“The B-I-B-L-E – yes, that’s the book for me. I stand alone on the Word of God, the B-I-B-L-E.”
I have probably heard that song from the time I was in the womb, and I’m sure it’s one many of you grew up hearing and possibly now even teach to your children. I am thankful for the biblical heritage that my grandparents and parents gave me. It was clearly illustrated for us not just at the church building but at home, too. The Bible was always central, as it should be. I couldn’t miss its importance, so clearly represented by the large, black, open Bible that lay on the altar table at the front of our country church’s sanctuary.
The Word should be exalted and honored and spoken frequently and freely. But over the last ten years or so, God has been challenging me to go beyond just honoring the words in black ink on the white page or in pixels on a white screen. Those words are powerful because they reflect the Living Word of God. He is a Person, not just words on a page. He is the One we can encounter daily through His Spirit living in us because of our faith in His finished work on the cross for us.
I’m sure it was hard for the disciples to grasp this when they walked with Jesus on earth. To go from the words of the Law to a living person called by John as the Word who was in the beginning with God because He was God (John 1:1-2), was a hard concept for them to grasp—and they actually met Jesus in Person.
So, when He told them He was going to go away and leave His Spirit as a Comforter for them, it must have been hard to understand how that was going to be better. Jesus was so very accessible to them this way. So much so that even those who grew up with Jesus didn’t think He was all that special; He was so human to them that they couldn’t believe He could be the Messiah.
But this is the powerful truth they began to grasp better after He was gone as His Spirit illuminated it, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14).
He is more than just words on a page; we can know the Word intimately, and we can show the Word to others.
No matter who we are in the Body of Christ – the wife of a pastor, the church janitor, the tech guy or gal in the sound booth, or the one who cleans up the kitchen after putting out the coffee and juice – we are called to dwell in the Word, to live in Christ, in constant and abiding fellowship with the Person who is the Word, not just the words on the pages of Holy Writ. In knowing the Word we can live the Word and impact the world by the power of His Spirit living in us.
I love how Dane Ortlund expresses this so well in his book Gentle and Lowly. He says, “Jesus is closer to you today than he was to the sinners and sufferers he spoke with and touched in his earthly ministry. Through His Spirit Christ’s own heart envelops his people with an embrace nearer and tighter than any physical embrace could ever achieve. His actions on earth in a body reflected his heart, the same heart now acts in the same way toward us for we are now His body” (p. 33).**
That is our privilege to know the Living Word through the words of Scripture and through His Spirit who inspires them. Through faith in Him we can know Him intimately. Without that knowledge, any work we do for His kingdom is fruitless. Later in the gospel of John, he records how the Word taught His disciples that if they did not abide in Him, their work would be fruitless.
When I look back on our years in ministry there were times when I was so busy giving out that I fear some of that work was empty. If I have such close access to Him, why do I not take more time to be with Him instead of trying to do so much for him?
If I do, then I can live as Christ more effectively and see truly fruitful gospel ministry take place in and through me.
I was able to attend a Good Friday service one Easter weekend where the preacher repeatedly reminded us of this, “Jesus was forsaken so that you didn’t have to be.” This statement was powerful to me because it reminded me how near God always is to me.
Never will we be separated from Him. Not even in death. Because as soon as we take our last breath here, our spirit will be immediately in His presence. Jesus bore the curse of our sin so we didn’t have to be separated from Him.
Come sister—this One, full of grace and truth, is calling you, is calling all of us to see His glory by abiding deeply in intimacy with Him so we can show Him to the world. I can’t wait to see where He takes us this coming blog year as we explore our theme: The Word.
** Ortlund, Dane. Gentle and Lowly: The Heart of Christ for Sinners and Sufferers. 2020 Crossway. Wheaton, IL.
