Word of God- Part I
The Bible is called the Word of God. It thus implies and can be considered a direct line of communication from the Lord. Hence, it is divinely inspired by the authors of the respective books. Additionally, Jesus Christ is often called the Word of God. This concept is based on the belief that Jesus embodies God's message to humanity. The Bible as the ‘Word of God’ is the final authority for all matters concerning dos and don'ts, of faith, truth, righteousness, and eternal life.
God communicated to mankind what He is like and how we can have a right relationship with Him. We could not have known these things had God not divinely revealed them to us in the Bible. The Bible contains everything mankind needs to know about God to have a right relationship with Him. There can be no doubt that the Bible does claim to be the Word of God. This is seen in Paul’s commendation to Timothy in II Timothy 3:15-17 “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: 17 That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.”
The Bible is truly God’s Word in its unity. Even though it is sixty-six individual books, written on three continents, in three different languages, over approximately 1,500 years, by more than 40 authors who came from many walks of life. There are 929 chapters in the Old Testament and 260 chapters in the New Testament. This gives a total of 1,189 chapters (on average, 18 per book). Psalm 117, the shortest chapter, is also the middle chapter of the Bible, being the 595th Chapter. The Bible remains one unified book from beginning to end without contradiction. This unity is unique from all other books and is evidence of the divine origin of the words that God moved men to record.
The Bible is truly God’s Word in prophecy. The Bible contains hundreds of detailed prophecies relating to the future, written thousands of years in the past and which have been fulfilled exactly as written. There is no logical way to explain the fulfilled prophecies in the Bible other than citing divine origin. There is no other religious book with the amount of detailed predictive prophecy, that the Bible contains. Historical accuracy of the Bible has been proved through archaeological and extrabiblical writings After all, Jesus said, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away” (Mark 13:31).
Psalms 119:105 “The word of God is a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path.” It is a solid foundation that we can build our lives upon. When we neglect the word of God, we neglect the very thing that has the power to change our lives. The word of God has the power to convict us of sin, to teach us truth, and to lead us in righteousness It is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword (Hebrews 4:12), able to convict us of sin and dispel our self-deception.
After looking at the evidence, one can say without a doubt that God has spoken and that, yes, the Bible is truly God’s Word.
Dr Ashwin Drummond
Laddertoheaven.co.in