“Your word have I hid in my heart, that I might not sin against you." I was thinking last night about the word of God. An acrostic formed in my mind that helped me to describe what I think is the thrust of the word of God. (By “word of God” I mean the Bible.) I realize that Jesus is also referred to as the Word of God. Jesus is the personal Word of God, while the Bible is the written word of God.) At any rate, here is the acrostic: W – Witness The Bible is the ultimate witness about Jesus Christ. Both the Old and New Testaments are ultimately about Him. Jesus coming to earth is seen in the Old Testament in prophecy and in the New Testament in prospect. The Bible clearly reveals that the world will be judged by Jesus, but it reveals something else that is important for us to realize about Him. This message is in John 3:17: “For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through Him might be saved.” Because Jesus died on the cross for our sins, we can come to Him in faith and be saved. It is a word of hope for a lost and dying world. It is a word about the forgiveness of our sins. We are sinners, but, because of Jesus, we are not hopeless. Through Him we can be saved. That is the main witness of the Bible. O – Others The message of the Bible is that Jesus loved people and He expects us to love people as well – regardless! Jesus was always aware of other people. He was aware of the poor and the wealthy. He was aware of all people, even the “sinners and tax collectors.” We will have to come outside of ourselves and our little worlds, and love other people. As difficult as it is, we should love all people. (It ain’t easy.) This command is summed up in John 13:35: “By this shall all men know that you are my disciples, that you have love for one another.” R – Reality The word of God reveals the reality of God. It begins in Genesis 1:1: “In the beginning God….” Period! The Bible does not present an argument about the existence of God; rather it just assumes the existence of God. The word of God reveals God to us as a real Person, One Who created the world and is involved in the history of the world. He is revealed to us as “Father, Son and Holy Spirit.” We call this the “Trinity.” If you do not believe in the reality of God, you do not believe in the Bible. There are certainly principles given in the word of God that people could follow as unbelievers, but if they want to believe in the Bible as God’s word, they must accept the reality of God and His involvement in the history of the world, and, for that matter, His involvement in the lives of individuals. D – Doctrine There are people who overlook, or ignore, the doctrines of the Bible, but that does not mean that doctrine is not there. 2 Timothy 3:16 is one example of the importance of doctrine: “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.” I do not have the space to develop all of the Bible doctrines, but suffice it to say that the Bible teaches some definite things about God and about His expectations of us, and that is what we believe and attempt to practice; therefore, we have biblical doctrines that we live by. For better or for worse, that is my acrostic. I hope that it has been informative for you. Bro. Joe
1 Comment
Margaret M Jones
3/18/2016 08:30:10 am
I love the word of God. Thanks for these thoughtful insights. Happy to hear that you are improving.
Reply
Your comment will be posted after it is approved.
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorDr. Joe Beauchamp is the author of this blog and website. Categories
All
Archives
September 2021
|