By Tanja

What brought me to the vehicle store’s waiting room? A few flat tyres and advice that I needed to be there or that my car needed to be there. I came prepared to spend time figuring out a future lesson and brought a book that I wanted to continue reading. That day I realised that I needed to plan something with a friend. It didn’t help that my phone was running out of battery for no reason.  

I did what I could with my phone message and my planning, and then I enjoyed sitting in peace. I was surrounded by interior wheel parts that hung on the walls as decoration, I think? There was a small model decoration car on a shelf, with plenty of other things for customers to view.  

While working through my low-battery phone, I noticed magazines on the table and two Christian-authored books that promised advice to live an abundant life. I smiled when I saw two similar books, and a little note on one of them said: “Please take it for free!!!!”  

The title of both of the books was “WORD”. The books were two New Testaments sitting on the coffee table that many hands had already touched, I thought, as there were black marks and smudges smeared on them. Maybe the owner had picked them up a few times, read the words on the pages and spoken the life-giving words to the customers. Perhaps he had encouraged people with the New Testament or said “the answer” to whatever they struggled with was to read the Word of God. Whatever you’re going through, read the Word of God! 

Could you take that advice? The answer to your questions may be reading the Word of God.

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Let’s Start With the Gospel of John

The Gospel of John starts with introducing Jesus as the Word of God and the One who is able to reveal who God is like. In John 1:1, Jesus is referred to as Logos, which is the Greek Word, meaning “something said”[1] In the first chapter of John, “Logos” primarily refers to Jesus as pre-existing nature,[2] that Jesus had come from the Father God and had been with the Father God even in the creation of the world. “Logos,” in John’s Gospel, also means that Jesus is the “Divine Expression.”[3] Jesus is the creative act of God.[4] The Hebrew variant Davar/dabar of “Logos” adds vibrant meaning to Logos and says there is power underlining what is said about Jesus being the Logos.[5] As the Old Testament view of the “word of God” and the creative power of God being significant, for example, in the act of creation, God creates the world through His words: “And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.” Genesis 1:3 God’s words are the beginning of the existence of all of the universe, and it is the beginning of us.

God’s words are the beginning of anything good, amazing, interesting, and beautiful that we can see with our natural eyes. God’s words are the beginning of intelligence, wisdom, and creativity. Just His words! It’s just His words.

As a result, the title asserts that in Jesus of Nazareth, the power of God is at work revealing the meaning of all reality – even the nature of God. To refer to Jesus as the Word is to affirm that as this human being, he is the revelation of God.[6]

Stanley J. Grenz

Jesus is how we can know God and see who God is really like. In a literal sense, Jesus; is the perfect words to describe to you and me what God is like and what that means for all of us. Jesus, the ideal message, the best sermon or preached Word that God would make sense to you. Jesus is what your heart’s language understands, and no translation is needed.

To be continued:

[1] Spiros Zodhiates, Hebrew-Greek Key Word Study Bible: New American Standard Bible, Genuine Black, Wider Margins. (S.l.: Amg Pubs, 2008), 2215.[2] Zodhiates, 2215.[3] Zodhiates, 2215.[4] Stanley J. Grenz, Theology for the Community of God (Grand Rapids, Mich: W.B. Eerdmans, 2000), 301.[5] Grenz, 301.[6] Grenz, 301–2.