JESUS: THE ETERNAL WORD

January 5, 2022| Frank Tunstall | Biblical Study, Scriptures, Sermons 1

 By: Frank Tunstall, D. Min.

 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning” (Genesis 1:1).

 For a number of years as I read the Scriptures I gave thought to the way the Apostle John began his book: “In the beginning was the Word….” I also thought, ‘Why the use of “the Word?” I came to appreciate John authored his book to prove Jesus is the Son of God, recognizing Jesus as an equal member of the Trinity. But I kept feeling empty; somehow I was not getting the whole message. Then one day an illustration blossomed in my heart and my long search ended. I believe the Holy Spirit gave me the illustration and I’m delighted to be sharing it with you. Here it is.

** A pastor holds the final word in a church.

** A bishop holds the final word in a territory of churches.

** A mother or dad is the word, the final word to a child, and continues to be the final word right on through the teenage years until the child leaves the home. What parent at some time has not said to a child, “Do it because I said so!”

** A governor is the final word in a state.

** The president is the final word in the USA. He can even sign his name on a piece of paper and the whole country will go to war.

The Apostle John begins his book with the assertion, “In the beginning was the  word.” The Apostle Paul expanded the picture. Jesus Christ is the Word of God who has existed from eternity as the very essence of God. Jesus is “the image of the invisible God,” and  “the first-born over-all creation….” (Colossians 1:15-17; see also 1 Peter 1:20).

I understand now. When the Apostle John writes “in the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God” John was talking about the awesome authority and power Jesus the Son of God holds and exercises in the cosmos and in the natural order. Jesus needs only to speak the word.

Five illustrations follow.

1. “Lazarus, come forth.” Jesus could speak the word and did at Lazarus’ tomb where he had been dead four days. Lazarus walked up the stairs and out of his tomb wearing his grave clothes. Then Jesus gave another order, “Loose him and let him go.” (John 11:43-44).
2. 2. “Fill the waterpots with water,” Jesus the Word said at the wedding at Cana of Galilee when the wine ran out. The servants obeyed and filled them to the brim. Then He said to them, “Draw someout now and take it to the master of the feast.” The water had become wine at Jesus’ word (John 2:6-7).
3. Go to the lake and throw out your line,” was the Word Jesus said to his disciples when the time came to pay their taxes. “Take the first fish you catch; open its mouth, and you will find a four-drachma coin. Take it and give it to them for my tax and yours” (Matthew 17:27).
4. A Roman centurion with an extremely sick servant went to Jesus asking for help for his servant. When Jesus offered to go heal the man, the centurion said to Jesus, “Speak the word only and my servant will be healed (Matthew 8:4-13). This military man understood the authority and power of Jesus’ spoken word (Matthew 8:5-13). In fact, Jesus healed “all kinds of sickness and disease.” While very grateful for modern medicine, let it be underscored Jesus healed the sick at no cost and without any medicine (Matthew 4:23-25).
5. 5. Moses grew up in the palace of Pharoah and understood royal authority, including the power to carry out authority. [Your writer thinks Moses’ mother, Jochebed, taught him divine ] At the Red Sea God spoke the word of authority to Moses, “Why are you crying out to me? Tell the Israelites to move on. Raise your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea to divide the water so that the Israelites can go through the sea on dry ground” (Exodus 14:13-16). The sense of the divine Word was “stop the crying and get on with it!”

Second only to the creation itself, this event is arguably the greatest miracle and act of divine authority in the Old Testament.

When I now think of Jesus as the Word, I think of His authority to carry out what He says, including all His promises. Consider how authoritative Jesus really is:

1. The power of the spoken word: “In the beginning was the Word, and the word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning….” And His Word is “the life of men” (Genesis 1-2: John 1:1-2; 14:6).
2. Jesus Christ is this final Word regarding things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible” including “ thrones, powers, rulers, and authorities” (Colossians 2:1-3).
3. Jesus’ creative Word: All things were created by Jesus’ spoken Word, and for Him (Colossians 1:16).
4. “Jesus is before all things” and no situation catches Him off guard or intimidates Him. He is even the glue that holds gravity together in the whole cosmos (Colossians 1:17). This includes the greatest of projects, like constructing the New Jerusalem with the New Heaven and the New Earth (Revelation 21:1-2), and the smallest of projects, like caring about a sparrow that falls to the ground (Matthew 10:29).
5. 5. Jesus is the head of the body, the church (Colossians 1:18).
6. “Jesus is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead so that in everything He might have the supremacy” (Colossians 1:20).

“God was pleased to have all fulness dwell in Him and through Him to reconcile to Himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through His blood shed on the cross” (Colossians 1:20).

The awesome authority of the U.S. president is like children playing in the marketplace when compared to Jesus’ authority (John 1:1-2).

Even though Jesus is himself the Word personified and holds this kind of authority and power, our Lord does not act haughty, or proud, or make any effort to show off His authority and power. Instead, Jesus is full of love for all people, including sinners. He is not willing for anyone to perish. Instead, He wants everyone to repent and accept Him for His true identity – the Son of God (2 Peter 3:9).

Jesus’ power and authority includes His death on the cross in our place, and His glorious resurrection. And yes, wondrous thought this: Jesus brings all who repent into His eternal fellowship.

Our Lord also holds the fearsome authority and power to act in judgment, “I will show you whom you should fear,” Jesus said to His critics. “Fear him who, after your body has been killed, has authority to throw you into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him.”

THINK ABOUT IT: Because Jesus is the living Word, we conclude truth ultimately flows from the Person, Jesus Christ Himself (John 14:6). Final or definitive truth is not found in any philosophical system. Anyone who desires to know supreme truth must bow at Jesus’ cross to discover it (John 14:6). When a person begins his quest for truth at Jesus’ feet, he has a stable standard by which to draw moral and ethical conclusions that are binding generation after generation. This is true because Jesus is the same, yesterday, today, and forever (Malachi 3:6; Hebrews 13:8).

Jesus, O living Word of God,
Wash me and cleanse me with Your blood,
So You can speak to me.
All I can give to You, my Lord,
Is my whole being, love outpoured;
Lord, I belong to You.
Author unknown to me

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