20-CHAPTER XV THE LIVING AND THE WRITTEN WORD
CHAPTER XV THE LIVING AND THE WRITTEN WORD God—The Lord of History THE nations are like the roaring sea, like breathing billows in a raging tumult (comp. Isaiah 17:12-13). Nations and civilizations come and go. Kingdoms and cultures are built up and destroyed. Philosophies are highly praised as rock-like truths and—are swept away. And streams of blood flow in the age-long war of men and ideas. But God, the Lord of all, is enthroned above it all. "The Lord is King. He hath clothed Himself with majesty . . . Thy throne stands fast from the beginning. Floods lift up, O Lord, floods lift up their roaring . . . but mightier than the thunder of mighty waters, mightier than the breaking billows of the sea, is the Lord in the height!" (Psalms 93:1-4). From this His unassailable throne on high the Eternal surveys the whole historical development. As above time He sees through and through all time. As the creator of the course of history and the governor of heaven and earth He controls the universal process. Therefore as the Lord of history He, and He alone can explain history. This He does by His revelation in word and history. In spite of all self-veiling, in the course of the development, He testifies of Himself through the mouth of His prophets, through His rule in judgment and in grace in the life of individuals and of peoples, through combining events according to the law of sowing and reaping. The Bible is the record of this. Therefore the Bible is "the Book of mankind," the key to world events. All understanding of the whole of human affairs depends upon attitude to it.
God has wonderfully ordered this His Book. "Holy men spake from God being moved by the Holy Spirit" (2 Peter 1:21). "All Scripture is God-given" (2 Timothy 3:16). "The words of the Lord are pure words, as silver fired in a furnace . . . purifiedseven times" (Psalms 12:6). "Sanctify them in the truth; Thy word is truth" (John 17:17).
"Word of God" and "Book of God" As regards range of meaning "Word of God" and "Book of God" are not precisely the same. The former expression extends beyond the latter. At the same time it encloses it in itself.
We have to speak of the "Word of God" in a threefold sense.
Christ is the personal word, the living Divine Logos. From eternity before all creation, without beginning He is the "Word" in God and with God, in His nature and essence equal to God, even Himself "God." Then, by and since the creation of the world He is the "word" which God speaks, the Revealer of the thoughts and acts of God, and as such the mediator of world creation and world preservation, of world redemption and world consummation.
Of Him testifies the proclaimed "word," the word of God as a general message, as the all-inclusive contents of Biblical truth, simply as a proclamation, as the sum and total of all that which God says. In this sense all proclaiming of the testimony of Jesus by word of mouth should be, not man’s word, but "God’s word" (1 Thessalonians 2:13), both testimony in the gospel and ministry in the word in the church (1 Peter 4:11). This is the meaning of all places in the New Testament in which the term "word of God" is used. In no place in Holy Scripture does the expression "word of God" attach itself to its written permanent form, to the "Book of God," because at that time the canon of the New Testament was not yet formed.1
Of this proclaimed word, under the leading and in the name of the personal Word, and through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, has the written word, the Book of God, come into being. But although, as to the range of its meaning, this encloses a narrower circle, since the cessation of direct prophetic, apostolic revelation, it has just on this account unique significance of the highest conceivable order. Thenceforward all proclamation of God’s word by the mouth is simply a drawing from, an explaining and applying of, the written Word of God, and the written Word is rule and standard (formative and corrective) for all right proclaiming of God’s word by the mouth. Therefore the original written Biblical Word has full validity, is God-given, and of absolute, inescapable authority.
Seven chief grounds constrain us to this attitude of faith. From limits of space we can mention here only the most basic. Details would extend beyond the scope of our work. Not scientific establishment of details or defense of faith, but simple personal testimony to faith is our object.
Notes
1Comp. 1 Thessalonians 2:13; Hebrews 4:12; Acts 4:31; 1 Peter 1:23;1 Peter 4:11; etc. Revelation 22:18 applies in direct manner to the book of the Revelation of John himself, and is no utterance concerning the whole canon of the Old and New Testaments.