generated and exists as the perpetual and full expression of the Father. Perhaps here we gain some insight into what it means for God to be one God subsisting in three persons. How can you separate the expression of a word from the mind which spoke it? You can’t. They are one. And yet so also the Son exists and is eternally generated by the Father as the second person of the Trinity.
How then shall we live in light of these things? This is quite a lot of heady doctrine for a Sunday morning newsletter meditation! But take these things and ponder them. Read and re-read this meditation. Consider that you yourself exist as an incarnate word of God embodied in living flesh. Consider also what this means for your words – the words you speak or write to other people. Consider the power of your words to bring life or death to others. By our sin, we were cut off from God, and were begotten of the serpent, the father of lies. Lies, and the death that they bring, were our natural spiritual environment. But by the living and eternal word of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, we have been made by God into “new creatures” (2 Cor 5:16-19). Consider the words that you speak each week. As an adopted child of God (Gal 4:5-7), there is now a calling on your life and mine to speak the words of Christ to one another, and as we do that we will minister life to each other. And yet his word must abide in us, for without him we can do nothing! Your words are not empty things, they are powerful – both for destruction and for life, but the greater is life, for it is the Word of God and will prevail. SDG.