His Relationship To The World
Verses 23: He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. The Word who became flesh and dwelt among us, taught us, healed us, rebuked us, protected us, loved us, and died for us the universe. Remember to retain the mystery of the Trinity from verse 1. Dont leave it as soon as you get to verse 3. All things were made through him. Yes, another was acting through the Word. God was. But the Word is God. Therefore, dont let yourself diminish the majesty of the work of Christ as Creator. He was the Fathers agent, or Word, in the creation of all things. But in doing it, he was God. God, the Word, created the world. Your Savior, your Lord, your Friend Jesus is your Maker.
Don Stewart : : Why Was Jesus Called The Word Of God
One of the titles of Jesus was the Word of God. In John’s gospel we read.
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God .
John also wrote.
The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth .
In the Book of Revelation it says.
He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God .
This Term Is Not Defined
Although there is no explanation given in Scripture as to why Jesus is called the Word of God there have been several suggested reasons.
It May Refer To Wisdom Personified
It has been argued that Jesus is the personification of wisdom as is described in Proverbs 5-8. This section begins by saying.
My son, pay attention to my wisdom, listen well to my words of insight .
The Word Is God’s Communication To Humanity
It is possible that the term “word” is used the same manner as does the Old Testament – the communication of God to humanity. This is exactly what Jesus did – He revealed to the world the Word of God. Jesus was the personification of the written and spoken Word. In the Old Testament God revealed His word through the prophets while in the New Testament the word of God was revealed in a Person – God the Son.
Summary
What Is The Church According To The Bible
People today have certain ideas about what the church is. These ideas have been shaped primarily by religion, history, tradition, and even society.
Some think the church is a special building or place Christians go to worship God on Sundays. Others think the church is an organization of people who agree with the teachings of Jesus. And others think its a group of people who carry out charitable works to benefit society.
But to really see what the church is, we need to go to the Word of God so we can grasp Gods thought concerning the church.
The subject of the church is a tremendous matter in the Bible with many aspects that cant be covered in a single post. Today well look at one initial aspect of what the church is according to Gods Word, with help from notes in the New Testament Recovery Version.
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Is The Bible The Word Of God
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When it comes to the truth of the Bible, modern people often think like George Gershwin: The things that youre liable to read in the Bible, it aint necessarily so. After all, says the skeptic, this book is so chock full of fanciful stories and over-the-top miracles that no reasonable person could believe it. Why should we think the Bible is actually from God?
Of course, it needs to be acknowledged that convincing the skeptic of the divine origins of Scripture is no easy task. Since the natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God , it is not as simple as just presenting the facts. The Bible is a spiritual book, so the Spirit must work for us to see it for what it is.
Our arguments may not always convince the skeptics, but that does not mean our arguments are invalid. God has provided ways that we can know these books are from Him.
divine qualities
First, we must recognize that the biblical books have internal qualities that demonstrate that they are from God. Just as natural revelation has characteristics that show God is the author of nature , so we should expect special revelation to have such characteristics that show God is its author.
Bible Verses About The Word Of God
But the word of the Lord endures forever.And this is the word which was preached to you.
Every word of God is tested He is a shield to those who take refuge in Him.
For the word of the Lord is upright,And all His work is done in faithfulness.
For this reason we also constantly thank God that when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but for what it really is, the word of God, which also performs its work in you who believe.
As for God, His way is blameless The word of the Lord is tried He is a shield to all who take refuge in Him.
I have written to you, fathers, because you know Him who has been from the beginning. I have written to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the evil one.
The words of the Lord are pure words As silver tried in a furnace on the earth, refined seven times.
People will stagger from sea to seaAnd from the north even to the east They will go to and fro to seek the word of the Lord,But they will not find it.
But examine everything carefully hold fast to that which is good
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The Bible Is Not The Word Of God
John says: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and with-out Him nothing was made that was made. . This immediately disqualifies the bible as the word of God. Just think how incongruous it would be to substitute the word in Johns verses for the bible. It would read: In the beginning was the bible, and the bible was with God, and the bible was God. The bible was in the beginning with God. All things were made through the bible, and without the bible nothing was made that was made.
However, the bible was not with God in the beginning and the bible is not God. The bible did not create the world. It was not even in existence at the creat-ion of the world. The first Christian bible was not published until 1516.
Living word
John says: I saw heaven opened,and behold, a white horse. And He who sat on him was called Faithful and True He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God. . John did not see the bible: he saw Jesus.
The Jews searched the scriptures in the mistaken assumption eternal life could be obtained by reading them. But alas, they could find no life in them because the life is in Jesus. God himself is eternal life and it is vain to seek the living among the dead. .
Living bible
New Testament
Continued next week
The Meaning Of The Word Church
So what is the church? To answer this question, we first need to see the meaning of the word church in Matthew 16:18. Note 5 on church in this verse in the Recovery Version says:
Gk. ekklesia, meaning an out-calling. This word is used in reference to a called-out congregation.
This note tells us that in Greekthe original language of the New Testamentthe word for church, ekklesia, means out-calling. So the church is the congregation, or assembly, of all thepeople who have been called out of the world by God.
The second part of this same note says:
My church indicates that the church is of the Lord, not of any other person or thing it is not like the denominations, which are denominated according to some persons name or according to some matter.
When the Lord Jesus mentioned the church for the first time, He said Mychurch. As the note explains, this means the church is something thats of the Lord Himself, and not of anything or anyone else. Since the church is of the Lord, it isnt something formed by human organization.
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Development Of The Christian Canons
Development of the Old Testament canonDevelopment of the New Testament canonSt. Jerome in his StudyJeromeLatinVulgate
The Old Testament canon entered into Christian use in the Greek Septuagint translations and original books, and their differing lists of texts. In addition to the Septuagint, Christianity subsequently added various writings that would become the New Testament. Somewhat different lists of accepted works continued to develop in antiquity. In the 4th century a series of synods produced a list of texts equal to the 39, 46, 51, or 54-book canon of the Old Testament and to the 27-book canon of the New Testament that would be subsequently used to today, most notably the Synod of Hippo in 393 CE. Also c. 400, Jerome produced a definitive Latin edition of the Bible , the canon of which, at the insistence of the Pope, was in accord with the earlier Synods. With the benefit of hindsight, it can be said that this process effectively set the New Testament canon, although there are examples of other canonical lists in use after this time.
The New Testament writers assumed the inspiration of the Old Testament, probably earliest stated in 2 Timothy 3:16, “All scripture is given by inspiration of God”.
Some denominations have additional canonical holy scriptures beyond the Bible, including the standard works of the Latter Day Saints movement and Divine Principle in the Unification Church.
Ethiopian Orthodox canon
Power To Reproduce Luke : 11
Jesus said that the word of God was like a seed. The analogy was that the Word had the power to grow or cause growth to happen. The Word planted in an honest and obedient heart can produce physical acts which can be seen and felt. God’s word, planted in human hearts generation after generation, has produced Christians and the New Testament church century after century. The only way Christianity has survived for 2000 years is because of the reproductive powers contained in the Word. The only actual thing we hand down from generation to generation is God’s word contained in the Bible. People die and buildings fall apart, but His word unfailingly produces the same thing every century – Christians who want to establish the church.
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The Top 5 Most Commonly Used Words In The Bible
1. Lord
Lord is by far the most commonly used word in the Bible. It is found between 7000-8000 times. Again, the exact number depends on the version. Lord is in the Old Testament over 7000 times, and another 600-700 times in the New Testament.
2. God
God is the second most used word in the Bible at around 4300 times. That breaks down to about 3000 times in the Old Testament, and 1300 for the New Testament.
3. Man Found 2750 times.
4. Israel 2750 Times.
Nephilim: Fallen Angels Or Giants
The word Nephilim is found in the Bible two times, the first is in Genesis 6:1-6 and then again in Numbers 13:33. Scholars and commentators translate the word Nephilim as giants or fallen ones. Even among the most brilliant, there is debate on translating this term.
One reason Nephilim is often translated as “fallen ones” is the relation to the Hebrew word naphal . One school of thought associates these beings with fallen angels or their offspring.
Genesis 6:1-6 never states that the Nephilim were giants, but it does say they were “mighty men who were of old, the men of renown.” The verse that clues us into them being giants is Numbers 13:33 which states “and there we saw the Nephilim , and we seemed to ourselves like grasshoppers, and so we seemed to them. Here Scripture indicates they were possibly giants, men larger and bigger than normal.
No one really knows exactly who or what were the Nephilim however, Scripture gives us clues about who the “sons of God” and the “daughters of men” were .
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The Danger Of Defrauding
The Bible says, This is the will of God, your sanctification: that you should abstain from sexual immorality that each of you should know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honour, not in passion of lust, like the Gentiles who do not know God that no one should take advantage of and defraud his brother in this matter .
The use of the word defraud in the First Thessalonians passage is most instructive. If a fantasy cannot be righteously fulfilled, we are to dismiss it from our thoughts. To do otherwise is to emotionally defraud ourselves and others. In the context, the emphasis is on how things like seductive dress, speech or behaviour affects others. To arouse desires that cannot be satisfied without sinning is to defraud the other person. But clearly it is possible to cheat ourselves as well, by awakening fantasies which we cannot rightly act upon.
Wheelchair bound Joni Eareckson Tada provides a non-moral example that applies here. She speaks in one of her books of times when she imagined how wonderful it would be to walk and run again. But Joni says she came to realize she needed to discipline her mind not to dwell on such things, since they tended to produce dissatisfaction and discontent in her heart. The same can be said for sexual fantasies which cannot be righteously fulfilled.
Who Are The Called
So now weve seen that the church, the ekklesia, is the total congregation of people who are called out by God. But who are these called-out ones who make up the church?
Lets read 1 Corinthians 1:2:
To the church of God which is in Corinth, to those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, the .
Note 3 on this verse in the New Testament Recovery Version explains how the phrases the church of God and those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus are related:
To the church of God equals to those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus. This strongly indicates that the church is a composition of the saints and that the saints are the constituents of the church. The two should not be considered separate entities. Individually, we are the saints corporately, we are the church.
The phrase the church of God tells us Paul was addressing the ekklesia, the assembly of called-out people. The phrase those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus tells us something about those called-out people.
This verse doesnt tell us that the church is composed of a group of like-minded people who decide to gather together. It tells us that the church is composed of all those who have been sanctified.
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Words Reveal The Condition Of The Heart
Words reveal our sin nature. Harsh words come out of a harsh spirit. When we find ourselves being prone to ungodly words, we should look carefully at our sanctification journey and see where we have faltered.
7. Proverbs 25:18 Telling lies about others is as harmful as hitting them with an ax, wounding them with a sword, or shooting them with a sharp arrow.
8. Luke 6:43-45 For there is no good tree which produces bad fruit, nor, on the other hand, a bad tree which produces good fruit. For each tree is known by its own fruit. For men do not gather figs from thorns, nor do they pick grapes from a briar bush.The good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth what is good and the evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth what is evil for his mouth speaks from that which fills his heart.
The Power Of The Gospel
Peter wrote earlier about the good news that was preached to the church which is found in the everlasting Word of God and that the good news or Scripture has the very power of God behind it. Paul understood that the gospel came attached with its own power as he wrote in Romans 1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greekwhich was why Paul was eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome . He knew that the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. We can rest in the fact that Gods Word is alive and active and contains the power of God which is what Isaiah was saying when He wrote what God said about His Word so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it. It will not return without doing something, convicting someone, saving someone, and even angering someone. You can be absolutely certain that Gods Word will do exactly what God wants it to do. It will succeed in the thing for which sent it out do to and there is nothing any of us can to do prevent that .
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