THE WORD

"It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every WORD of God". (Luke 4:4)

GOD, THROUGH HIS WORD, BEGAN ALL THINGS:

The Bible, God's WORD, His grand revelation to mankind, commences, "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth"---(Genesis 1:1). We are not told when that beginning was, but scientists seem to have proved by carbon dating fossils and by other means , that it was many millions of years ago.

However, about 6,000 years ago the Great Creator, the God of this universe, planned another world, of living things, out of the primordial chaos which the natural world He had created became- "And the earth was without form and void (waste and empty), and darkness was upon the face of the deep". (Genesis 1:2). The earth was completely covered by water, surrounded by absolute and total darkness and devoid of life of any kind.

From this starting point, our loving, moral God, commenced a new world of people, with whom He wished to share His own being and blessings; with people who would choose of their own free will, to love and serve Him.

Thus God said---"let there be light: and there was light". (Genesis 1:3). There followed 'six days', during which the all-powerful and all-knowing God, through His mighty angels, fashioned the earth to what we know it to be, a beautiful world of interesting places with a wonderful diversity of life in a vast multitude of forms and species. (Genesis 1:2).

The means by which God accomplished such a stupendous feat, was HIS WORD, which is filled with His eternal, miraculous, invisible power.

We learn from Psalm 33:6-9---"By the WORD OF THE LORD were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth….for he spake and it was done; he commanded and it stood fast". The Lord Jesus at the right hand of the Father, confirmed that His Father created all things, telling the Apostle John through His angel to write--"O Lord….thou hast created all things…." (Revelation 4-11)

IN ABRAM GOD MADE A NEW BEGINNING:

Because of long, continued and increasing violence and wickedness, The Great Creator became The Great Destroyer. The world of the descendants of Adam and Eve perished under the waters of a flood as He foretold (Genesis 6:7) Only Noah, a righteous man, and his immediate family, were saved from death, along with at least two representatives of all species. (Genesis 6:19). In love for His creation, "the work of His fingers", (Psalm 8-3), God, by His WORD, made a covenant with Noah, saying--"Neither will I again smite any more every thing living , as I have done". (Genesis 8:21 and 9:15-18).

BUT, God knew that, left to themselves, men and women would again multiply violence and wickedness.,… "for the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth". (Genesis 8-21). He therefore planned not only a righteous man through whom HIS WORD and His Name, would be sanctified, but also a righteous nation to be the 'Kingdom of God', to serve as AN EXAMPLE to other nations, with a righteous law, HIS WORD, as an INSTRUCTOR to all people . Moses said to Israel, "..this is your wisdom and understanding in the sight of the nations, which shall hear all these statutes, and say Surely this is a wise and understanding people". (Deuteronomy 4:6).

To this end, God BY HIS WORD, called Abram from family idolatry in the Chaldean University city of Ur, (Genesis 11:31.. Joshua 24:2). By HIS WORD, God gave to Abram special promises involving an eternal inheritance of all the land from the River Nile to the Euphrates River. (Genesis 15:18). By HIS WORD God also promised Abram he would become the father of a great 'seed', who would share the promise of the same land. (Genesis 13:14-17). By and through HIS WORD, God developed that "seed" through Isaac and Jacob (Deut. 1:8) to the Lord Jesus Christ and, in Him, to all those who become related to God's promises through baptism (Galatians 3). There would come to be a multitude of people out of all nations, who display His (Christ's) spiritual characteristics----faith in God's WORD and obedience to His commands in that WORD. (Romans 16:26).

THE LORD JESUS CAME TO FULFIL GOD'S WORD:

God's WORD was fulfilled in the birth of Isaac; the development of the Jewish nation and in the provision of God's Law (WORD) through Moses to Israel. Under some righteous Kings, Israel was a living example' to other nations, but sadly, more often, when led by faithless kings who ignored GOD'S WORD, they were faithless and a bad example. However, there were always individuals and families, like those of John the Baptist and Jesus who upheld GOD'S WORD and remained faithful.. Even though Israel failed GOD'S WORD, God remained true to His promises in His WORD, sending His Son as "the WORD made flesh" (John 1-14)…not the Son made flesh, as some claim. The Lord Jesus' whole coming and ministry is summed up by Himself…"Think not that I am come to destroy the law (WORD) or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. (the WORD)". (Matthew 5:17-18).

Whilst the Apostles Matthew and Luke provide the literal details of the origins of the Lord Jesus (through David and back to Abraham and Adam), the Apostle John gives His spiritual origins, as direct from God, a living embodiment of HIS WORD: "In the beginning was the WORD, and the WORD was with God, and the WORD was God……and the WORD was made (became) flesh and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth". (John 1:1, 14). Thus John depicts the Lord Jesus as a fulfilment of, and a fulfiller of, GOD'S WORD. Jesus was, and still is, and, when He comes back to earth again, will be seen to be, GOD'S WORD in living action. JESUS WILL COME AGAIN and all JESUS WILL COME AGAIN and all of God's word will be fulfilled.

SPECIAL NOTE: The Greek word LOGOS…WORD, is a 'masculine' noun and thus must be accompanied by male pronouns. This in no way necessarily indicates that THE WORD is a person. Thus when John 1:3 reads "All things were made by him", the correct reading should be, "All things were made by IT"…THE WORD OF GOD.