The Nature of the Word of God

2. God’s Word as the Speech of God

The Word of God in its three forms always exists with a physical aspect—the sound of preaching, the page of Scripture, the body of Jesus Christ—or it could not come to us as physical creatures. But God’s Word is primarily spiritual because it is primarily a form of rational communication between God and us. Consequently, we do better to focus on understanding and obeying God’s Word than on how it sounds or makes us feel.

The Word of God in Its Threefold Form

1. Preaching

As Christians, we may say much about God, but all these words are not the Word of God. For our words to become God’s Word, God must first actively command us to speak them. Second, God must freely choose in love to make himself the object of our talk. Third, God must judge our talk to be true both in relation to him and in relation to ourselves. Finally, our words become God’s Word in the miraculous moment that God chooses to make them so. When this divine command, objectification, judgment, and event occur, we render true service in freedom to God and our words become the Word of God to be heard and obeyed.

Diaspora Judaism (AD 1)

In 1451 BC, Joshua led the twelve tribes of Israel into the Promised Land. There they remained until 721 BC, when Yahweh allowed the ten northern tribes to be dragged into exile and oblivion for their faithless devotion to the Olympian gods. Then, in 588 BC, Yahweh allowed Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, to exile even the two remaining tribes. While Yahweh later enabled a remnant to return to Jerusalem, from 588 BC until now most descendants of these tribes have lived outside of Jerusalem and its surrounding land.

The Strange Journey of the First Church (AD 33-66)

The Book of Acts gives us few but illuminating insights into the life of the first church. That congregation began on Pentecost (May 24, AD 33). Father had raised Jesus from the dead fifty days before (April 5). Jesus had then ascended into heaven only ten days before (May 14). Just before his ascension, Jesus had told his disciples to wait in Jerusalem until empowered as his witnesses by the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:4, 8).

A Hope-filled Response to Conformity (Daniel 3:1-18)

Nebuchadnezzar, the powerful ruler of many lands from his capital in Babylon, ordered the construction of an ostentatious image of gold (Daniel 3:1). He then ordered all the peoples under his control to fall down and worship the image the moment they heard a patriotic song begin to play (v. 5). Any nonconformist was to be executed (v. 6).

Jesus Warns Us against Antichrists (1 John 2:15-24)

Today Jesus shares this warning with us through his apostle John: Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him (1 John 2:15, New American Standard Bible, here and following). To avoid any confusion, John clarifies for us all that is in the world: the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life (2:16).

God Has Chosen for Us to Transition to a New Age

Around 600 BC, Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, had a dream which troubled him. To make sure his counselors interpreted it correctly, he demanded first that they tell him what he dreamt. When they confessed their inability to do so, he ordered their execution. Just before they were to die, God revealed the dream and its interpretation to Daniel. Daniel praised God, acknowledging that “It is He who changes the times and the epochs; He removes kings and establishes kings” (2:21).