In the past two chapters we have seen some exhaustless matters concerning Christ. This is why we have four Gospels, or four biographies, to tell us who Christ is, and what kind of person He is. The first Gospel is by Matthew, and the last is by John. In this message we will not cover anything from the Gospels of Mark and Luke, but we will look a little into the first and last Gospel.
The Scriptures are the breathing out of God. Furthermore, we must realize that not only the composition of the Scriptures is God’s breathing, but also the arrangement of the books. For Matthew to be first and John last is very meaningful. Every book in the Scriptures opens in a particular way. For instance, Genesis commences with “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” However, Matthew opens another way: “The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham” (Matt. 1:1). John opens with: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1:1). Matthew says that Jesus was the son of David and the son of Abraham. That is, He was the son of some human being. But John tells us that Jesus Christ was the One from the beginning. Matthew started from Abraham, and then David, and then Jesus Christ. This is easy to understand. But John says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” Matthew goes back, and John comes forth. Matthew goes back from Jesus to David and then to Abraham, whereas John comes forth from the beginning.
When was the beginning? Many Christians today like to study the Bible, but not one can tell us when the beginning started. We all desire to know the Bible. I began to study the Bible fifty years ago because I loved the Lord. Once when I was reading the Bible, I came to John 1:1. “In the beginning was the Word.” Immediately my young mentality attempted to understand. What is the beginning? I looked into a concordance. It referred me to Genesis 1:1. There I read, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” I still could not understand. So it is better not to be too concerned about our understanding. Rather, we should pray-read the Word: “In the beginning...Amen Lord. In the beginning was the Word. Amen! O Lord Jesus!” This is the best way to receive God’s Word.
After trying to understand the beginning, I tried to understand what the Word is. It was very difficult for me. Furthermore, it said that the Word was with God. Immediately I was clear. There were two, the Word and God. But then it continued by saying that the Word was God. Then I asked, Are there one or two?
Do you think that you can understand the Bible? I can tell you that you do not even understand yourself. Do you know how many hearts you have? You have two hearts. One is your physical heart, and the other is your psychological heart. Jeremiah 17:9 says, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” I would tell Jeremiah that my heart is in good condition. I have just had a medical examination. But this is not what Jeremiah means. He is not talking about the physical heart, but the psychological heart. It is this that is corrupted. You see, you do not understand yourself. Tell me, where is our heart, and where is our conscience? We cannot say. So we really do not understand ourselves well.
In a much greater way, the Bible is far beyond our understanding. But the Bible is like food. We may not understand it, but we can eat it. In the Far East, they do not have what you call in this country “grapefruit.” When I first heard this term, I simply did not understand. Then I thought that it must mean some kind of fruit of the grape. One day, however, I ate some grapefruit. Then I realized that it was not something of the grape. I really did not know what it was, but I ate it and enjoyed it! Even today, my mind does not fully comprehend it, but my body benefits from it.
The same principle applies to the reading of the Bible. It is not so much to be understood as it is to be enjoyed. When we open to John 1:1, we should not try merely to understand it, but rather enjoy it by pray-reading. “In the beginning was the Word. Amen. O Lord Jesus. In the beginning, Amen, was the Word, Amen. And the Word was with God. Oh, the Word, Amen, the Word was with God. Hallelujah! And the Word was God! Amen, the Word was God. Oh, the Word was with God, and the Word was God. Amen! Hallelujah!” When we take the Bible in this way, it is similar to our eating of food. We may not understand much, but we really enjoy something. And we will be nourished within.