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God’s word and the Word that was God

When we speak of the “word of God,” we usually mean Scripture, i.e., Bible. And, of course, Scripture is the word of God, since it is “God-breathed” (2 Tim 3.16-17; 1 Cor 2.6-13). But is the word of God restricted to Scripture? Lest I be stoned just for asking the question, let me affirm that I fully believe that “the faith was once for all delivered to the saints” in the form we now know as the New Testament (Jude 3). I believe that the Bible is our soul source of authority for faith and practice. Yet I also believe we have oversimplified and that we have some misconceptions about the “word of God,” as well as the “Word” of God, the divine Logos, that became flesh.

In the OT, the “word of God” or “word of the Lord” always referred to the spoken word or message given to or through a prophet (there are too many examples to list). There is one exception to this, however. That exception is not referring to Scripture, but rather to a word of God that no one heard; that is, in the beginning when “God said, ‘let there be light’; and there was light” (Gen 1.3, etc.). The author of Hebrews tells us that the worlds were created by the word of God (Heb 11.3). This had nothing to do with Scripture. God is not limited to Scripture. He speaks and acts apart from it (cf. also 1 Tim 4.4-5; 2 Pet 3.5). Of course that was necessarily true before Scripture was written and completed. But does he still speak at all apart from Scripture? Or is God’s word now limited only to the past, and only to what is written in Scripture?

Let me suggest that God’s word is active today in a sense that is not restricted to the written word. For example, consider such phrases from the book of Acts as: “the word of God kept on spreading” (Acts 6.17), “the Gentiles received the word of God” (11.1), “the word of the Lord continued to grow and be multiplied” (12.24), and “the word of the Lord was being spread throughout the region” (13.49). Clearly such phrases are not talking about Scripture per se. Rather, it was the message of the gospel, of salvation in Christ, that was growing and spreading and multiplying and being received. Of course, this message is written in Scripture for us. But it is not restricted to Scripture. We speak it and live it in our lives. It is put in earthen vessels (2 Cor 4.7) to be spread, to multiply, to grow. Perhaps we should say it is restricted by Scripture, but not restricted to Scripture. That is, Scripture determines the content of the message, but the message (the word) is spread by means other than Scripture.

But there is yet another sense in which the word of God lives beyond the written page, and that is the Word that became flesh, Jesus Christ (Jn 1.1-3,14). God has spoken in many portions and ways (some of which has been recorded in Scripture), but he now speaks to us in his Son, the divine Logos, Jesus Christ (Heb 1.1-3). This is not talking about Scripture. Just try plugging in the word “Scripture” in place of the word “Word” in Jn 1.1-3, or in place of the word “Son” in Heb 1.1-3 and see what happens! While Scripture gives us the words of Christ, Jesus is not to be equated with Scripture. God speaks to us through Jesus Christ—the incarnate, divine Word (the personal communication from God). Through Jesus, we come to know God. I’m sure I’ll be misunderstood in this, so let me emphasize that I am not talking about some mere subjective, feelings-based, experience. Nor am I suggesting that we can know God’s directive will apart from Scripture. And yet there is a sense in which God not only has spoken but continues to speak through the real presence of Jesus (which presence, by the way, is mediated to us through the Holy Spirit – Eph 3.16).

So, there is the word of God spoken (Gen 1.3), the word of God in creation (Ps 19.1-7), the word of God in Scripture (Jn 10.35), the word of God in earthen vessels (2 Cor 4.7), and the Word of God who become flesh (Jn 1.1-3). Let us be a people of the Book. But more importantly, let us be a people of the word and the Word, Jesus Christ.