Title: Why is the Word of God?
Rev. Abraham Park, the founding pastor began to think that he needed to understand the Bible thoroughly rather than only repeating what he was taught in the seminar. So, he climbed Mt. Jiri and began his prayers. Two and a half years passed without any answers to his prayers. The founding pastor felt that if he is meant to die, he would die, so he began fasting and praying for 40 days. At the end of the second 40-day fasting and praying, he received an answer from God, which was Romans 3:4. And the next word was John 21:25. Then, through the voice, God asked him, “What are words? What are thoughts? What are writings?” which he was unable to give an answer easily. So, he prayed again and researched the Bible thoroughly.
- What is life?
John 20:30-31 says, “These things are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Son of God, and that you may have life in His name.” In other words, when looking at the relationship between writing and life, it tells us that life is the ultimate goal.
Genesis 2:9 stated there was a tree of life in the Garden of Eden, and this tree of life was the ultimate goal. If you go to the tree of life and eat its fruit, you will receive eternal life. Jhn 3:16 and 1 Jhn 5:12 clearly shows that life is the result of believing in Jesus Christ.
However, due to the fall of Adam, the path of life was blocked. In other words, it can be said that fallen humans have been blocked from the possibility of directly believing in God who is the tree of life and the owner of eternal life.
This does not mean that we cannot believe in Jesus, but it does mean that fallen humans no longer have the ability to find the tree of life on their own. So, Christianity is a descending revelation religion. This is because no matter how much we search for eternal life, we can never find it, so Jesus came to us first and showed us Himself first (Rom 5:17).
- What are thoughts?
Since they could not go out into life directly, God wanted Adam and his descendants to think about and long for the world of eternal life and the tree of life. We learned through the History of Redemption series that Adam lived 930 years and lived with his 9th generation Lamech for 56 years. What did Adam do then? He taught and conveyed to his descendants about the world before the fall.
If then, shouldn’t they think about eternal life, long for it, and try to return to the world before the fall? However, at the 10th generation, during Noah’s time God brought about flood judgment. Why? It is written that it was because the thoughts of his heart were always evil. Fallen humans did not set their minds on Godly things (eternal life), but on their personal things (earthly things) (Gen 6:5; Gen 8:21).
The Bible says that the biggest problem during the time of the judges was that they did not make God their king, and they did what was right in their own eyes (Judges 21:25). Additionally, after Apostle Peter confessed that Jesus is the Christ, when Jesus revealed that He had to die on the cross, Apostle Peter rebuked Jesus, saying that such a thing should never happen to Him. At that time, Jesus pointed out that his thoughts were those of Satan, and that he was not minding the things of God, but the things of men (Matt 16:21-23).
Gen 19 records Gods work of saving Lot’s family when Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed. However, because Lot’s wife looked back, she turned into a pillar of salt and died. When she looks back, it signifies that she thought about what she left behind in Sodom ((Gen 19:24-26).
We should be able to align our thoughts with God’s thoughts. We must use our thoughts in the way that God wants. Only then can we walk the path towards life. But fallen humans rather start and keep thinking about their own things (Colossians 3:1-3). In Jhn 4:34, Jesus said, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent me and to accomplish His work.” In other words, He is saying that thinking and doing what God wants is life. Seeing all the verses above, we can see that human mind and thoughts didn’t work as it supposed to.
3. What are the words (What is the Word)?
Because the mind level didn’t work, God had to use His Word and opened the path to His life (the path to eternal life). It is written that there is life in the Word. However, the one who came as this Word in the flesh is Jesus. Therefore, this Word can only be given to us through Jesus (Jhn 1:1; Jhn 1:4).
Jhn 1:14 and Jhn 3:31-32 says that the people of the earth have no choice but to speak the language of the earth that is the words of death. However, because Jesus came from above, He can speak the words of heaven (the words of life). However, the Bible records that fallen humans did not receive this word of life. Now that words don’t work, the only thing left is writings (Jhn 6:41; Jhn 8:43).
4. What is writing?
God gave the writing to His people so that they can believe in the Word, think of God, and walk the way to the tree of life (Jhn 5:45-47). However, Israelites did not even believe the writings of Moses. And the bible says that those who do not believe the writings will not be persuaded even if the dead comes back to life. It means that those who do not believe in writings really have no more chances (Luke 16:31). If they will not be given any other chances, then it is clear that they will not be able to get life and end up in the lake of fire.
In conclusion, the purpose of giving us the writing (the Bible), words, and thoughts is so that we can be believe in Jesus and gain the life in Jesus. Therefore, first and foremost, we must start from reading the writings and understanding them. Then, we must be able to listen to the Word and think about what God wants. I believe that when that happens, there will be a blessed work that we may receive the truth and eternal life, and will also be able to receive the blessing of transfiguration. Amen.
The Lord's Covenant Church Malaysia 