Pray-reading: refs. include Witness Lee, Watchman Nee

The Divine Breath

One verse that clearly reveals the essence of God's Word is 2 Timothy 3:16. The New American Standard Bible translates the beginning of this verse, “All Scripture is inspired by God.” However, the Greek word here rendered “inspired by God” is Theopneustos (QeopneustoV), a compound of the Greek Theos (“God”) and pnein (a form of the verb “to breathe”) (Wuest 2:150). The literal meaning of the word is thus “God-breathed” as in Wuest's expanded translation of this verse: “Every Scripture is God-breathed.” Hence, the Bible is literally exhaled by God as His very breath.

Back

The Spiritual Milk

Not only is the Word of God His breath; it is also spiritual milk. Peter says in his first Epistle,

As the breath of God, the Word is for the believers to breathe in; and as the milk, the Word is for us to drink.

“As newborn babes, long for the guileless milk of the word in order that by it you may grow unto salvation” (2:2). Paul likewise compares the Word of God to milk in Hebrews 5:12: “For when because of the time you ought to be teachers, you have need again for someone to teach you what the rudiments of the beginning of the oracles of God are and have become those who have need of milk and not of solid food.” Paul similarly told the Corinthians that he had given them “milk to drink” (1 Corinthians 3:2). As the breath of God, the Word is for the believers to breathe in; and as the milk, the Word is for us to drink. By receiving the Word as milk, the believers are supplied and enabled to grow in the divine life.

Back

The Bread of Life

The Word of God is also the bread of life. In Matthew 4:4 the Lord Jesus said, “Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out through the mouth of God.” Here the Lord reveals that the Word is our spiritual bread to feed and nourish us. Hebrews 5:13-14 also indicates that the Word is the mature believer's “solid food.”

Back

Spirit and Life

John chapter six reveals another aspect of the essence of the Word. In this chapter, Christ presented Himself to the disciples as the bread of life, telling them that if they ate Him, they would live because of Him (vv. 48, 57). Upon hearing this, the disciples responded that it was a “hard” word (v. 60). They did not understand how it was possible to eat the Lord. In verse 63, however, the Lord explained: “It is the Spirit who gives life.” By this, He indicated that He could be the bread of life to the believers as their life and life supply only by becoming the Spirit who gives life (1 Corinthians 15:45). Through His death and resurrection, the Lord has now become the life-giving Spirit as our wonderful supply.

Nevertheless, as the invisible, intangible Spirit, Christ is now somewhat abstract and mysterious to us.

When we come to the written Word, the Bible, we can receive the divine Spirit because the Spirit is embodied in the Word.

He therefore elaborated in the second half of verse 63, “The words which I have spoken to you are spirit and are life.” First the Lord told the disciples that it is the Spirit who gives life; then He explained that His words are spirit and life. This apposition denotes that the Spirit is embodied in the Word. Although the Spirit is abstract, the Lord's words are concrete. Hence, when we come to the written Word, the Bible, we can receive the divine Spirit because the Spirit is embodied in the Word. His words are indeed spirit and life to us (Recovery Version, John 6:63, note 3).

Back

Christ—God Himself

John's Gospel opens with the mysterious declaration, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (1:1). The Word is God Himself. This does not mean, however, that the black and white letters of the Bible are literally God, but rather, that the Bible embodies God.

For this reason, the Lord and His Word should never be separated. In John 5:39-40 the Lord reproached the Pharisees,

We want to find Christ in the Word
(C.H. MacKintosh)

“You search the Scriptures, because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is these that testify concerning Me. Yet you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life.” The Pharisees were well acquainted with the “letter” of the Bible. They knew all the Old Testament commandments, ordinances, and prophecies. Nonetheless, they were not willing to come to the Lord Himself. They made the mistake of separating the Scriptures from the person of the Lord, and thus forfeited the experience of His life in His Word. The Lord's word to the Pharisees should not be taken only as His reproach to them, but also as His earnest call to us. He desires that we would not neglect to come to Him as we come to His Word, for He is embodied in His Word. Concerning this, C. H. MacKintosh in his Notes on Genesis said “We want to find Christ in the Word; and having found Him, to feed on him by faith” (Graver 70). Thus, we should always seek the Lord in the Scriptures as we read, and also bring the Scriptures to the Lord as we pray.

Back