Reading - Knowing God - Chapter Eleven (11) - Thy Word Is Truth
2 facts about triune Jehovah in every single bible passage:
- He is King - He is absolute monarch (king, sovereign) of the universe, he orders all its affairs, he works out His will in all that happens within it
- He Speaks - He utters words that express his will in order to cause it to be done
Rulers will speak and (1) enact regulations and laws that will directly determine the environment (judicial, fiscal, cultural) which his subjects reside. And rulers will (2) make public speeches to evoke from his subjects support and cooperation in the things he is doing. In the Bible, God is king and we are His subjects.
His word relates both to things around us (creation - "Let there be") and providence. His word relates to us directly or personally as His word takes the form of royal Torah or law or instruction. Torah is:
- Law - commands, prohibitions with sanctions (penalties/rewards)
- Promise - either favorable or unfavorable, conditional or unconditional
- Testimony - information about God himself and people - their acts, purposes, natures and prospects (their future)
God knows all about us before we say anything (Ps 139:1-4); we only know about Him when He tells us.
The word of God is met in the first 3 chapters of the Bible. It is here, amidst an earth lying waste, empty of life, and dark that God speaks, "let there be..." 7 times (vv. 6, 9, 11, 14, 20, 24, 26).
God then speaks to the man and woman directly and fellowship between God and them is inaugurated. And the categories into which God's utterances to them in the rest of the story fall:
- God's first word to them is a word of command to fulfill humankind's vocation of ruling the created order (Gen 1:28).
- Then follows testimony in which God explains green plants, crops, and fruits made for humans and animals to eat (Gen. 1:29)
- Next a prohibition with sanction (penalty) attached (Gen. 2:17)
- Then after the fall God gives them words of promise - favorable and unfavorable - that the woman's seed shall bruise serpent's head, he ordains for Eve grief in childbirth, for Adam frustrating labor, and for both certain death (Gen. 3:15-19)
Thus, in these first 3 chapters all the categories of relationship between God's word and his creatures is uttered and for the rest of the Bible these will be reiterated and confirmed. Thus, the whole Bible insists that the word of God determines all circumstances and events in the world.
But, we believe not merely because He tells us, but primarily because it is a true word.
- He is "the God of truth" (Ps 31:5; Is 65:16)
- He is "abounding in truth" (Ex 34:6)
- His "truth reacheth unto the clouds" (Ps 108:4, 57:10); it is limitless
- Therefore, "His word is truth" (John 17:17), "All your words are true" (Ps 119:160)
- He cannot lie (Tit 1:2, Num 23:19, I Sam 15:29, Heb 6:18)
To work this out further, we look at two connections.
1. God's commands are true. "All your commands are true" (Ps. 119:151)
a. They have stability & permanence - setting forth what God wants to see in human lives in every age
b. They tell us the unchanging truth about our own nature
i. Shows us what we were made to be
ii. Teaches us how to be truly human
iii. Warns us against moral self-destruction
Our bodies are like machines. We need the right routine of food, rest and exercise to run efficiently. If filled with the wrong fuel -- alcohols, drugs, poison -- we lose the power of healthy functioning and may seize up entirely in physical death.
Our souls were made to bear God's image, to run on worship, law-keeping, truthfulness, honesty, discipline, self-control, and service to God and one another. To abandon these is to progressively destroy our soul whereby conscience atrophies, sense of shame dries up, one's capacity for truthfulness, loyalty, and honesty is eaten way, one's character disintegrates -- overall one dehumanizes.
Today, the argument is the Bible is puritanical (strict/rigid in morality) and what is needed is more license (permission to do or not do) for richer living. This makes us a brute (nonhuman) for we are only truly human laboring to keep God's commandments.
2. God's promises are true, for God keeps them. "He who promised is faithful" (Heb 10:23)
a. The Bible proclaims God's faithfulness; He is a covenant-keeping God
b. The promises of God are the proper, God-given basis for all our life of faith and the way to strengthen one's faith is to focus upon particular promises that speak to one's condition.
What is a Christian?
- True Christians are people who acknowledge and live under the word of God.
For a Christian,
the Word of God has
- convinced them of sin, and
- assured them of forgiveness
their whole life is to be brought into line with it.
God's word goes forth to (1) create, (2) control, and (3) order things around them.
The Word of God acts as a touchstone to test the various views that are put to them and nothing will be touched unless the Scripture sanctions it.
