“It is Written!”
As I meditated on the mysterious supernatural nature of the Word of God, I thought about the proclamations of our Lord, when He so often stated “It is written.“ WOW! What powerful words! What powerful authority Christ gave the Scriptures (Matthew 7:28-29). What a powerful endorsement.
Christ validated the Old Testament and then fulfilled its promises in the New Testament Scriptures! Have you thought about the fact that our Lord ENDORSED the Scriptures? For study purposes, look up all the times Christ said: “IT IS WRITTEN.”
The Bible does not seek to prove itself, but makes a direct statement “In the beginning was the Word” (John 1:1).
Let’s briefly touch on how we got our Bible — how it came to us.
CANONICITY
The LORD OUR GOD used many writers over many centuries and pieced together the history of mankind and man’s turbulent relationship experiences with The LORD GOD.
The word canonicity is derived from the Greek word KANON which originally meant a rod or a ruler — hence, a measuring stick or norm. This is exactly what the Bible is — a norm, a standard — The Divine and absolute standard. The Bible is the “Mind of Christ” (1 Corinthians 2:16).
THE “INSPIRED WORD” OF GOD
What does “inspired” literally mean?
The term “Inspiration” is found only once in the New Testament, in 2 Timothy 3:16. The Greek word for inspiration is theopneustos, and literally means, “God-breathed” (inhale/exhale). Please also reference 2 Peter 1:20, 21.
The word Inspiration actually denotes divine authority; divine authorship; divine endorsement — a literal signature of God. Inspiration is our guarantee from God! Inspiration is God’s assurance of the accuracy and authority of His Word. Jesus confirmed the Bible each time He stated: “IT IS WRITTEN!”
Theology uses the expression: “Plenary-verbal inspiration of Scripture.” Plenary-verbal inspiration simply says that all parts of the Bible are equally inspired. Plenary-verbal inspiration refers to the original Hebrew and Greek languages or original signature. Finally, plenary-verbal inspiration assures us that God included in the original penmanship of the Bible, all the necessary things He meant for us to know (2 Timothy 3:16,17).
The Holy Spirit supernaturally directed the human writers of Scripture so that without wavering their individual intelligence, literary style, personal feelings, or any other human factor, they wrote God’s complete and coherent message to humanity with perfect accuracy in the original languages of the original signature — the very words bearing the absolute authority of Divine authorship. Read that a second time, and think about the word-descriptions.
The Bible is a “Spirit-filled” Book from GOD to mankind!” God is fascinating! The Bible is designed by God to fulfill mankind, until God destroys evil. Listen: when man is not filled with the Word he is filled with the world. Notice the spelling of these two words — only the “L” is inserted. The L stands for lawlessness! Interesting!
“If any man loves the world, the Love of the Father is not in him.” Which do you love more, living in the Word or living in the world?
The Bible is a Divine Life Book, because it is filled with the Holy Spirit. The Bible has a Spiritual Life all It’s own. The Bible contains the Words of Life necessary to restore man to God. God has made available RESTORATION, RECONCILIATION, AND REDEMPTION THROUGH JESUS CHRIST (John 14:6; Acts 4:12). The Bible is written! The Bible IS, as in I AM!
“And the Word of God came to __________.“ This phrase is stated hundreds of times in the Old Testament. Check out these words, this phrase, in your concordance. How can anyone doubt that the Bible is indeed the literal words of God, from God?
The Bible contains two Covenants between God and Man, which we call: The Old Testament and The New Testament, or The First Covenant and The Second Covenant. The First Covenant promises a Messiah/Savior. The Second Covenant delivers on that promise of Messiah/Savior — Jesus Christ.
God gave His Word! God gave His Son! God gave the Holy Spirit. GOD is a GIVER, and a LOVER of all of His creation, especially us.
Someone once said: “We need to submit ourselves to the Word of the Lord, and the Lord of the Word” — Jesus Christ.
“Divine Wind.” Divine Wind (energy) is a good way to express the Holy Spirit incubating the frozen surface of the Earth, in Genesis 1. The energy of the Holy Spirit warmed the waters melting the ice pack. As the water warmed, the vapors rose causing divine winds (Genesis Chapter One). So we have divine winds, and we have divine words. We have winds of change, and we have words of wisdom. Notice the two letters in the middle of these two words: “IN,” and “OR.”
I often think about how the Lord expresses Himself. So think about the fact that the Lord has written on the hearts of men, and He has written on the wind. God’s signature is throughout creation. God’s signature is throughout the Scriptures — every word in the original signature. God has indeed written all the Scriptures.
“Perhaps the deepest desire of the remnant of man, in every generation, in all the ages, was/is: to know God — like Adam knew him! Man is not complete without God. Therefore, it would seem that the entire duty of man is to learn and obey God.” — C. S. Craig
TO END OUR STUDY ON THE WORD OF GOD, LET’S LOOK AT A BEGINNING:
“In the beginning, God” (Genesis 1:1a). “In the beginning was The Word” (John 1:1). These beginnings were not a beginning! Say what? They are simply God communicating to us in human terms so we can understand. This is called in theology: anthropopathism.
Anthropopathism is a description of infinite things expressed for finite minds to understand. Understand? God is Awesome! God is fascinating! God is eternal without ever having a beginning. He has Always existed and there will never be a time when God does not exist. Therefore, when you received Christ as Savior, you received “everlasting” life, which has a beginning but no end. Praise the Lord.
In closing, beware of the untruths of the worldly “social” media. Be aware of the Truths of God — stay in the Word.
Thank you, LORD for your Word and this wonderful walk with you in Fields of Grace Learning. In Jesus name, Amen!