The Words of God

John 8:47 – “He that is of God heareth God’s words.”

The words of God come to us in many different ways.  But the most prevalent way in our current age is through the preaching of His Holy Word.  Throughout the Bible, we can see the different methods God has used in various dispensations.  Whether it was through the dreams of Joseph and Daniel or through the revelations to the prophets Isaiah and Ezekiel – whether through the visitation of a pre-incarnate Christ to Abraham or Joshua or an angelic being to Gideon, Zacharias, or Mary – whether the spoken word directly from God Himself to Adam and Eve and to Noah or the inspiration of the Holy Ghost to the writers of the Scriptures – the words of God as recorded in the Bible are to be heard and heeded, for they hold in them the way of wisdom and the way of life.

For example, look at Genesis 2:16-17.  “And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” Here we see the direct words of God to Adam and Eve.  In this passage, the words of God are words that instruct.  For when God created man, He knew that man would have a rebellious heart.  So He set rules in place and instructed man to follow those rules.  These rules tell us what to do – and they tell us what not to do.  Yet man made the conscious choice to disobey God and brought sin into the world.  Rebellious man hates rules, so he breaks the rules and tries to justify it by calling it legalism.  Man still chooses to disobey God.  In man’s eyes all rules are legalistic and made to be broken.

Next, let’s look at Genesis 6:9-19.  Due to the length of the passage, we won’t quote it here, but if you open your Bible to it, you’ll see that it speaks of the time of Noah and the flood.  In this passage, the words of God are words that inform.  He was telling Noah that, due to man’s wickedness, He was going to wipe out man from the face of the earth, and along with him all creatures that lived on the face of the earth.  There was no instruction here – only words of information – words of warning.  Now all of God’s words were not warnings of dire consequences as these were.  Some were simply to inform man of His love and grace and peace and joy and many other gifts.  We see many of these in the poetical books and the epistles.

But man, in his continual self-important state, continues to ignore God’s instructions, as well as His warnings and His words of love.  It was Nietzsche who said, “God is dead.”  And man continues to push God out of his life.  It’s easier to say there is no God than to admit that man must submit to God and follow His rules.  Rebellion continues to rule the hearts and minds of man today.  But those who do submit, find that God brings certain gifts into their lives.  He brings us love – not the lustful love of the world, but a spiritual love – a perfect love that casts out all fear – an eternal love that can only come from above.  It’s a love that fills our hearts with love for Him and for His children.  He brings us truth – not worldly truth that is no real truth, but a spiritual truth that imparts a wisdom that gets us through the daily trek through this life.  He brings us peace – not as the world gives, but a spiritual peace – a perfect peace that only comes by trusting in Him.  He brings us life – not physical life, but spiritual life, life in Him – eternal life – everlasting life – forever living in the presence of God and basking in His glory.

Quote – “Jesus specializes in hard cases.” – Dr. B. R. Lakin

"Lord, Thank you for your commands in the Scriptures - Thank you for your loving guidance in the Scriptures - Thank you for your precious promises in the Scriptures. And Lord, help us realize that every word in the Scriptures is your word. Amen."