“All Scripture is God-breathed” — 2 Tim 3:16a
It is impossible to respond unless there is something to respond to. For instance, you can’t hit “reply” to a message you never received. It’s the same thing when you enter into worship. You can’t respond to God’s Word if His Word is never given. When I was leading worship, I would say to the people after the scripture reading, “This is the Word of God for the people of God.” They would respond, “Thanks be to God.” But what are we really referring to by the Word of God?
Scripture? Yes. But it’s more than that. We are referring to the person of Jesus Christ. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made” (John 1:1-3).
This Word is how God reveals himself to the world. As John points out, it is how God created the world and, as the rest of the gospel goes on to describe, it is how God reconciles the world to himself. Notice though that the Word in these opening verses feels other-worldly. It does not belong to this world, but is outside of it.
And then John 1:14 is presented to us and it changes everything! “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.”
The Word became flesh in the person of Jesus Christ. He is the Word of God, God’s perfect self- expression. Scripture proclaims and ultimately points to Jesus Christ, God’s personal Word to all. Jesus, as the incarnate Word of God, and Scripture, as the written Word of God pointing to the incarnate, reveal to us who God is and who he has created us to be. While we are not able to see Jesus physically today, we still may know him through the Word of God, our Scripture, as his Spirit speaks in our hearts.
We are invited to respond to the Word in many different ways. But in order to do so, each of us must choose to say, “Yes.” Yes to the Word of God. Yes to salvation. Yes to suffering for the sake of Christ. Yes. Throughout this Lent season I will be making consistent invitations to you to say “Yes” to the Word- maybe for the first time or perhaps a renewal. And when you do, let me know so that your new journey is not one you do alone.
REFLECTION When have you had a spiritual experience as a result of responding to the Word of God?
Are you ready to say yes?
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