Most of our churches have an article of faith that reads something like this, “We believe the Scriptures of the Old and New Testament are the inspired word of God and are our only rule of faith and practice.” There are variations of verbiage, but the heart of the matter is that our churches look to the Scriptures and the Scriptures only for government, worship, worldview, etc. Anything that begins with, “I think” or “I feel” relates to confidence in the flesh of which Paul said we have none. (Philippians 3:3) If you are like me, you don’t struggle much with this concept, but my problem is the employment of it in my steps, manner of life, and outlook of things both past, present, and future. To help center us in our daily walk and ground us in our common thoughts, let us walk together through the fertile fields of God’s word to see just how important they testify that they are.
What Power: Jesus responded to some Sadducees on a particular occasion by equating the Scriptures to the power of God. (Matthew 22:29) They are on the same level. We see words in ink on an actual page (well some people today see pixels on a screen!). However, the source, content, and impact of those words conveys power that is not natural. The power of these words is of the same level as God blessing a lad to slay a giant, a flood to cover the earth, and fire to come down from heaven. Nobody who believes those accounts doubts the magnitude and source of those great events. However, many of God’s children do not approach the word of God with the same authority of power and impact. The next time we crack it open and peruse its pages may we do so with the expectation of being flooded with power that comes from God’s breath of inspiration.
What Comparison: When Jesus conveyed the message of the rich man and Lazarus in Luke 16, the end of that story is the rich man in hell begging Abraham to do something to keep his 5 brothers from joining him in hell. He begged for Lazarus to go appear to them. When Abraham said that they had Moses and the prophets (the Scriptures of the Old), the rich man said that wasn’t enough, but Abraham’s response is profound. If those men wouldn’t hear the Scriptures, they won’t hear Lazarus even if he came back from the dead. This story illustrates for us that the Scriptures are on the same level of effectiveness as the resurrection. I highly suspect that if we were standing in a cemetery when a gave opened up with someone walking out whole and entire, it would have a profound effect on us. The account in Luke 16 shows that the effect of Scriptures is likewise? How could this be? Because everything in Scriptures revolves around the rising from the dead. I Corinthians 15 says that Paul’s main witness of the resurrection is the Scriptures. Jesus died, was buried, and rose again according to the Scriptures. Things in the Old Testament pointed toward it, things in the New Testament point back to it, and because of it, we should look forward to it to be with Him as He is and rise like as He has risen.
What Love: Paul indicates that the purpose of Scripture is to teach us, comfort us, and ultimately give us hope. (Romans 15:4) Had the Scriptures never been penned, God would still be God, His people would still be His people, and based on the work of Christ while on this earth, He would still be God in heaven with all of His ransomed with Him. However, He put something down by His breath that instructs us, touches us, and makes us yearn for things both true and heavenly. Why? Love. Much like a parent wants to instruct a child, comfort a child, and help take some of the hurt of this world away, so also did God give us His word for this exact purpose. When we do our daily reading, we are daily reading that God loves us. It is His letter to us declaring over and over again how much we mean to Him and how much He cares for us. Back in the old days, people living at a distance from each other used actual mail with stamps and envelopes to send one another correspondence. For people like sweethearts, there would be anticipation at getting a letter that day from the one they loved. Every day, we can rise knowing that we have a letter from Him for that day and every day.
Beloved, one of the things that will brighten any day is God’s rich declarations to us. The power and effect that it has on us should be that on the same level as raising the dead. Too often, the Bible falls into the cracks of daily life, and even when it rises on a day to our attention, it is met with the ho hum feeling that other things bring that day. Because His mercies are new every morning, every morning should be met with expectation of finding mercy and obtaining grace to help in time of need. Likewise, every morning that we rise, we can find a letter from our Beloved in the mailbox of our lives. Each and every day. May we not forget to know how important these words are, and may we further not forget to know that the impact will raise the dead things of our lives when all natural hope seems to be gone.