Christ as the Word descended from heaven to mingle Himself with humanity for the accomplishment of redemption. Surely, the Word here is Christ personified. If the Word were not a living person, He could not have descended from heaven to mingle Himself with humanity for the accomplishment of redemption. Paul quotes Deuteronomy 30:12, saying, “Do not say in your hearts, Who will ascend into heaven?” He then points out that this means “to bring Christ down” and that this refers to Christ’s incarnation, for Christ came down from the heavens in His incarnation.
In His incarnation, Christ as the Word brought the infinite God into the finite man, thereby mingling the Triune God with the tripartite man, that is, divinity with humanity (Matt. 1:20). He mingled Himself with humanity in order to accomplish God’s redemption (John 1:1, 14, 29). After passing through His human living, Christ went to die on the cross as a God-man to redeem us back to God (1 Pet. 3:18).
Christ as the Word ascended from the dead for justification unto life to those who receive Him by believing. After His death Christ as the Word descended into the abyss, Hades, and He ascended from that place in His resurrection so that those who receive Him by believing in Him may be justified by God and have His life. We need to see that the Word descended from the heavens and ascended into heaven. Paul says that we should not ask, “Who will descend into the abyss?” To “descend into the abyss” means to bring Christ up from the dead and refers to Christ’s resurrection. To descend into the abyss means to die and to enter into Hades. When Christ died, He descended into the abyss, and in resurrection He was brought up from the dead, that is, out of the abyss. Christ is the One who has passed through incarnation and resurrection. Therefore, we may say that He as the Word is the “processed” Christ, Christ incarnated and resurrected.
Christ as the Word has passed through a long process from incarnation through resurrection. In this process He accomplished everything that is required by God’s righteousness, holiness, and glory and all that is needed to enable us to partake of Him. He was God incarnated to be a man, and as a man, He was transfigured through resurrection into the life-giving Spirit (1 Cor. 15:45). Now in resurrection as the life-giving Spirit, He is so available that we may receive Him and take Him in at any time and in any place. As the life-giving Spirit, He is now moving on earth, ready for and available to anyone who will receive Him. Whoever receives Him by believing into Him will be justified by God and receive His life. According to Paul, this processed Christ, Christ incarnated and resurrected, is “the word of the faith which we proclaim” (Rom. 10:8).
Christ as the living Word is not only in our mouth but also in our heart. This indicates that the word must be in the Spirit. Otherwise, the word may be in our mouth, but it cannot be in our heart. Christ in resurrection as the life-giving Spirit is the living Word. This corresponds with the New Testament revelation that the Word is the Spirit (Eph. 6:17). Christ in resurrection is both the Spirit and the Word. He is the Spirit for us to touch, and He is the Word for us to understand. We may receive Him as both the Spirit and the Word. The resurrected Christ as the life-giving Spirit is the living Word that is so near to us. He is in our mouth and in our heart. Our mouth is for calling, and our heart is for believing. Thus, we can call upon Him with our mouth and believe in Him with our heart. When we call on Him, we are saved; when we believe in Him, we are justified.
The word, which is personified, is not only in our mouth but also in our heart. The word is not merely the written word but also the living Word, that is, the person of Christ Himself. This word is actually the gospel (1:13; Col. 1:5). When we hear the word, we hear the gospel; when we receive the word, we receive the gospel and Christ Himself.