Toward Understanding the WORD*

     Genesis 1:1-3 tells us that from the beginning of creation God spoke the Word and earth was changed from a dark and empty void into a world inhabited by light and life. God first said ('amar - speak, said, command, utter, promise, appoint, call, certify): "Let there be light: and there was light." Within these first verses of Genesis, the aleph-tav, the first and last letters of the Hebrew alphabet, appear in the written Hebrew, which connects this creation to Jesus, who is The Aleph-tav or Alpha and Omega in Greek, the First and the Last, The Beginning and The End.

     We see the essential presence of Jesus in creation in the New Testament also in John chapter 1 where He is identified as The Word: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made (ginomai - come into existence, made, finished) by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made." (v. 1-3). The word used here for "Word" is the Greek Logos, meaning "word, saying, speech, uttered by a living voice, the sayings of God." All things made came into being by the spoken Word of God.

     The Word is Jesus and He said as much: "Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify (martyreo - be a witness, bear record, give testimony) of me." (Jn. 5:39). The written scriptures, including what we call the Old Testament, identify Jesus many hundreds of times, including with the written aleph-tav. Not only the written scripture, but the Holy Spirit also bears witness of Christ, as Jesus said: "But when the Comforter is come, whom I (Jesus) will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me." (Jn. 15:26). Here, all three Members of the Trinity, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, all bear witness together to the same truth: Jesus is Lord.

     Both the written and the spoken Word of God, must be an essential, foundational, and creative part of our Christian faith and walk.

     The Word is so essential that Jesus said as He was tempted by Satan that the Word of God was more important than the food that we eat: "It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word (rhema - a saying as a message) that proceedeth out of the mouth of God." (Mt. 4:4). The rhema word is the same personal message from the angel of the Lord of "...with God nothing shall be impossible," to which Mary, the mother of Jesus, submitted and agreed to carry the holy child Jesus. (see Lk. 1:37-38). It was by the rhema word containing a personal message spoken by Jesus that caused Peter to let down his empty fishing nets again to miraculously receive a great number of fish. (see Lk. 5:4-5). Jesus revealed that He would be delivered into the hands of men, describing His soon death, and He told His disciples to let His sayings (logos - see above) sink down into their ears. The disciples did not understand His personal saying (rhema - see above) to them about His death at the time. (see Lk. 9:44-45).

     Hebrews 4:11-13 warns us not to treat the word of God with unbelief as the Israelites had done in previous generations: "For the word (logos - see above) of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do."  The Word of God is living and performs a spiritually surgical work in us, separating our flesh and soulish nature from the Spirit, while discerning even the hidden things within us. Paul wrote to Timothy that we need to study the word of God and to understand its truth, rather than receiving the doctrines and debates of men which are often in error. These errors become like a cancer, overthrowing our faith. (see 2 Tim. 2:14-19).

     Psalm 119 extols the benefits of knowing, understanding and keeping the Word of God in our hearts. The following verses are just a small example of the wisdom and blessing of the Word of God in our lives:

     "Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the LORD. Blessed are they that keep his testimonies, and that seek him with the whole heart. They also do no iniquity: they walk in his ways. Thou hast commanded us to keep thy precepts diligently. O that my ways were directed to keep thy statutes!" (Ps. 119:1-5).

     "Wherewith shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to thy word. With my whole heart have I sought thee: O let me not wander from thy commandments. Thy word have I hid in my heart, that I might not sin against thee. Blessed art thou, O LORD: teach me thy statutes. With my lips have I declared all the judgments of thy mouth...I will meditate in thy precepts, and have respect unto thy ways." (v. 9-15, excerpt).

     "Thy testimonies are wonderful: therefore doth my soul keep them. The entrance of thy words giveth light; it giveth understanding unto the simple....Order my steps in thy word: and let not any iniquity have dominion over me." (v. 129-133, excerpt)

     "Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path. I have sworn, and I will perform it, that I will keep thy righteous judgments...Thy testimonies have I taken as an heritage for ever: for they are the rejoicing of my heart. I have inclined mine heart to perform thy statutes alway, even unto the end." (v. 105-112, excerpt).

     We are to keep the Word of the LORD in our hearts and in our mouths as an offering to Him. We are to pray to the LORD concerning the keeping of His Word in our lives and to meditate upon them repeatedly. His Word is a light in the darkness for us and a preserver of our souls. As we search the scriptures, we are searching the Lord, and He promises that He will be found by us.

*Based upon Dr. Kenneth E. Stevenson, Jr.'s 6/28/26 message to the church. If you would like to hear the complete message, you can find it on the Facebook page of Kenneth E. Stevenson Jr. Dr. Stevenson's video messages are also found on You Tube at the Kenneth Stevenson channel. To contact or support this ministry, or to request prayer, you can write to PO Box 154221, Waco, TX, 76705. To find out more about the Shroud of Turin, which is evidence of Christ's suffering, death, and resurrection, and to receive a free e-book now available in several languages, go to http://www.theshroudofturin.org/freebook. Also the book NAZAH: White Linen and the Blood of Sprinkling, written by Dr. Stevenson, is available on Amazon.