Newsletter June 2022 Part 2
Word, Spirit and Light
By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, and all the host of them by the breath of His mouth. (Psalm 33:6) As Christians, we believe that the world was created by God. In Genesis 1 we read that the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. God continues to speak, and at His word the waters are divided, land appears, life springs forth – first vegetation, then animals and finally, when all is prepared, God creates humanity, the crown of His creation. He makes them man and woman, created in His own image and likeness. God’s purpose is for the humans He has created to dwell in the world He has created for them and to enjoy fellowship with Him and with one another. However, following their desire for independence, the first humans turn from God and consequently the earth that was created as a blessing for them becomes cursed.
Yet God does not cease to speak. As we read through the Bible, we hear Creator calling humanity back to Himself. From Genesis to Revelation, the story of God is a story of restoration through reconciliation. God speaks, calling us back to Himself, to the relationship for which He had created us from the beginning. He speaks to Noah, instructing him to build an ark to escape the judgment He is bringing on rebellious humanity. He speaks to Abraham, calling Him to leave his life of idolatry and go to a land He will give to him and his seed. There He will bless him and make him a blessing. When Abraham’s descendants suffer as slaves in Egypt, God speaks to Moses, calling him to lead them out of bondage and into the land He promised to their ancestor. At Mount Sinai, He speaks to Israel, establishing a covenant with them and giving them His laws to live by as His special people.
Throughout the Bible we read how God’s people, time and again, break His covenant with them by rebelling against Him and serving idols, and how God, time and again, initiates reconciliation by calling His people to Himself through the prophets. The Bible is God’s word – God’s call to us to return to Him. As He spoke in the beginning and there was light, and He now speaks into our darkness to bring His light.
In 2 Peter 1:19-21 we are told that we have the prophetic word confirmed, which [we] do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in [our] hearts; knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit. It is through the Bible that God reveals Himself to us. It is by reading His written word that we understand God’s character and purpose. His word is a lamp to [our] feet And a light to [our] path. (Psalm 119:105) As we meditate on God’s word and He enlightens our understanding by His Spirit, we receive life.
The Bible is far more than an instruction manual for moral living; it is God’s revelation of Himself, ultimately fulfilled in the coming of His Son Jesus Christ. The entire scriptures that we know as the Old Testament point to this climax. In the New Testament letter to the Hebrews we learn that God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds; who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high. (Hebrews 1:1-4).
As we search the scriptures, let us remember that the scriptures testify of Jesus (John 5:39). As we allow the Spirit to shine on the pages of our Bible, the day will dawn and we will see clearly. Let us hear God’s voice as He calls us through His word to relationship with Him in Jesus. Let us recognise and receive the whole Bible rightly divided as God’s word and walk in His light as we are led by His Spirit. Let us allow His blood to cleanse us from sin and let us have true fellowship with Him and with one another. (1 John 1:7)
Pastor Konrad