Holding Forth the Word of Life
1. Introduction
The phrase “The Word of Life”is used only twice in Scripture. The first time it is used by the Apostle Paul in his letter to the Philippians.| Philippians 2: | 12: “Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. 13: For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure. 14: Do all things without murmurings and disputings: 15: That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world; 16: Holding forth the word of life; that I may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain, neither laboured in vain.” |
2. What is ‘the Word of Life?’
Closely examining my Bible I find that the word ‘word’ is mostly spelled with a small ‘w’ and occasionally with a capital ‘W.’ Checking Strong’s dictionary we read the following:“WORD 3056 logos (log'-os)
1) of speech
1a) a word, uttered by a living voice, embodies a conception or idea
1b) what someone has said
1b1) a word
1b2) the sayings of God
1b3) decree, mandate or order
1b4) of the moral precepts given by God
1b5) Old Testament prophecy given by the prophets
1d) doctrine, teaching
1e) anything reported in speech; a narration, narrative
1f) matter under discussion, thing spoken of, affair, a matter in dispute, case, suit at law
1g) the thing spoken of or talked about; event, deed
3) In John, denotes the essential Word of God, Jesus Christ, the personal wisdom and power in union with God, his minister in creation and government of the universe, the cause of all the world's life both physical and ethical, which for the procurement of man's salvation put on human nature in the person of Jesus the Messiah, the second person in the Godhead, and shone forth conspicuously from His words and deeds.”
3. Jesus Christ, Yeshua the Messiah
The second time the phrase ‘the Word of Life’ is used, it is by the Apostle John. He Writes:| 1 John 1: | 1: “That which was from the beginning, which we have
heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and
our hands have handled, of the Word of life; 2: (For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and shew unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us;) 3: That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ. 4: And these things write we unto you, that your joy may befull.” |
- Firstly: the written word of God, the Holy Bible. This includes the Almighty's commandments, His instructions and the actual words He and His Son spoke through the prophets and apostles of old.
- Secondly: when spelled with a capital 'W', the Word of Life refers to none other than the living Word of God, Jesus Christ, (Yeshua the Messiah) the only begotten Son of God!
4. The Word of Life…the Bible
Now that we know what the phrase ‘the word/Word of Life’ means, let us examine the first meaning: that is, the written word of God - the Holy Bible. It is impossible to exaggerate the importance of the Bible.- The Holy Bible:
- The Holy Bible:
- Contains the only reliable record of what is scheduled to happen in the future:
- To Us, To Nations and To The Entire World.
- The Holy Bible:
- Contains the only record we have of the Almighty’s law.
- The Holy Bible:
- Contains the only written record of Jehovah’s and Yeshua’s actual words.
- The Holy Bible:
- Is the only spiritual food prescribed by the Almighty for the sustenance of the human soul and the welfare of the human race.
- Matthew 4: 4: “But he (Jesus) answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.”
- Which of these is the REAL Word of God?
- In recent years, after considerable study and soul-searching, I have returned to the Authorized King James Version, first published in 1611. Without a doubt, it is The Real Word of God. Be on your guard for the extremely deceptive and positively dangerous New King James Version.
- Then we have these translations
- The Revised Standard Version
- The New American Standard Version
- The New International Version
- The Living Bible
- Good News for Modern Man
- The New English Bible etc. etc.
- They cannot all be right for they contradict each other in many places.
- They all say different things! They are not the same. It’s like having 10 conflicting versions of the highway code. Chaos is the result.
5. Son of God … Yeshua the Messiah
As mentioned earlier, the second rendering of the Greek word ‘logos,’ when I write or speak of the ‘Word’ capital (‘W’) I mean Jesus, the only begotten Son of God. John starts his Gospel with this passage:| John 1: | 1:“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2: The same was in the beginning with God. 3: All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. 4: In him was life; and the life was the light of men. 5: And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not. 6: There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7: The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe. 8: He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. 9: That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. 10: He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. 11: He came unto his own, and his own received him not. 12: But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: 13: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. 14: And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father.) full of grace and truth.” |
- In the beginning, Jesus Christ (Yeshua) was with God. He didn't first come into existence in Bethlehem some 2000 years ago. He existed from the beginning of time!
- Jesus Christ (Yeshua) is God. He is not just a good man who lived a good life and taught many wonderful truths. Yeshua is God!
- All things were created by Jesus Christ! He is not a created being like Lucifer, or Adam and Eve. Yeshua is the Creator of all things! This means, the entire universe!
- In Him is life - eternal life! If you want to live for all time, then you must believe in Him.
- He lights the conscience of every soul on earth - Jew and Gentile. They may never have heard of heard his name or the Gospel story; but, in varying degrees, Jesus Christ lightens their consciences nonetheless.
6. Holding Forth
Strong's 1907 epecho {ep-ekh'-o}- to have or hold upon, apply, to observe, attend to,
- to hold towards, hold forth, present
7. Summary
Our lesson today is a simply one. As believers we are to hold forth, apply, attend to and present the Word of Life to the world. By the phrase 'Word of Life' we mean:- The living Word of God, that is, the Son of God, the Creator, the Sustainer and Saviour of mankind.
- We are also to hold forth, apply, attend to and present the Holy Bible to the world.
No comments:
Post a Comment