Video transcript below. Content was transcribed using AI transcription software—thank you for your understanding of any minor errors. Please note video and video content is original and not AI generated.
I’ve been studying, and I want to share something really incredible with you. And this is right out of John Chapter One, where the Bible says, In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God. And the Word was God. And the same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him, and nothing that was made was made without him.
And that’s John Chapter One, paraphrase. I think it’s really deep and fascinating to think about this idea that Jesus and the Word are equivalent because that really gives a whole nother dimension to our Bible.
You know, I’ve always had a great reverence for God’s word. I won’t put anything on top of my Bible. I won’t, you know, I treat it with respect. I would never throw my Bible across the room just because I have an inborn respect for God’s word, because I was taught that. But this is something deeper.
This is actually something that is, it’s a staggering truth, and it’s such a gift if we understand it. And I’m asking the Lord to give me the wisdom to share this on video right now, because it is something that is so pivotal.
If we understand it, our life is going to be, it’s never going to be the same. It’s kind of like, if there was a, you know, four pounds of gold buried in your backyard, how many backhoes would you hire to dig, especially if your backyard was 40 acres, until you found that, I feel like this particular principle is like that. It’s, it’s even better actually.
So when John Chapter One talks about Jesus being the Word and being from the beginning, we know we have to kind of take a step back because we know if you study the Old Testament and the New Testament, you know that both testaments are about one thing, and that is Jesus.
The gift of salvation is presented in both the Old Testament and New Testament, because really there’s no one more important message for humanity than to know how to know God, to be reconciled to God.
And I say reconcile because, you know, until we reach a certain age, we don’t have the moral knowledge to have actually ruptured that relationship with intentional, and deliberate sin. Right? And that’s a totally different subject. We’ve written devotionals about that, and you can look them up on our Go Faith Strong website. But this is like the gospel in the Old Testament, the Gospel of New Testament.
And so we already know from studying God’s word, that if you look at it contextually, Jesus is the subject of the Old Testament and the New Testament. So we know that John is, I mean, in the Book of John, he’s writing this truth, and it’s the written word he’s referring to the written word, right?
But then he says, and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory, the glory of the only begotten of the Father full of grace and truth. Wow. So Jesus wasn’t, it’s not just the word, the written word, but he is the human manifestation of God. I mean, this is a, he was the expression of God’s mind, heart, and will. Now that is mind blowing. But it gets better. It gets better.
So I just want to pause for a minute before I tell you how it gets better and just kind of explain the way I, I’ve kind of, I have this example, of course, it’s not perfect, of the difference between the written word, which is the Bible, right? And the living word, which is Jesus. So if someone that you loved and that you knew, loved you, sends you a long, heartfelt letter, and in that letter, there was everything you needed for a good life, comfort for grief, wisdom for life, direction for tough decisions, and above all, a deep expression of love, you would treasure that letter. You would memorize that letter. You would live by that letter.
But let’s say that person showed up on your doorstep and they said, I want to come live with you. And this person was all powerful, rich beyond imagination, and loved you with a love you couldn’t even comprehend and filled your house with peace. Oh, that’s better than the letter. I mean, I’m not going to lie. Well, that’s kind of a really, no crude example of the difference between the written word. And when Jesus came to earth and dwelt among us, right?
But now to the part that is even better when we are born again, when our soul and spirit are made alive, what’s the Bible say, in Christ, right? Then it’s like we have opened the door and we’ve invited Jesus to be Lord of our house. We have invited his spirit to dwell in us. And that is, he’s the author of our salvation. He’s the author of the letter, the letter that’s full of wisdom and love, and he’s there in person.
You know, Jesus said that, when he left, he said, I’m going to send my comforter, my spirit, in other words, to dwell in you. And as born again believers, we have his spirit dwelling in us. He is our comforter. He is our wisdom. He is, you know, the Bible says that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. The fear of the Lord means that we, when you fear somebody, be into the, not that you’re afraid of them, but that you’re afraid of losing their presence, the sense of their presence.
You know, if you have a great awe and respect for somebody, you don’t want to do anything to offend them. And when we have awe and respect and thankfulness towards God who gave us our eternal life, then there’s no sacrifice really, that we could ever make that is bigger than the sacrifice Jesus gave for us. And so we really aren’t sacrificing anything at all to live in loving obedience to Him.
So, I don’t know if that’s exciting to you, but it is very exciting to me because that means that God’s word, we can read God’s word, right? And which Hebrews 4:12 says is quick and powerful, and it perceives the thoughts and intents of the heart.
Now, listen, I have experiences, I have experienced reading God’s word, and it was like a lamp shining into my mind and my heart saying, Hey, these are the things you need to get rid of. If you want to quit being so anxious, if you want to have your peace back, if you want to feel loved. But it also has given me the ability to help other people because God reveals to me through His spirit what I need to say to them, what I need to do for them, maybe how I need to teach them. And that comes through in conjunction with reading God’s word. Because the more we memorize God’s word, the Bible says, thy word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.
The word when it, when it takes hold, and starts to be how we conform our thoughts. And it changes the intents of our desires of our heart. And it’s like we’re connecting Jesus with Jesus.
You know, Jesus inside of us is connecting with his word. And the Bible describes, I don’t remember which prophet it was, because I took your word and I ate it. And so, when you eat food, it becomes part of you, right? When we read God’s word, study God’s word, go to church and learn, study the Bible together, even, you know, any resource that continues to feed our soul, that our soul is being strengthened in the inner man, which is where Christ dwells.
You know, I just have to say that this is such a profound thought to me. It’s like Jesus, the Word, the written Word, became the living Word so he could live in us. So his word could live in us. And you know, I don’t want, you know, I’m not saying that this is the full explanation of these verses, but I want to just challenge you with this.
Do you hear Christ? Do you hear the Spirit speak to you? Do you know the way of peace, the, I call it the path of peace. Do you feel like you’re doing all you can do in thankfulness and gratefulness for God and the great gift of salvation he’s given you? Do you feel like you’re fulfilling your divine purpose? Is your life satisfying?
If it’s not, then ask the Lord to take your life and direct it. Ask him to direct your path. And then you do the hard work. You study God’s word. You pray to him. You pray with others to him. Maybe have somebody teach you. That’s why we have this whole Go Faith Strong website, is because when I learn something, I can’t keep it to myself, thus the video.
So I hope this was an encouragement to you and I pray that you’ll study this more. And if you have comments or questions or want to discuss this further, leave a comment or email us on our website. Hey, thanks for listening.
