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Perhaps you have seen someone carrying a Bible and referring to it as something other than the Bible. In fact, if you look at the Greek roots, Bible simply means books. Sixty-six of them to make a complete collection. More meaningfully, I’ve heard the Bible called the Good Book, the Holy Bible or Holy Scriptures, or the Word of God.
With these many different names, do we fully understand why they are used? Why is this book called the Word of God actually? And if it is the Word of God, how did it get from Him to households all over the word as the best-selling book of all time?
The Bible is the Words of God
If something is referred to as the ‘Word of God,’ then that simply means it’s God’s words. When a student writes an essay or an author a book, don’t they always put their name on it to show it’s their work? We call the Bible God’s Word to give him the same credit.
All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness.
2 Timothy 3:16
The words of the Bible, all Scripture, was written down for our benefit and use. It was God-breathed, or inspired, meaning it’s from our Creator, God. You may wonder, who wrote it down then?
Penned by People But Authored by God
Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation. For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.
2 Peter 1:20-21
As we can see, the books of prophecy, for example, aren’t the prophet’s own interpretation or personal thoughts. They’re God’s words. Everywhere in the Old Testament you see phrases like, ‘the LORD says,’ or ‘the word of the LORD came to me.’
So while the Bible may seem like a collection of stories or writings from many different people, an anthology of sorts, the author is one and the same – God. That’s why, despite around 35 writers, the content remains united. The people are simply a pen for God, a scribe, a messenger.
Even Jesus, the Son of God, said the same thing.
For I did not speak of my own accord, but the Father who sent me commanded me what to say and how to say it.
John 12:49
Therefore, we can see that nowhere in the Bible does anyone claim it to be their own words – it is God’s.
The Bible is God’s Heart and Will in Writing
Since God is not able to come stand before us or speak to us in an audible voice, His word is how He tells us everything. So much more than just a book, the Bible is God’s whole heart.
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
John 1:1
The Bible is so important in understanding God’s heart, will, character – His story – that God goes as far as to say that the Word is Him. Think about if you wrote an autobiography. Every word, every page is your heart that you want to convey to your audience. Imagine holding that finished product in your hands. The effort and tears, the laughter and pain that went into it – it would be like holding your own heart in your hands.
The Bible is God’s heart, packaged into a letter and carried by his messengers, whether it be Moses, the prophets, David, Jesus, or the apostles.
Why Is the Word of God Important?
It may seem like common sense, a ‘well duh’ sort of situation, but when we really consider it, this is actually a very deep and important concept for us. All scripture is God-breathed. So that section that you’d rather pretend is not part of the Bible? Yeah, that’s also God’s word. It’s all what God wants you to know, and He wants you to know it accurately.
There are 31,102 verses in the Bible and each one God has poured His heart into. How well do you actually know the Bible? And by extension, how well do you know God? Think about the autobiography. If someone never read your book and never spoke to you in person, yet claimed to know you, how would you react?
You don’t know me.
Isn’t that how you would feel? No matter what personal spiritual experiences we may have had, it is the Bible that has been given for us to know God, and that should be our priority.
Knowing the Word of God is Knowing God
Before studying the Bible, I didn’t understand what the Bible was. I didn’t value it. I’m not saying I used it to fix an uneven table leg, or even that I let it collect dust on my shelf. I kept it safe in the box it came in when I bought it–but I was only keeping those words safe there. Those words could not enter my heart and find safety in it.
Why? Because I didn’t actually know the Bible at all. Despite being a believer my whole life or attending church for many years, I still didn’t know God’s heart, will, or character according to the Bible. There was even a time I sobbed alone in the dark, clutching the book I couldn’t understand, feeling the distance between God and myself.
But now the Bible is not just ‘the Bible’ to me. It is the Word of God now. And with that, God Himself is also not the same. He didn’t change, but I was finally able to understand Him for who He is. It’s similar to how you start to understand and appreciate your parents as you grow up.
Do you know the 31,102 verses that God gave us in His Word, or not? Do you rely on others’ knowledge or have you made the effort yourself? You can determine in your heart right now to do just that. To know the Bible. The Word of God. The words that God has spent 6,000 years trying to deliver to us. He is waiting for you to get to know Him, so it’s time to pick up the Bible and start.
Written by Samantha
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