God speaks. I guess that is the starting point, isn’t it? There is a God who created everything, and he is a communicator. He is not silent. He speaks. He knows every language since he created language. “God’s Word” is the most important reality we can ever know.
The book of Hebrews in the Bible starts out by drawing a distinction between how God spoke to his people in the past, and how he speaks to them today. In previous devotionals we have looked at the nation of Israel when they came out of Egypt to serve God on Mt. Horeb. They heard God speak directly to them for the first time, and they were terrified. They didn’t know God. But they knew that Moses knew God, so they decided that it was just best that Moses do all the talking with God, and then tell them what he said. So Moses became the first prophet to hear the word of God and then relate it to the people. That is basically how God spoke to his people in the past, as the writer of the book of Hebrews points out.
But when Jesus came, that all changed. Jesus did not just come as a prophet, like Moses, who reported the word of God. He was, and still is, the Word of God: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. (John 1:1-3)
Notice the statements the author of the book of Hebrews makes about Jesus in the first three verses of the book of Hebrews:
1. He is appointed as heir of all things (he owns everything).
2. He made the universe.
3. He is the radiance of God’s glory.
4. He is the exact representation of God’s being or nature.
5. He sustains all things by his powerful word.
The last point is very interesting, because it states that not only did Jesus create life, but that he sustains it by his word. So if Jesus stops talking, we are all doomed! The universe falls apart. I find it interesting that within the field of alternative or natural health, that there is often a lot of emphasis on “energy” and energy patterns. A lot of it is very useful, and some of the practices are very old, such as Chinese acupuncture. But seldom, if ever, do I hear people in these practices encouraging their patients to seek out the source of all energy in the universe, which is a person, and not just a “force.” When Jesus walked on the earth he created, he had complete power over its energy fields, and incredible things happened. People touched him and were instantly healed. Dead people heard his voice and came back to life. Really astounding things occurred through Jesus and the energy of Jesus’ powerful word. And Jesus hasn’t stopped talking.
So today, the Old Testament office of prophets no longer exists, because now anyone can know Jesus directly and become a prophet, knowing God’s word directly from the source! If one is reborn spiritually and walking in the Kingdom of Light and paying attention to their King, they will know God’s Word, who is Jesus. Jesus represents everything God is and what he wants for our lives and for the world we live in. Are we listening to him? Are we getting to know him better by spending time with him? Do you realize that if you are walking among those in darkness as a member of the Kingdom of Light that you are Jesus’ prophet to those walking in darkness? You represent the King. What does he want you to do today? His word upholds the universe. Are you telling people about him, and leading them to the one who sustains their life?
For the Word of God is living and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing apart of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. (Hebrews 4:12)
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