by David Scott Robertson
"All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness…" (2 Timothy 3:16)
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If there's one thing that's here to stay, it's change. Virtually everything and everybody in the natural world changes.
People change clothes, they change their minds, they change jobs, they change addresses, they change diapers, trash can liners and even spouses. The weather changes, the interest rates change, and public opinion changes depending upon which way the wind is blowing.
The birth and death rate changes ever single day. The calendar changes every 24 hours, the clock changes every 60 seconds, and our lives change ever so slowly or ever so quickly one meaningful or meaningless day at a time.
All change is not for the better but very often it is. Many times, pain is the traveling companion of change. In this ever-changing world, it's nice to know that God does not change. His Word does not change. The two, in fact, are as inseparable as they are solid.
- Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8).
- Jesus is the Word (John 1:1).
- Jesus was the Word made flesh that dwelt among men (John 1:14).
The infinite Word of the Lord has been forever recorded in the written languages of the world. Regardless of the native tongue, this supernatural book called the Bible possesses what no other book on earth does - the ability to reveal God's plan of salvation to its reader - that is, the revelation of Jesus Christ to a human being.
The revelation of Jesus as Savior and Lord is the overarching theme and message of God's Word to mankind. This is what separates the Bible from all other books on the planet. It is alive (Hebrews 4:12) and supercharged with life that can be transferred to the reader through a conduit called faith (Ephesians 2:8-9). The Bible indeed is the Book of books.
Its timeless doctrines are not subject to edits, revisions, improvements, deletions, modifications, and/or amendments to add to or take away from the fundamental truth it espouses. There are not many "truths" or multiple methods of reconciliation of fallen man with his Creator - the Book of books reveals that there is only one way, one plan, "...one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all men--the testimony given in its proper time" (1 Timothy 2:5-6).
When God's Word and man's opinion collide, when the dust settles, guess who will remain standing? God and His Word preceded your birth and will remain after your death.
The Word of God is the spiritual food of all those who lay claim to Christ as Savior and Lord. We must by all means feed on Jesus if we are to earnestly contend for the faith.
The unchanging Word of the Lord will encourage you, edify you, correct you, exhort you, instruct you, and transform you to the degree that you partake of it.
I suggest that you value it properly and feast on it daily. The light of the Gospel is to the Christian what sunlight is to the plant initiating the miracle of photosynthesis.
Multiplied thousands of books have been written about the Book of books, but none surpass its wisdom and knowledge. Truly, the Bible is the Word of God.
DSR
11/22/04