The Word of God: The Symbols of God's Word

03/06/22 • 60 min

Welcome to Word of Life Study Series- The Symbols of God’s Word! Many times the Bible uses symbolic language in order to teach. Jesus Himself often referred to common everyday things to illustrate spiritual truths- taking concrete examples to explain abstract concepts- metaphors. Since the natural world we know was created out of the spiritual world, it is no wonder that God can use natural creation to teach us about spiritual principles- 2 Peter 1:2-4

For the purpose of analysis, I have broken down some symbols into three categories. The first group emphasizes the “Power” of God’s Word in our lives. The second group describes God’s Word as a creating, sustaining, and nurturing source of God’s grace. And finally, the last group looks at the Bible as a source of illumination and revelation for our spiritual growth.

1. God’s Word- Power

Our primary spiritual offensive weapon is the Word of God. It is the key to winning successfully. The objective is to get the Word of God into our heart and out of our mouth. Waving the Bible in the air is not wielding the sword of our spirit. Only when we speak that Word out of our mouth in faith, does it become the ultimate weapon in the universe.

2. God’s Word- Sustenance

We have been saying all along that the Bible is no ordinary book to the believer. Unlike a magazine, newspaper or history book, the Bible is a living force of God’s spirit life- John 6:63. The Bible requires one ingredient that will release the power of God in our life. Without this vital element, the Bible would appear to be just any other religious book- dead and lifeless. That key component is FAITH- it is the catalyst! Faith is the key that unlocks God’s power that is stored in His Word. It releases the treasures of God’s wisdom and ability to move any mountain, meet any need and defeat any demon. Until faith is introduced and mixed with the Word of God, it remains dormant. When the believer mixes God’s word with faith- look out! God’s will is coming on earth as it is in heaven!

3. God’s Word- Revelation

Just as natural light reveals this natural world, the Word of God reveals the kingdom of God to us. God’s will for our lives is to walk in the truth of His Word and not stumble around in ignorance. The measure of God’s Word that we are walking in and living from day to day is the measure of spiritual light we are walking in. Without the Bible, God is extremely limited in revealing Himself and His kingdom to us. God’s Word enables us to see clearly as things really are, not as they appear to be to our physical senses.

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1. God’s Word- Power

2. God’s Word- Sustenance

3. God’s Word- Revelation

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Previous Episode

The Word of God: The Inspiration of the Scriptures

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Welcome to Word of Life Study Series- The Inspiration of the Scriptures! In this day when it seems the whole world doubts that there is an absolute truth, this topic is more appropriate than ever. The basic question is this: Can we trust the Scriptures? To what extent is it trustworthy? Is it authoritative only in matters of faith, or are its historical and scientific declarations also to be trusted? Is the Bible just the human testimony of divine revelation, and therefore subject to error? Is the Bible really the Word of God, or is it just the method that God uses to deal with us through His Spirit? The answers to these questions depend on the definition of inspiration.

1. Inspiration Explained

Inspiration is the process through which God, by means of the Holy Spirit, assured the existence of an exact and true record of the redeeming work of Christ, and the corresponding interpretation of the redemption story, produced in written form by holy men of God. It’s the supernatural action of the Holy Spirit on the mind of the sacred writers whereby the Scriptures were not merely their own, but the Word of God. Scripture not merely contains but is the Word of God.

2. God’s Final Authority

Evangelical Christians agree that the primary purpose of the Bible is to lead people to a personal relationship with God through Jesus as Savior. But everything taught by the Bible on any subject is helpful and instructive for the complete Christian life (2 Timothy 3:16-17). Because Christianity does relate to the real world, the Bible’s declarations about the earth and history are completely trustworthy.

3. Revelation Knowledge

It is important to distinguish between revelation, inspiration, and illumination. Revelation, which may be oral or written, may be defined as an operation of God communicating to humanity truth that otherwise man could not know. Since mankind was created in God’s image and endowed with a capacity to know God, it is rational to expect that God would communicate Himself and His mind to people. If unfallen mankind, being a finite creature, needed divine revelation and instruction (Genesis 2:16-17; 3:8), how much more is fallen mankind completely incapacitated by sin.

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The Word of God: Studying the Bible

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Welcome to Word of Life Study Series- Studying the Bible! For many, the Bible remains an enigma capable of many different interpretations. Some people have become discouraged about their own ability to make sense of it. To others, the Bible has a nose of wax capable of being shaped into anything the reader wants.
"He writes the same way in all his letters, speaking in them of these matters. His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction. " 2 Peter 3:16

There are some principles of Bible interpretation that will serve as a check and balance for our all-too-common tendency to interpret the Bible according to our own prejudices. The Bible itself instructs us to be a student of God’s Word so we can correctly handle the word of truth.

1. Why Study the Bible?

If we can read the newspaper, we can read the Bible. In fact, I would venture to guess that more difficult words and concepts are expressed on the front page of a newspaper than on most pages of the Bible. God has kept it simple that even a child can understand God’s Holy Written Word! Martin Luther, the sixteenth century Reformer was convinced that what was obscure and difficult in one part of Scripture was stated more clearly and simply in other parts of Scripture. Some parts of the Bible are so clear and simple that they are offensive to those suffering from intellectual arrogance.

2. How to Study the Bible

Fundamental to the spiritual growth of a believer is the ability to feed himself/herself with the Word of God. We will explore two ways of “eating” the Word; the first way is indirect Bible study and the second is direct Bible study. The two are equally valid to supply the nutritional needs of a follower of Christ. As a student of the Word of God, there are three Bible study tools that would be worthwhile for you to obtain for your personal library: a concordance, a Bible dictionary, and a commentary. Bible study software is a tremendous blessing to the serious Bible student and worth every penny.

3. Bible Interpretation

Two of the great legacies of the Reformation were the principle of private interpretation and the translation of the Bible into the vernacular. The two principles go hand in hand and were accomplished only after great controversy and persecution. Scores of persons paid with their lives by being burned at the stake (particularly in England) for daring to translate the Bible into the vernacular. The greatest danger of private interpretation is the clear and present danger of subjectivism in biblical interpretation. Which simply means, placing a personal bias on explaining the meaning of what the Bible is saying. When people read into the Bible what they want, project their personal view or put words into God’s mouth, error occurs. Which is a place where none of us wants to be.

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