2.1 Jesus as the Bible
© 2018 Christ Revealed Bible Institute
John stated in the beginning of his account of Jesus’ life that God is Word (John 1:1). Then John also said that this Word is Life and that life becomes light inside of humans.
Here is what Jesus said about Life and its source. For as the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son to have life in Himself (John 5:26). We could then say it this way – as the Father is Word Himself, so the Father has granted to Jesus also to be Word.
And thus as God Himself is Word, so we know that same Word spoken aloud into creation as Jesus. Jesus is the Word become flesh, that is, outward created appearance.
God Is Word. But what does it mean that God is “Word?”
Let me put a big thought in front of you about God. Later, we will build on this thought, but not yet. God IS words as “thoughts”; that is, God is an infinite number of infinite numbers of thoughts, which we know of as words, inside a Spirit awareness of Himself.
Jesus, then, is every word originating in God but now spoken into creation. Jesus is the speaking of God by which everything exists. – All things [appearing in creation] became through Him [as the spoken Word of God], and without Him not even one thing became that has become (John 1:3).
Jesus Is Every Word. Jesus IS every word God speaks.
And then, the most incredible thing happened. The Word became flesh and dwelt among us and we looked upon His glory, glory as the One-Seed alongside of Father, full of grace and truth (John 1:14). How on earth could the Word God speaks become human flesh? How could Word become one of us? That is the central question of this short chapter.
This lesson, however, is about the Bible. You have in your hands a Bible, God’s word to us. I would recommend that you obtain a New King James version for general use, but also that you use a Jesus Secret version, from which this text quotes.
Reading the Gospel. And the best place to start reading your Bible is with the gospel of John, which we are quoting. In fact, read John’s gospel twice, first in the New King James and then second in the Jesus Secret version. As you read John’s gospel, consider carefully two things. Observe the human Jesus as He walks among and with other humans. And observe the words that He speaks about Himself and about the Father.
Here is the most important thing Jesus says about the Bible. You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have age-unfolding life; and these are they which testify of Me. But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life (John 5:39-40).
Our Life Is Jesus. The Bible is NOT our life. Our life is Jesus. – Christ who is our life (Colossians 3:4). What the Bible does is point us to Jesus. As Jesus said, every word in the Bible is speaking of Jesus Himself.
But where is Jesus? If we are to “come to” Jesus in order to obtain life, where is it that we find Him? At no point in our journey or in all the ages to come will we ever leave the first lesson of this book. – Christ lives in your hearts through faith.
In the next lesson you will learn how, just as the Bible is all speaking of Jesus, so the Bible is a complete description of your own heart.
What Do You Do with the Bible? Yet “the Bible” is the book you hold in your hands. What do you do with that book?
May I suggest that you get a copy of my book titled Knowing God by Scripture. I wrote it to help us to understand how the Bible shows us Jesus, the One who lives in our hearts. Although the Word of God is found all through the Bible by those who seek for that Word, the Bible itself is NOT the Word of God. Jesus alone is the Word of God, every Word God speaks.
You see, the Bible says that the Bible will kill you if you read it apart from Jesus, apart from knowing the Jesus who lives in your heart by every verse found in the Bible.
Framing Your Approach. Let me put in front of you two more things to frame your thinking and approach as you read the Bible.
First is something Isaiah said in Isaiah 66:1-2. Thus says the Lord: “Heaven is My throne, and earth is My footstool. Where is the house that you will build Me? And where is the place of My rest? For all those things My hand has made, and all those things exist,” says the Lord. “But on this one will I look: on him who is poor and of a contrite spirit, and who trembles at My word.”
And second is something Ezra said in his long poem. Your word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against You (Psalm 119:11).
Beware! Yes, God Himself will speak to you through every word in the Bible, but only on one condition.
You see, the question is NOT – what does this verse or that verse in the Bible mean? The question is always – what are you doing with the word God speaks? What are your intentions towards the Bible and what do you plan to do with what you read in it?
Do you know what the most frequent commandment of the New Testament is? A commandment repeated endlessly by Jesus as well as by his disciples who wrote letters to the churches? – Watch out! Take heed! Beware!
Do Not Sin. You will find that most readers of the Bible stack up ideas in their intellects, human and mental ideas about God and themselves, about Christ and salvation, much of which is imaginative nonsense. By trying to “figure out” the Bible, they “hide it” in their minds. Do not sin like them, rather be like Ezra.
As you read every verse in the Bible, do NOT ever try to figure out what it means; instead, hide every word you read in your heart. Every Word in the Bible is Jesus and Jesus lives in your heart. You cannot know “what it means” by your intellect, but you can know the One who lives inside of you. Only Jesus can be the Word God speaks; only Jesus can be what He is.
On the Floor. “But on this one will I look: on him who is poor and of a contrite spirit, and who trembles at My word.”
If you want to come to Jesus that you might know Him as every Word God speaks, then there is only one place I know where you will discover God’s intention in the Bible for you. You will not find what Jesus means in any book; no teacher is capable of “explaining” His words to you.
The only place you will know is on your face on the floor before a Holy and a Mighty God with your heart wide open and your mouth tight shut. God is a Person. And if you want to know Him, if you want Him to show you what He means by what He says, you have to deal directly with Him. And He will show you by His Spirit.
My Definition. Let me give you my definition of “the Bible.”
God unfolds Himself to be known by His creation first as Word, Jesus, the All-Speaking of God. This Word comes, by the Holy Spirit, into the hearts and mouths of those to whom God reveals Himself. That Word in their hearts and mouths remains the Lord Jesus Christ in Person. These to whom God has given His Word speak that word into the hearts and mouths of their hearers; they also write it down sometimes. There the Word, the Lord Jesus Christ in Person, sits quietly upon the page.
Becoming Christ Jesus in Me. Then I, Daniel Yordy, read those words. They come into me by the same Holy Spirit through whom they were spoken and written. As I look into the eyes of my Father, I hear Him speaking the creative Word of Christ into me. I believe that word, not as something on the outside of me that I must “perform,” but as Christ Jesus in Person on the inside of me now the only life I am and now fulfilling through me all the All-Speaking of God.
I love the Bible because I find a description of the Jesus whom I love on every page. And thus I find, all through the Bible, a description of the Word and Life of my heart, a description of me.