Word

Word (By David Peterson of The Rock Of Jesus Church)

Jesus had been teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum and even His disciples had difficulty understanding all that He said. To this Jesus says to them in John 6:63; “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh provides no benefit; the Words that I have spoken to you are spirit, and are life.” Jesus is saying that His prior words were not meant to be taken literally. His point is purely spiritual; true belief requires a person to receive the Spirit on a deep level. Jesus desires us to receive Him, and His words, in the absolute deepest parts of ourselves.

The renown “Prince of Preachers”, Charles Haddon Spurgeon, once preached; “Christ and his Word must go together. What is true of the Christ is here predicated both of Him and of his Word. Behold, this day the everlasting gospel has Christ within it. It is only because Jesus is not dead that the Word becomes living and effectual, “and sharper than any two-edged sword”; for, if you leave Christ out of it, you have left out its vitality and power.

The Word of God is said to be “quick”; it means alive, or living. “Quick” is the old English word for alive, and so we read of the “quick and dead.” The Word of God is alive. This is a living Book. This is a mystery which only living men, quickened by the Spirit of God, will fully comprehend.” Spurgeon relates that Jesus and His word cannot be separated. True believers accept His Word and thereby receive eternal life.

Philip P. Bliss wrote the hymn “Wonderful Words of Life” in 1874. The first stanza and refrain are;

Sing them over again to me,

Wonderful words of life;

Let me more of their beauty see,

Wonderful words of life;

Words of life and beauty

Teach me faith and duty.

Refrain:

Beautiful words, wonderful words,

Wonderful words of life;

Beautiful words, wonderful words,

Wonderful words of life.

Bliss expresses gleefully what the Words of Jesus mean to His believers!

Let us pray: Christ, our Savior, your living Words are spoken to us for understanding them on a spiritual plain and to commit them soulfully. May your living Word continue to be our source of spiritual nourishment. Amen.