By Emeritus Prof. Mercy Olumide

The Word of God is not simply a collection of words from God, a vehicle for communicating ideas; it is living, life-changing and dynamic as it works in us. With the incisiveness of a surgeon’s knife, God’s Word reveals who we are and what we are not. It penetrates the core of our moral and spiritual life. It discerns what is within us, both good and evil. The demands of God’s Word require decisions. We must not only listen to the Word; we must also let it shape our lives.

• God has spoken to us by His Son
“God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, 2has 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” (Heb 1:1-2)

“spoken to us by His Son.” These verses establish a major theme of this epistle: in the past God’s revelation and prophetic Word came literally “in various ways” (v.1), the sum total of which is our Old Testament (O.T). Yet all this “did not add up to thefullness of what God had to say.” But now God has spoken or revealed Himself to us by His Son Jesus Christ in a full and complete way.Because Christ is supreme over all things, God’s Word through Him is full, final, complete and transcends all previous words by God. Absolutely nothing, neither prophets (v.1), angels (v.4) nor Moses (3:2-6) has equal authority with God’s Son.He is the only source of eternal salvation and the only mediator between God and humankind. The author confirms Christ’s supremacy by listing seven great revelations about Him as God the Son(vv.2-3).

God used many approaches to send his messages to people in Old Testament times. He spoke to Isaiah in visions (Isaiah 6), to Jacob in a dream (Genesis 28:10-22), and to Abraham and Moses personally (Genesis 18: Exodus 31:18). For Jewish people familiar with these stories it was astonishing for them to think that God had revealed himself by speaking through his Son, Jesus Christ. Jesus is the fulfillment and culmination of God’s revelation through the centuries. When we know him, we have all we need to be saved from our sin and to have a perfect relationship with God.

• The principal way God currently speaks to us is through the Holy Bible
One of the special ministries of the Holy Spirit is to make God’s written Word ‘living and active” and “sharper than any double-edged sword.”

In an amazing way God is able to ‘quicken’ a verse or passage of Scripture to us so that though the Scripture is a written text it also becomes a living message.

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