in a recent comment a friend of mine asked, “what is the word of God? Is it simply the Bible? Which version? Which translation?”
The word of God is not the Bible. Before you all get your panties in a bunch… let me take you on a tour of the word, “word”:
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
John 1:1-5
John defines the Word of God as his son Jesus. In the original hebrew translation this word is actually the first and last letter of the hebrew alphabet: Alef & Tav (remember the hebrew alphabet is read from right to left). This same word is found in the original translation of Genesis 1:1, but it is omitted from most, if not all, english translations. So we can see that the “word” in this context is the alpha omega, the beginning and the end, it is Jesus.
Peter also uses this language when writing a letter to the Jews dispersed in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia:
…knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot. He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for your sake, who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.
Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart, since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God; for
“All flesh is like grass
and all its glory like the flower of grass.
The grass withers,
and the flower falls,
but the word of the Lord remains forever.”And this word is the good news that was preached to you.
1 Peter 1:18-25
You see the word never changes, he is in all, before all and through all. If we look at the Bible to be a living word we will be let down, because it is not living; it is a collection of books, letters, and stories… meant to lead us to truth, to encourage, to teach, and to show the fulfillment of prophecy of the old testament. Don’t get me wrong, I believe the Bible is important and critical to living a godly life! But if all we do is read and not apply the word to our lives we are missing the point – entirely.
Also, a lot of the apparent contridictions in the new testament are not contridictions at all when we look at the context of the words. More on this later… I gotta finish writing a paper for class.
No Comments on "the word of God…"
Deep. I’ll have to ponder that one for awhile…
nice Sam, nice.
So then back to my original question, what is truth?
So sorry I forgot to mention your golf clubs!
Sam…
your javascript links at the top of your page are not working…are you aware of this?
I’m getting good practice in webdesign class…soon will have my own website all set up through dreamweaver….who knows if I’ll launch it..but I’ll be able to redesign my blog perhaps.
Love ya,
shell…
nice Sam, nice.
So then back to my original question, what is truth?