A Bible was left somewhere in each person’s house that reads this article, perhaps more than one. The fact that almost all Western Christians have their own Bible is a very recent privilege. In the first 1,500 years of church history, the Bibles were very rare and veiled. The press was not invented until the mid-1400s, and the possibility for every Christian family to have their own Bible came much later. Our freedom to have them as we have today has been one of the Great Achievements of the Reformation. Therefore, today, every Christian household probably has several Bibles, perhaps more than one per person. However, with all these Bibles, how much time do we spend not only reading, but waiting to hear God speak in and through them?Surrounded by the Word of God, we rarely hear it. In this article, we will reflect on our great privilege not only to listen to God speak to us in His Word, but also to pray to the Word of God in response to Him.
What is the Word of God? We often treat the Bible as a book of stories about other people. We realize it or not, we have been influenced by a modern (or postmodern) view of history. This vision places such a distance between the time of the Bible and the present day of our lives that the Bible seems to have lost its meaning and relevance. It is as if the Bible has been suffocated by history and its vitality, for many, has been overcome. Like the great family Bible, the Word of God has our respect, but has been delegated to the corridor of history, where it has been added to dated photographs of those who have preceded us, whose voices, however, are none. I’ve heard it. I would like to suggest that it is time to remove dust, not from our Bibles, but from our hearts and minds, and that we can reread it as the living voice of the living God.
Let’s look at 2 Timothy 3: 16-17
All Scripture is inspired by God and useful to teach, to rebuke, to correct, to educate in righteousness, so that the man of God may be perfect and perfectly qualified for every good work.
The expression that is the Word? (or blown) by God deserves to be observed. It reminds us that God is a speaking God. It doesn’t just exist or it’s the most isolated being there is. Rather, he’s the talking God. The Bible fully reflects God’s discourse. It begins and ends like this, and fills up, from one end to the other, with God speaking to his people. First, it was through his discourse that God created the world. In Genesis 1 it is repeatedly said that God? And so it was done ?. When God speaks, things happen. He could have created the world without speaking, but he did. Let us not lose sight of the fact that there is always a purpose behind talking about God. This objective is ultimately his own glory. Anything you do will finally bring you fame, and everything you say will, too. Is that why, with your speech, you gave birth to creation?for your own glory.
Another important connection between creation and the text of 2 Timothy 3: 16-17 is the creation of Adam in Genesis 2: 7 😕 Then the Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life. and man has become a living soul. It’s funny to see that in the beginning, when God created Adam, he was lifeless. It had a body, but it didn’t breathe. It was like the first verses of Genesis: creation began, but it did not end. But that changed when God “breathed”. Just as God breathed life into his creation, bringing it into existence through his speech, he personally breathed life into Adam, filling him with the breath of life. And so it was done? Adam became a living soul, but in a way superior to the rest of creation. Adam was created exclusively by God to bear the image of God and glorify him. Man, in the image of God, would glorify God and rejoice in God in a way that would greatly transcend the rest of creation. In that sense, it was created in a unique way and inspired in a unique way.
This brings us back to the Word of God, and to 2 Timothy 3:16-17 in particular. This verse teaches us that God’s Word was also inspired only. He was “inspired by God”, similar to the creation of the earth in Genesis 1 and similar to Adam’s creation in Genesis 2 The primary purpose of God’s Word is to glorify it, God promises to preserve his Word, by the same Holy Spirit, by which he originally inspired it, transcends time, space, and history, because it is bound to the Spirit of God , who cannot be suffocated by the sands of time, expelled from the world or altered by the flow of history, that is, the truth and relevance of the Bible does not depend on man and his designs. The Word of God is bound to God Himself. Therefore, the problem between us and the Word of God has much more to do with us than with the Word of God.
While comforting, this difficulty in listening, understanding, believing, and obeying God’s Word is not new; Jesus’ disciples illustrate the problem as well as anyone else, perhaps even better; after all, they were in the presence of Jesus. listeners of these words. They saw Jesus talking and acting, drank the best wine that encouraged many, ate the miraculous bread that fed thousands of people, saw the lame walks, see the blind, and resurrected the dead, who else should they have believed?However, how many times has our patient Lord had to endure his disbelief in His Word?How many times have you said, “Men of little faith”?
At this point, John 20:22 comes to us like a glass of brandy in a valley of dry bones. ? And with that, he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Ghost. ” (I underline). Why did Jesus blow on them? Could it be that Jesus, the Word made flesh, the One who breathed life into the first creation, was now the resurrected Son of God, giving life to a new creation? Just as He breathed on Adam, who received the spirit of life, Jesus breathed on the disciples and they received the Spirit of eternal life. Those who were once blind to the truth of God’s Word could now see. Those who were once deaf could now hear. The Holy Spirit had been given to his people and to those cowardly, unstable, stubborn and perplexed disciples (like you and me?) They finally understood and believed what Jesus had told them from the beginning. Now did they understand his cross and his kingdom? that was the way to do it. Now they have understood that real life can only be found in him, and his life has passed through them. Now they understood that all the stories in the Bible set the stage for the climax of the story of Christ’s death and resurrection. Now, they boldly believed and proclaimed his Word. They clung to it as if it were the very Word of life, the Word of the living God. What the Spirit had been promised to accomplish in them (lead them into a relationship with the life-giving Word of God) was now being accomplished under the new covenant. Perhaps that is why Paul sees the Word of God as capable of doing this? the man of God. The inspired Word of the Spirit is the primary instrument by which God continues his work of glorifying himself, and he does so by saving and sanctifying men and women through it. God’s Word not only lives, it generates life (Hebrews 4:10).
The God-inspired Word not only converts us, but illuminates our way as we walk with God to our heavenly abode, tells us where we are going, and how we should live as we make our pilgrimage to this world. Through it, God speaks, to us as we walk not only toward Him, but also with Him. Therefore, in the scriptures, we often see God’s people pray and sing the Word of God to them. The Psalms are full of songs and prayers inspired by the Spirit. Is it better than God to write chants in your praise and honor?Who is better than him to teach us to pray?While other words can be used creatively in music and prayer to God, we should certainly consider incorporating God’s own words.
What privilege do we consider to hear God speak to us in His Word?The answer is in our reading, but not just in reading, in a careful reading. Christ promises to come to us continually; He does so through His Spirit-inspired Word. May we find the grace to turn to him through his Word and listen to him as he speaks.
By: Eric Watkins. © Ligonier Ministries. Website: ligonier. org. Translated with permission. Source: Listen to the Word of God.
This article is part of the January 2013 edition of Tabletalk magazine on “The Lost Virtues of Listening, Meditating, and Reflecting. “
Original: Listen to the Word of god, © Return to the Gospel. Website: voltemosaoevangelho. com All rights are reserved. Translation: Isabela Siqueira.