The Living Word
It is a great mystery that God speaks to us today through His Word so we can live well
Heb 4:12-13
12 For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. 13 Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.
Ps 50:1-3
The Mighty One, God, the Lord ,
speaks and summons the earth
from the rising of the sun to the place where it sets.
2 From Zion, perfect in beauty,
God shines forth.
3 Our God comes and will not be silent;
Ps 119:89-93
89 Your word, O Lord , is eternal;
it stands firm in the heavens.
90 Your faithfulness continues through all generations;
you established the earth, and it endures.
91 Your laws endure to this day,
for all things serve you.
92 If your law had not been my delight,
I would have perished in my affliction.
93 I will never forget your precepts,
for by them you have preserved my life.
God speaks to us so we may know we are in a RELATIONSHIP with him
God’s word can give us insight, understanding, direction, hope
God can speak to us regarding decisions we need to make
God speaks about His hopes, dreams and plans for our lives that have more to do with WHO I am and becoming more than WHAT I AM DOING or WHERE I am going
I know a young man who is about to be fired from his job (it is not anyone here!). It is his first job out of university and he sincerely believes he knows what to do in his job and how to do it. I believe he honestly believes he is doing a bang up job, but no one – including his boss would agree with him. He has been in his job almost a year and he still cant do the most basic parts of his job. He has been trained, he has had people patiently explain and remind him of what he is supposed to be doing. But he can never seem to get it right. When he is being trained, he takes meticulous notes, but then he never refers to them again.
When someone gets on to him, it is never his fault – in his eyes – it is always someone elses problem.
When someone tries to correct him he says “yeah, I know, I know” in a super condescending attitude.
He always thinks he knows best – better than his boss or other co-workers who have been doing the job longer – and better.
He often looks for a way to get out of doing the work and regularly thinks he deserves a holiday.
In his evaluations, he listens to what he is doing wrong, but then quickly forgets and goes back to doing things the way he had been doing them.
He is going to have one more evaluation and it probably wont be a fun one for him and if things don’t change he will be fired – and he has no idea it is coming, though he has had many opportunities.
God’s Word
- Is REAL & POWERFUL
12 For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.
There are many things around us that are alive & real –
People, animals
In the greek language – it carries the idea of lively, a quickness, and powerful
Like something that will reach out and grab you with energy.
Many people have discovered that their own relationship with Jesus began rather unexpectedly – like he reached out and grabbed ahold of their hearts in a very unexpected way
God’s Word can also come to us – as Christians – in rather unexpected ways – but it captures our hearts and spins our lives around.
But if a person does not believe it is alive and active they can make some disastrous mistakes.
- The challenge today is we don’t believe it is true
Historically, polls have shown us that the higher the education a person has, the less one knows about the Bible. Also, the higher the education, the lower the belief that the Bible is actually true. Today, there are many people with a phd in any number of subjects but only a 3rd grade knowledge of religion.
My young friend believes he knows what is best for his life and is not willing to listen to anyone else – He doesn’t really believe that his boss really means what she says or has the power to do anything about it. He is setting himself up for a disaster.
Many of the problems you and i face in our lives are as a result of our own poor choices.
God’s Word
- Carries CONSEQUENCES
A double edged sword leaves consequences – it divides everything in it’s path
A scalpel that cuts leaves consequences – it opens us up, exposes what is under the skin
It says: “it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.
It divides soul & spirit – these are somewhat technical / confusing terms – in todays world we often use these terms interchangeably
In the greek the writer uses the words psucheés & pneúmatos – Psuche- is the life breath of humanity , the pneuma has more to do with the life breath of God = God’s word exposes the parts of us that are ours – of our own doing – and the parts of us that are God’s
Like in a joint of a bone and a doctor distinguishes the parts of a bone; God’s word distinguishes between your thoughts & attitudes, =what you think and why you think it; what you do and the real reasons why you are doing them.
We do not fool him, nothing is covered up or hidden
13 Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight.
We have all tried to hide something we have done.
God takes his word seriously, he means what he says and says what he means.
Sometimes we don’t understand it or even more likely don’t like what he said so we ignore him.
Sometimes we don’t like what he has said = it is not the way you or I may have done it and so we ignore it.
- We don’t think it really matters
God’s Word:
- Requires MY RESPONSE
... Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account
Have you ever had to explain = justify what you have said or done
We know – theoretically – we have a day of reckoning – but when we have this perspective that is prevelant in our society that God is just going to accept everybody but the Hitlers of life – an extreme evil so removed from our lives that it really doesn’t matter then a point of accountablility doesn’t really make sense.
My friend who is about to be fired doesn’t change anything in his work because he doesn’t think he needs to or should have to.
- I want to ignore it
The truth is ~ God’s Word will make my life better
Ps 119:32
32 I run in the path of your commands,
for you have set my heart free.
James 1:21-25
21 Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you.
22 Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. 23 Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror 24 and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. 25 But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it — he will be blessed in what he does.
I must:
- ACCEPT & REGARD it as TRUE
I should endeavour to take it as seriously as God does
When I don’t – I am only deceiving myself...
If God truly desires to bless us then I can trust what he has said is ultimately for my blessing, even if I don’t like it or understand it.
“accept the word planted in you, which can save you.”
- RECOGNIZE it has consequence
What God says will happen and he is more interested in who I am becoming as a person who is growing to trust him and live my life according to his ways and purposes – so He can be revealed in me – I experience him doing things in my life that only could be done because of him.
I recognize that things matter in this life = I will have to give an account of every word that comes out of my mouth, every glare that reflects of my face, every action that I do. I can’t hide.
- RESPOND to what God has said in FAITH / ACTION
25 But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it — he will be blessed in what he does.
Then I will live in what the rest of the world calls a mystery but to you it becomes a real relationship with a God who is speaking to you.
Ps 119:32
32 I run in the path of your commands,
for you have set my heart free.