After a Christian is saved, the very first thing he needs to do is read the Bible. Perhaps some brothers and sisters have been reading the Bible in a solid way, but others may not have read the Bible through even once. Therefore, we will speak concerning reading the Bible according to various principles, not from a superficial angle but from a very high perspective.
I believe that many people would answer without hesitation that the Bible is the word of God. However, not too many people have a deep understanding concerning what this means. Even those who have been saved for years may not have a thorough understanding concerning the Bible as the word of God. If we do not have such an understanding of the Bible within us, then we will not be deeply impressed by the Bible.
The word of a speaker represents his person. For example, when someone receives a letter from his father and reads it, he does not have the feeling that it is merely a letter from his father, something that is separate from his father; rather, he has the sense that reading his father’s letter is the same as seeing his father in person and that he is right in front of his father. This may be likened to reading a letter from the person that we love. When we read it, we sense that it is not just the words of our loved one, but it is as if we are meeting our loved one in person. Hence, words represent the speaker himself, and the word of God represents God Himself. Every time we read the Bible we should have the sense that we are coming not only to the word of God but to God Himself. If we do this, we will be able to read the Bible in a proper way, and the truth we read in the Bible will shine in our inner being. If we take the Bible merely as a kind of teaching, the Bible will not be very profitable to us. Yet every time we read the Bible, if we sense that we are coming to God, this will help us to touch God Himself.
Some people may ask, “Do you have any scriptural basis for saying that the Word of God is God Himself?” Yes, we do. John 1:1 says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” Verse 14 mentions also that “the Word became flesh.” Then 6:63b says, “The words which I have spoken to you are spirit and are life.” If we link these three verses together, they will read: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God....And the Word became flesh....The words which I have spoken to you are spirit and are life.” From these verses we see that the Word of God is God Himself, God expressed, because when the hidden God became flesh, He came as the Word. God is expressed as the Word.
For example, if someone came to visit me at home, and I refused to come out of my room, he would not be able to see me. Yet if I came out but still remained silent, even though he could see me, he would still not be able to touch my person. It is not until I open my mouth to speak that my person really comes out. Once I begin to speak, I am “incarnated,” and people are able to touch me. We may use another illustration. Suppose I am really dissatisfied with Brother Tai. This is my inner feeling. Then one day Brother Liu comes to look for me. If I refuse to open the door, he will not be able to see me. Yet when I come out, if he asks me about my impression of Brother Tai, and I remain silent, he will never know what my impression of Brother Tai is until the day that I tell him, “I am really disgusted with Brother Tai.” Once I speak this way, my words will represent my very person. Thus, the Word of God not only represents God Himself, but the God who is expressed, not the God who hides Himself.
If in our daily life we met one of our friends, but he would not open his mouth to speak to us, this would be troubling. If a couple had a good talk one night, and the next morning the wife suddenly became silent, this also would be very troubling. The husband would have no way to know what happened within her until he gets her to speak. Once he does, the more she would speak, the more her being and what was happening within her would come out.
The Bible is the word of God, and the word of God is God Himself. The Gospel of John does not say that “God became flesh” but that “the Word became flesh.” The entire being of Jesus the Nazarene was the Word of God. If someone were to ask, “Who is the Lord Jesus?”, we would tell him that the Lord Jesus is the incarnated God. However, the Bible says that the Word became flesh. The Word who was incarnated is the Lord Jesus; the Lord Jesus, as a whole, is the Word of God. He is the One who speaks forth God. Hence, He said, “The words which I have spoken to you are spirit and are life.”
It is not adequate to say that the Lord’s words are of spirit and of life, because actually the Lord’s words are spirit and are life. The entire being of Jesus the Nazarene was the Word of God, the Spirit, and life. God put Himself into His Word, and one day this Word became flesh. This One was Jesus the Nazarene. In this Jesus the Nazarene, there was nothing except the Word of God. The Word of God is God Himself coming forth. The words that came out of Him are spirit and are life. John 1 tells us that the Word was God Himself. Then chapter six tells us that His words are spirit and are life. Since the Bible is the word of God, what does the Bible represent? The Bible represents God Himself. The Lord’s words are spirit and are life. Thus, when we read the Bible, we must realize that to know the Bible is to know the Word of God and that the Word of God is God Himself. God Himself, who is Spirit and the source of life, is represented by the Bible. Therefore, the words of the Bible are spirit and are life.
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