Spoken Word is Spirit and Life

The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit, and they are life. - Jn.6.63

I cannot over-emphasize the extreme importance of the spoken Word. Jesus says anything outside the spoken Word is flesh, and they count for nothing. Zero. Pfft.

Spoken Word is Spirit and Life. What God speaks from his mouth to us comes from his heart. It should go down and take root in our hearts, so when we speak from the heart, that same spoken Word issues from it and gives life to the dead--like what Ezekiel saw in the vision of the valley of bones. 

Spoken Word is the breath of life. It is the breath that gave life to Adam in all perfection. It is the breath of spoken Word that created the earth and the universe, and now sustains them. It is all-powerful! God gives it to us freely! But we must never take it for granted.

Word Becoming Flesh

Giving flesh to the spoken Word (obeying and living it) is what matters. All others are garbage--church activities, programs, titles, degrees, etc. These are all works of the flesh and they count for nothing in the Spirit world. 

The devil knows the Word. He knows it very well. He's been around for centuries, studying the Word. Remember how he quoted Scripture when he was trying to deceive Jesus in the desert? 

How long have you studied the Word? Say, you got born again when you were 20 and now you are 60--that's 40 years. And you feel proud and powerful having studied it in depth for 40 years.

Well, sorry to disappoint you--but the devil has been studying it for centuries. That makes him more powerful than you are, doesn't it. But what was the difference between Jesus and Satan? Why was Jesus able to defeat him in the wilderness when they both knew the Word?

We cannot say that Jesus defeated him because Christ is God. Well, Jesus is indeed God, no less. But he faced Satan then, not as God, but as a man. Jesus had to be a man to save humans--God's anointed man, that is. The Christ. Satan was goading him to prove that he was the Son of God (If you are the Son of God turn these stones into bread...) to disqualify him--because only Jesus as man (approved by God) could save us from sin. 

How to Defeat Satan

When he defeated Satan in the desert, Jesus was both God and man--his deity never left him. But he didn't think being equal with God was something to be grasped (Phil.2.6). He made himself nothing, being found in the form of a servant (man). Jesus never used his being God to defeat Satan, showing us that man can easily defeat the devil, as long as the spoken Word is made flesh in man!

Hence, Jesus defeated Satan in the wilderness because: first, Jesus was and is the Word of God. And second--listen to this--the Word was made flesh in Jesus! That's the key! Satan knew the Word but it never was made flesh in him! Can you see this?

The devil fears, and is defeated, ONLY by the spoken Word made flesh. Nothing more, nothing less. All others are trash! The flesh counts for nothing! I don't care how good you are in the bible. I don't care what titles or degrees you hold. I don't care if you can memorize the whole bible. If the spoken Word is not made flesh in you, you are nothing.

Covenant is Centered on Word Made Flesh

Our covenant with God is hinged on the spoken Word made flesh in us. Exodus 19.5 says: If you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.

Obeying God fully and keeping his covenant means we have the spoken Word made flesh in us. Only through this, by God's grace, can we become his treasured possession.

Worship Should be Grounded on the Word

Most times we think we ought to worship first before the Word can come to us. Well, in a way, yes. But everything really originates from the Word. In the beginning was the Word...and nothing was created without the Word. God sends his Word first for a revelation, then we worship. Worship should always be a result of God's revelation.

Some say worship precedes the Word. Even if this were so, who urged the worship? Of course, the Holy Spirit. When the Spirit speaks and urges us to worship, that is the spoken Word. So the spoken Word still precedes worship. 

People may indeed worship even without the Word, even without revelation. This eventually leads to idolatry. When church worships just imitate the latest trends in music and what singing styles are plausible to the world, they fall into idol worship. Worship can never be compatible with the world's ways. Worship should always be grounded on God's revelation, power, and timing.

You must not worship the Lord your God in their way (Deu.12.31).

Accuracy all depends on the spoken Word being made flesh in us. When the Word is not lived out, no accuracy is possible. Accuracy is not mere precision in syntax or literacy; it is accuracy in living the life of my Jesus.

Comments