John 6:63 - The Power of God's Word.
John 6:63 - The Power of God's Word.
John 6:63 (NIV) The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for
nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life.
John 6:63 (TLB) Only the Holy Spirit gives eternal life. Those
born only once, with physical birth, will never receive this gift.
But now I have told you how to get this true spiritual life.
The life of Christ, that gives life to the world, is in His
word. It was by His word that Jesus healed disease and cast out
demons; by His word He stilled the sea, and raised the dead; and the
people bore witness that His word was with power. He spoke the word of
God, as He had spoken through all the prophets and teachers of the
Old Testament. The whole Bible is a manifestation of Christ, and the
Saviour desired to fix the faith of His followers on the word. When his
visible presence should be withdrawn, the word must be their source of
power. Like their Master, they were to live "by every word that
proceedeth out of the mouth of God." [Mat. 4:4.]
As our physical life is sustained by food, so our spiritual
life is sustained by the word of God. And every soul is to receive
life from God's word for himself. As we must eat for ourselves in
order to receive nourishment, so we must receive the word for
ourselves. We are not to obtain it merely through the medium of another's
mind. We should carefully study the Bible, asking God for the aid of
the Holy Spirit, that we may understand His word. We should take one
verse, and concentrate the mind on the task of ascertaining the thought
which God has put in that verse for us. We should dwell upon the
thought until it becomes our own, and we know "what saith the Lord.". .
. . .
By looking constantly to Jesus with the eye of faith, we
shall be strengthened. God will make the most precious revelations to
His hungering, thirsting people. They will find that Christ is a
personal Saviour. As they feed upon His word, they find that it is spirit
and life. The word destroys the natural, earthly nature, and imparts
a new life in Christ Jesus. The Holy Spirit comes to the soul as a
Comforter. By the transforming agency of His grace, the image of God is
reproduced in the disciple; he becomes a new creature. Love takes the place
of hatred, and the heart receives the divine similitude. This is
what it means to live "by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth
of God." This is eating the Bread that comes down from heaven.
DA390-1
The creative energy that called the worlds into existence is in
the word of God. This word imparts power; it begets life. Every
command is a promise; accepted by the will, received into the soul, it
brings with it the life of the Infinite One. It transforms the nature
and re-creates the soul in the image of God. ED126
"The words that I speak to you, they are Spirit, and they are
life." In other words, a person eats Christ's flesh and drinks His
blood--that is, partakes of Christ and receives Him--by receiving the Word as
taught by the Spirit. . . . Jesus is the Living Word (John 1:1-4), and
He was "made flesh" for us (1:14). The Bible is the written Word.
Whatever the Bible says about Jesus, it also says about itself. Both are
holy (Luke 1:35 and 2 Tim. 3:15); both are Truth (John 14:6; 17:17);
both are Light (John 8:12; Ps. 119:105); both give life (John 5:21;
Ps. 119:93); both produce the new birth (1 John 5:18; 1 Peter 1:23);
both are eternal (Rev. 4:10; 1 Peter 1:23); both are the power of God
(1 Cor. 1:24; Rom. 1:16). The conclusion is obvious: when you
receive the Word into your heart, you receive Jesus Christ. We "eat His
flesh" by partaking of the Word of God. "I am the living Bread," said
Jesus in v. 51; and in Matt. 4:4 He said, "Man shall not live by bread
alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God." [Wiersbe
Expository Outlines]
ILLUSTRATIONS
The story is told of an old man who lived on a farm in the
mountains of eastern Kentucky with his young grandson
Each morning, Grandpa was up early sitting at the kitchen
table reading from his old worn-out Bible. His grandson who wanted to
be just like him tried to imitate him in any way he could..
One day the grandson asked, 'Papa, I try to read the Bible
just like you but I don't understand it, and what I do understand I
forget as soon as I close the book. What good does reading the Bible
do?'
The grandfather quietly turned from putting coal in the stove
and said, 'Take this old wicker coal basket down to the river and
bring back a basket of water.' The boy did as he was told, even though
all the water leaked out before he could get back to the house.
The grandfather laughed and said, 'You will have to move a
little faster next time,' and sent him back to the river with the
basket to try again.
This time the boy ran faster, but again the old wicker basket
was empty before he returned home.
Out of breath, he told his grandfather that it was impossible
to carry water in a basket, and he went to get a bucket instead.
The old man said, 'I don't want a bucket of water; I want a
basket of water. You can do this. You're just not trying hard enough,'
and he went out the door to watch the boy try again. At this point,
the boy knew it was impossible, but he wanted to show his
grandfather that even if he ran as fast as he could, the water would leak
out before he got far at all.
The boy scooped the water and ran hard, but when he reached
his grandfather the basket was again empty. Out of breath, he said,
'See Papa, it's useless!' 'So you think it is useless?' the old man
said. 'Look at the basket.' The boy looked at the basket and for the
first time he realized that the basket looked different. Instead of a
dirty old wicker coal basket, it was clean. 'Son, that's what happens
when you read the Bible. You might not understand or remember
everything, but when you read it, it will change you from the inside out.'
Moral of the wicker basket story: Take time to read a portion
of God's word each day; it will affect you for good even if you
don't retain a word. Source: Internet
A story is told of an aged Christian who had long grieved
over her ability to remember what she read in the Bible. Day after
day, as old age and infirmity drew on, she would read from the Book
she loved, only to find that a few minutes after closing her Bible
she could not recall a word. One evening, after going through the
same experience again, she lay down to sleep, tired and discouraged,
telling herself it was useless to read what so soon passed from her
mind.
That night she had an impressive dream. She seemed to be
standing, with a loosely woven basket in her hand, by the bank of a
beautiful stream whose crystal waters flowed softly at her feet. By her
side stood an angel in shining robes, who bade her stoop and fill her
basket with living water.
Again and again she tried to fill it, but the loose mesh,
would not retain the water and it flowed out again. Disappointed and
disheartened, she turned weeping away; but the angel, bending tenderly over
her whispered, "Look inside the basket, dear one." Gazing with tear
dimmed eyes, the woman saw that the basket, which had once been soiled
and dusty, was now white as the driven snow, sparkling in the
sunlight. And so it is with the word of God. Even though we may often be
unable to recall what we have but recently read, if we constantly fill
our minds and hearts with the word, it will exert its cleansing,
life-giving power in our lives. By Leonora L. Warriner, Signs of the Times,
January 31, 1939
ONE LINERS
Received into the heart, the leaven of truth will regulate the
desires, purify the thoughts, and sweeten the disposition. It quickens
the faculties of the mind and the energies of the soul. It enlarges
the capacity for feeling, for loving. COL99-102
The Bible is the seed of the new birth (1 Pet. 1:23), and the
food of the new life, (1 Pet. 2:1-2). (Matthew Henry Commentary)
LINKS FOR FURTHER STUDY ON THIS PASSAGE:
http://www.abible.com/devotions/2011/20110602-1031.html
http://www.abible.com/devotions/2013/20131129-2022.html
http://www.abible.com/devotions/2014/20140917-2118.html
LINKS WORTH CHECKING OUT:
Importance of Choice:
http://creationhealth.com/CREATION-Health/Choice [click on video]
Seeking God Video Clip: http://vimeo.com/31489782
Prophecies Decoded Sermon Series:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL1A435C5373550657
