The Holy Scriptures, in their entirety, are the orderly and progressive self-revelation of God. It is impossible to separate God from the Word of God. 1 John is a back-to-basics primer on the significance and meaning of faith, John defending the still-new faith in Jesus Christ from those attempting to exploit it for their own purposes. John chooses key words—light, sin, Christ, love, faith—“disinfects” them and then restores their original meaning, pointing back to the truths behind the words.
It
is impossible to separate God from the Word of God.
Not the physical book, which was assembled and translated by
God-inspired yet flawed individuals, but the meaning of the
words themselves. I intensely dislike the trend toward
electronic bulletin boards in worship services and usually
insist on not displaying the sermon text. We are growing out of
the habit of bringing our bibles with us to church. As is, my
guess is that most of us don't read the bible all week. That
verse or two before the sermon might be all the bible we get
that week, and now we're too lazy--yes, lazy--to even bother
flipping the pages. We're having this precious resource
spoon-fed to us, with no avenue for reviewing or retaining what
we've just red for a few seconds up on the JumboTron. Pastors:
you need to stop this mess. Turn that mess off. Encourage your
people to bring their bibles and, yes, to read them. Because God
and His word are one and the same.
The Holy Scriptures, in their entirety, are the orderly and
progressive self-revelation of God. Orderly in that God reveals
Himself in stages. God is a complex concept, His essence beyond
human imagining or conception. Progressive in that the qualities
of God are revealed a little at a time, with each successive
revelation building upon the previous one. From the formless,
abstract take-it-or-leave-it God of Genesis, to the perplexing
taskmaster of the Books of The Law, to the enigmatic Jesus, Who
described complex concepts in simplistic children's stories
called "parables," God introduces Himself to us through His Holy
Word.
God gave us His word—the scriptures—in an effort to communicate
with us and to reconcile us back to Him. The scriptures are, in a
way, love letters from a Father Who misses us, Who cherishes us,
Who wants us to come home. John’s Gospel describes Christ as
“the living Word,” the “Word become flesh.” Jesus Christ,
therefore, is a manifestation of the bible itself; the living
Embodiment of God’s Promise.
1 John is a back-to-basics primer
on the significance and meaning of faith, John defending the
still-new faith in Jesus Christ from those attempting to exploit
it for their own purposes. Phillip Yancey and Tim Stafford, in
the NIV Student Bible, introduce John’s first letter this way:
When the Apostle John wrote his letters, the Christian faith was
perhaps 50 to 60 years old. A generation had grown up in
Christian homes and a distinct subculture was already
developing. Some people were using familiar phrases such as
“knowing God,” “walk in the light,” and “born of God” but with
new, distorted meanings. The apostle responded with fire. He
knew that a confused, subtle distortion of truth is harder to
resist than an outright denial. In this letter, John chooses key
words—light, sin, Christ, love, faith—“disinfects” them and then
restores their original meanings. He points back to the truths
behind the words. Repeatedly, he begins with the phrase, “if we
claim…” and proceeds to show what actions must result if we
claim to live in the true light and to know God.
This week, read The Gospel of John Chapter 1 and I John Chapters
1-4 and learn how God and His Word are one and the same.
Christopher J. Priest
24 February 2013
editor@praisenet.org
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