The Word of God
Notes
Transcript
Prayer
Today we are pushing through our series in Hebrews, and we come to what I would call a transitional passage. A link between two ideas, a chain between two thoughts.
The one thought being what we have covered these past couple of weeks about God’s promised rest, both the command for now as well as a promised eternal rest that God offers to his people and the authors next thoughts about Jesus being our Great High Priest.
12 For the word of God is alive 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.
Share about Pastor Bob and our time at Mansfield with Campus Crusade for Christ.
Pastor Bob taught us to memorize many bible verses including this one here in Hebrews 4:12…
The word of God…is living and powerful…
The word of God is alive and active.
The word of God is alive and active.
Is the bible alive?
Well we know that a heartbeat signifies life. A beating heart is the tell tale sign at hospitals whether or not someone is alive. That’s why we take a pulse reading and place people on monitors. But work with me here for a minute…
Is a beating heart what gives life? (Scripturally speaking?) No.
Turn with me to Genesis 2:5-7
5 Now no shrub had yet appeared on the earth and no plant had yet sprung up, for the Lord God had not sent rain on the earth and there was no one to work the ground, 6 but streams came up from the earth and watered the whole surface of the ground. 7 Then the Lord God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.
God breathed life into man’s nostrils and the man became a living being.
Church, it is a humbling experience on this earth when you have the opportunity to be with someone when they breath their last breath on this earth. In those moments, when the breath of life leaves their physical body you fully understand what I am talking about.
Life itself is God breathed…It’s God given, and sustained by him. When God formed man out of the dust, he gave him a body, but he also breathed another life into him…an eternal, spiritual life that lives beyond the body and he made him a living being…
This one passage contains three significant facts about man’s creation. The first is that God and God alone created man. Man did not evolve under the influence of blind, meaningless forces. Accidental physics and chemistry did not form man. All the cells, DNA, atoms, molecules, hydrogen, protons, neutrons, or electrons did not create man. These are only the substances that make up man’s physical body. The Lord God formed man. The Lord God created the substances, and then He used those substances to create man.
The word formed is a translation of the Hebrew yatsar, which means “to mold, shape, or form.” It conjures an image of a potter who has the intelligence and the power to form his creation. God is the Master Potter who had the image of man within His mind and who possesses the power and the intelligence to bring that image to life. God had both the omniscience (all-knowledge) and the omnipotence (all-power) to do exactly what He wanted.
Second, God breathed His own breath of life into man. Man is more than “dust” or physical substance. Man has a spirit. We can picture it this way: Adam’s body had just been formed by God from the dust of the earth—a lifeless human body lying on the ground. Then God leaned over and “breathed” His own “breath of life” into the man’s nostrils; God is the Source of life, and He directly placed life within man.
Jesus also talked about this concept and breathed new life into his disciples…
19 On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” 20 After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord. 21 Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” 22 And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.
Lastly…Genesis 2:7 ends with saying…
“and the man became a living being.” A soul.
Man is a body, a spirit and a soul.
Mankind finds life only in the fact that God breathed the breath of life into him.
And the bible here in Hebrews says that the Word of God is alive…
or as I memorized it, “The word of God is living and powerful…”
So let’s take that same concept…that life according to the bible is something that is given and sustained by God’s breath…
Does the bible say anything else about this topic? YES!!!
16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17 so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.
The Word of God, Scripture, The Holy Bible is alive because it was given the same breath of God that God gave to man…
When God breathed his breath into the physical body that he made in you and me, he breathed the spirit into him…The Spirit is also breathed into the bible.
So we need to get some facts straight about this thing we call the bible to fully understand why it’s Spiritual life to a believer soul…
Why and how is the bible breathed to life?
Well the bible is not just a book. No, it’s a collection of books…it’s a library of books that God has written over the course of 1,500 years through 40 different authors.
We see this when we open up our bibles and we look at the Table of Contents…
We see two major sections of the library when we do that…We see the section of the Old Testament and the section of the New Testament.
And just like all libraries, within each section there are different genres.
In the Old Testament you have the law, history, major prophets, songs/poetry, minor prophets.
And in the New Testament you have the Gospels, History, Paul’s Letters, General Letters, Prophetic again.
And this is so important for us to realize. We need to remember that whenever we open our Bibles to a page, it is like you are walking into an ancient historical library of 66 books written over a 1,500 year time period. And the words that are written on the pages are written for our souls, but they were written to a specific people at a specific point in time in a specific culture.
The God breathed word that we call this library of books called the bible was written for us. It is also alive because though it was written by over 40 different authors, over a span of 1,500 years…each of these authors were inspired by the same spirit of God that breaths life into us…
20 Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation of things. 21 For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.
Yes these 40 different authors were each inspired by the Same spirit…and this is what gives the bible life and why we believe that it is useful for teaching us…rebuking us…correcting us and training us in rightousness.
The Word of God is alive and powerful.
God breathes his life into this book by the power of His Holy Spirit. And each and every time you open up the Word of God…His Spirit is communicating with the Spirit he has placed within you and it is truly food for your soul.
That’s why Jesus says things like…Matthew 4:4
4 Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”
63 The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you—they are full of the Spirit and life.
And as a follower of Christ, our soul and spirit need spiritual food. 1 Peter 1:23- 2:3
23 For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God. 24 For, “All people are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, 25 but the word of the Lord endures forever.” And this is the word that was preached to you. 1 Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind. 2 Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, 3 now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.
Peter’s argument for us is that we need the word of God for us to grow in our walk with Christ.
The spirit is not only what gives life to the bible but it also give it the power…or is what makes it active.
Just as the Spirit wrote the words to us through the prophets…the spirit helps us understand the word of God…
26 But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.
13 This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual realities with Spirit-taught words. 14 The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit.
The Word of God is alive and active. This is one of the most amazing things about the living word of God…that you can read it your whole life and it is always fresh. You can always go deeper. You can always learn more. It’s becasue when you are reading it, you are not alone…the spirit of God is teaching you and pointing out new things.
The Word of God is sharper than any two-edged sword.
The Word of God is sharper than any two-edged sword.
12 For the word of God is alive 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.
The Word of God is often referred to as the Sword of the Spirit. And by that we know that it is the only offensive weapon in the armor of God that God has given us. And he gives us this offensive weapon to demolish every argument and pretention that sets itself up against us in the heavenly realms…
10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
3 For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. 4 The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. 5 We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.
And this is the picture that we often get when wielding the sword of the Spirit. That is is a powerful weapon to fight against our enemy. And I have taught and preached through this is exactly what Jesus did in the wilderness as Satan was tempting him. He was properly wielding the Sword of the Spirit…fighting against the enemy of our souls…tearing down his arguments with the Word of God…
It is written…
But the author of Hebrews takes a different view here on the Sword of the Spirit. Listen again to what he says..
12 For the word of God is alive 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.
It is sharper than any two edged sword, penetrating even to the dividing of soul and spirit, of joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.
The Word of God is cutting to our own souls
The Word of God is cutting to our own souls
…judging the thoughts and attitudes of our hearts.
In other words…The Word of God is not only an offensive weapon for spiritual battle but it is like a surgeons scalpel.
When we come to the Bible with our hearts and minds open to hear what the Lord has to say to us, we are lying down on the operating table, ready for the Master Surgeon’s expert blade—for He alone knows where it should go. The Word of God cuts through to the bones, penetrates deep into the recesses of our spiritual being, and stops at nothing until it brings our sin out into the open to be dealt with.
But the Great Physician doesn’t just leave us on the operating table, open and exposed. He cuts and removes the bad, but then He puts us back together again for complete healing. The longing of God is to heal us through His Word, not wound us. If we do get hurt in the process, it’s for our good and our healing. He is the Surgeon we can always trust.
The word of God should always be used as a mirror to our souls spiritual souls before it is ever used against anyone else…
23 Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. 24 See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.
Because the word of God is alive and active. Because it is living and powerful…each time you or I open it up and read it again…though I may have read a passage before, it is speaking to me now in different and more profound manner.
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 someone 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 whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do.
Jesus put it this way…
3 “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? 4 How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? 5 You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.
He isn’t saying don’t judge, he is saying…judge rightly. Allow yourselves to be examined first. And we do this by going to the living and active, sharp and penetrating word of God that judges the thoughts and attitudes of our hearts.
12 For the word of God is alive 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.
