Holding Forth the Word of Life



Holding Forth the Word of Life

1. Introduction

The phrase “The Word of Life”is used only twice in Scripture. The first time it is used by the Apostle Paul in his letter to the Philippians.
Philippians 2: 12: “Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.
13: For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.
14: Do all things without murmurings and disputings:
15: That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world;
16: Holding forth the word of life; that I may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain, neither laboured in vain.”

2. What is ‘the Word of Life?’

Closely examining my Bible I find that the word ‘word’ is mostly spelled with a small ‘w’ and occasionally with a capital ‘W.’ Checking Strong’s dictionary we read the following:
“WORD 3056 logos (log'-os)
1) of speech
    1a) a word, uttered by a living voice, embodies a conception or idea
    1b) what someone has said
        1b1) a word
        1b2) the sayings of God
        1b3) decree, mandate or order
        1b4) of the moral precepts given by God
        1b5) Old Testament prophecy given by the prophets
    1d) doctrine, teaching
    1e) anything reported in speech; a narration, narrative
    1f) matter under discussion, thing spoken of, affair, a matter in dispute, case, suit at law
    1g) the thing spoken of or talked about; event, deed
3) In John, denotes the essential Word of God, Jesus Christ, the personal wisdom and power in union with God, his minister in creation and government of the universe, the cause of all the world's life both physical and ethical, which for the procurement of man's salvation put on human nature in the person of Jesus the Messiah, the second person in the Godhead, and shone forth conspicuously from His words and deeds.”

3. Jesus Christ, Yeshua the Messiah

The second time the phrase ‘the Word of Life’ is used, it is by the Apostle John.

He Writes:
1 John 1: 1: “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life;
2: (For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and shew unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us;)
3: That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ.
4: And these things write we unto you, that your joy may befull.”

In short, the phrase: ‘the word of life’ means:

4. The Word of Life…the Bible

Now that we know what the phrase ‘the word/Word of Life’ means, let us examine the first meaning: that is, the written word of God - the Holy Bible. It is impossible to exaggerate the importance of the Bible.

Sad to say, today there are scores of conflicting Bible translations on sale; and believers are unsure as to which is the REAL word of God. The choice is staggering and confusing to say the least.

5. Son of God … Yeshua the Messiah

As mentioned earlier, the second rendering of the Greek word ‘logos,’ when I write or speak of the ‘Word’ capital (‘W’) I mean Jesus, the only begotten Son of God. John starts his Gospel with this passage:

John 1: 1:“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
2: The same was in the beginning with God.
3: All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.
4: In him was life; and the life was the light of men.
5: And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.
6: There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.
7: The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe.
8: He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light.
9: That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.
10: He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not.
11: He came unto his own, and his own received him not.
12: But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:
13: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
14: And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father.) full of grace and truth.”

Listed here are many stunning facts, which we do well to consider and believe. They are:

These are eternal facts, which we must accept if we are to call ourselves 'believers.' That is what the Scriptures teach. You are not a believer if you do not believe these basic Bible doctrines!

These are eternal facts, which we must accept if we are to call ourselves ‘ true believers.’ That is what the Scriptures teach. You are not a believer if you do not believe these basic Bible doctrines!

6. Holding Forth

Strong's 1907 epecho {ep-ekh'-o}

7. Summary

Our lesson today is a simply one. As believers we are to hold forth, apply, attend to and present the Word of Life to the world. By the phrase 'Word of Life' we mean:
  1. The living Word of God, that is, the Son of God, the Creator, the Sustainer and Saviour of mankind.
  2. We are also to hold forth, apply, attend to and present the Holy Bible to the world.

All this is part of what Paul calls 'working out your own salvation with fear and trembling.' This is our sacred duty and we cannot afford to be careless about it. I trust that we shall all take this message to heart and allow God to finish what He has started in our own lives.


AMEN!

In the Son’s Name - For the Father’s glory.

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