Philippians 2:16 says, “Holding forth the word of life.” The word of life is the nourishing element in the Bible. Every morning when we pray-read a portion of the Word, we receive a killing element and a nourishing element at the same time. The nourishing element in the Word sustains, satisfies, waters, and supports us. It brings many positive riches into us. The word of life is the resurrection of Christ.
The word in the Bible is composed of Christ, His death, and His resurrection. Regardless of the page of the Bible that we read, we will receive these three things. We should not study the Bible as we would study a book of ethics. The Bible is not a book of ethics; it is the word of God, composed of Christ as life, His death as the killing element, and His resurrection as the nourishing element. These three main items are in every portion of the Scriptures, regardless of what the subject matter is. There are many stories in the four Gospels, but either Christ, His death, or His resurrection is in every story. Whatever portion of the Bible we read, something always kills us, and something always supplies us with the riches of Christ.
Whenever we read or study the Bible, if we do not receive Christ, His death, and His resurrection, our reading or our studying is vain. Regardless of the kind of food we eat, we always need to receive a killing element and a nourishing element from our food. Likewise, regardless of the book, page, chapter, or verse we read in the Bible, we need to receive some killing element and some resurrecting power to meet our spiritual need. Science has discovered that the content of healthy food exactly matches our physical needs. The various vitamins and minerals that our bodies need are all found in our food. Some are in meats, and others are in grains, fruits, and vegetables. Under God’s sovereignty all our necessities are included in our food. When we eat food, we receive all the elements that we need. In the same way, whatever we need in our spiritual life is all included in the word of God. We need Christ, His death, and His resurrection. These items constitute the word of God in the Bible.
Because we all are fallen, old, and corrupted human beings, every day we need some killing. We are all part of Adam and are therefore six thousand years old. We are old and full of corruption. As fallen, old, and corrupted people, we daily need a killing element, and this element, this antibiotic, is found in the Word. We receive certain antibiotic elements by taking in three healthy meals every day. Likewise, we receive spiritual antibiotics by taking in the word every day. We need to come to the Word two or three times each day to receive the killing element. The Bible is a killing book. Many saints, both young and old, have experienced the killing element in the Bible.
Under God’s sovereignty all the necessities of our physical life are found in natural foods. In the same principle, all that we need for our spiritual life is in the word of God. We need both the killing and the nourishing. Every morning I receive nourishment from the Word. Even if I do not have much time, I always come to the Word for nourishment. We always receive nourishment when we come to the Word.
We have seen that in order to touch Christ, we must touch the word. When we touch the word, we receive Christ in reality, not only in name, doctrine, or theology. We also receive the killing element of His death and the nourishing element of His resurrection. Now we will see that the content of the word and of the Spirit are exactly the same.
Few Christians know that today God’s Spirit is no longer simply the Spirit of God (Gen. 1:2). God’s Spirit today is a compound Spirit, compounded with the same elements that are the constituents of the word of God in the Bible. The Holy Spirit today is compounded with Christ, with His death, and with His resurrection. There is a wonderful type in the Old Testament, a picture, showing that God the Spirit has been compounded with Christ’s divinity, humanity, death, and resurrection (Exo. 30:23-25). Today the Holy Spirit is a compound Spirit. The Spirit of God in Old Testament times can be compared to a cup of pure water with no other elements, but the Spirit of God today can be likened to a rich drink in which tea, milk, and sugar have been added into the water. The Spirit today is a compound drink, composed of God’s divinity compounded with other elements. This drink is an all-inclusive drink. When we drink this compound drink, we receive all the elements that have been compounded into it. The Spirit of God in the New Testament age is no longer only the Spirit of God; He is also the Spirit of Jesus Christ (Phil. 1:19).