In the Bible, we find that Jesus is called "the Word of God." Why? For many people, the term "word of God" refers simply to the Bible and this is usually their first thought. So then why does the Bible itself refer to Jesus as the Word of God? What is the reason and purpose of this label?
"The Word of God"
1. The Word of the Prophets
"The Word of God" is most readily understood by people, perhaps primarily, to be "the Bible", that is, those words written down by the prophets. We call the written words of these prophets by the term "the word of God." These written words reflect to us what God had communicated to these prophets. God did not give them written words. He gave them a message which they themselves could speak to other human beings and then they later wrote down this message. The written words are the prophets' reflections of the word God communicated to them, that is, the written words reflect the message God gave to them. Put another way, what is written with alphabetic characters, in one language or another, conveys to us what the prophets received from God in another way.
Strictly speaking then, the "word of God" which came to the prophets was not a set of written alphabetic characters. It was God's communicated message to a human being intended to be conveyed to other human beings. The prophet then reflected to others what God communicated to him, either by speaking this message, or by writing this message down. The real message is the concept, not squiggles on a page. The alphabetic squiggles simply convey the concept, the message.
In a similar manner, a person named John can look into a mirror and say, "I see John." But strictly speaking, he does not see John. He sees a reflection of John. John is not in the mirror; he is the one looking into the mirror. In the same way, the Bible is the word of God in the mirror sense. It is not, strictly speaking, the word of God itself, but an accurate reflection of the word of God. Of course we all understand what John means when he says he sees John in the mirror and so we can speak of the Bible as "the word of God" in a similar manner. We are simply trying to convey what we see just as John sees John in the mirror. Yet we must be careful to distinguish the reflection from the reality, the sign from the reality. A curve sign on the road is not the curve itself; it merefly reflects the truth that a curve exists. In the same way the Bible, this written word, reflects the truth of the message, the word, conveyed from God to the prophets.
2. God Created by his spoken Word
"The Word of God" is also understood to be the spoken word by which God created all things. The heavens and earth came to exist by the word of God (2 Peter 3:5). The ages were framed by the word of God (Heb 11:3). He called things that do not exist into existence (Rom 4:17). For He spoke and it was; He commanded and it came to stand (Psalm 33:9). By the word of the LORD the heavens were made and all their host by the breath of his mouth (Psalm 33:6). He commanded and the heavens were created (Psalm 148:5). Indeed, we read at John 1:3 that everything that has been made was made by means of the word of God. "In the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God," that is, the word by which God created everything was his own divine essence. His spoken word was what He was. God created everything by means of his divine word. All things were created through God's word
3. All things were created through the Word = Jesus Christ
"The Word of God" is also understood to be Jesus Christ. We read the "Word" became flesh at John 1:14 and it is rather obvious this Word is the same Word which was with God in the beginning at John 1:1 where we are also told nothing was made that has been made apart from this word. In addition to reading that God created all things through his spoken Word, we also read that all things were created through Jesus Christ.
The Bible also explicitly states that God created through Jesus Christ. Paul writes, "But to us there is but one God, the Father, out of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom are all things, and we through him (1 Corinthians 8:6) and "And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things through Jesus Christ" (Ephesians 3:9. Some manuscripts also do not contain the phrase "through Jesus Christ") and For in him all things were created, things in heaven and upon earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or lordships or rulers or authorities; all things were created through him and unto him. And he is before all things, and in him all things subsist (Colossians 1:16). We also read, "God, who in many places and in divers manners spoke in time past to the fathers in the prophets, has in these last days spoken unto us in a Son, whom he set heir of all things, through whom also he made the ages."
Now of course this all makes complete sense if the spoken word by which God created all things and Jesus Christ, the Word, by which God created all things, are one and the same thing. This is further elaborated in John 1 where John indicates all things were made by the Word which was with God in the beginning and which became flesh - Jesus.
The Relationship between the Written Word, the Word by which God created, and the Word Jesus Christ
So we find in Scripture that God created through his spoken word and we also find that God created all things through Jesus Christ. So we must now ask, 'Did God create with two different words or are we to understand that God created with one word and the spoken word and Jesus Christ are one and the same thing?' And then we must further ask if the "Word of God" is three in number: (1) the spoken word by which God created, (2) the written word that we otherwise call the Bible and (3) the word which became flesh, that is, Jesus. Are any two of these three the same thing? Or are all three of these things really one and the same thing?
We often read in the Old Testament, "the Word of the LORD came to ____________." And we understand that the words written in the Bible are the written result of this Word of the LORD coming to a prophet. Plainly, we are to understand that God communicated his word to the prophets. So we can see this is God's spoken word and this word was written down by the prophets to reflect what God had communicated to them.
So we must be careful here. If we refer to the Bible as "the Word of God" we can see that obviously, God did not create everything by means of the Bible. However, He did create everything by means of his spoken word. And it was also God's spoken word which came to the prophets. The written word is simply a reflection of the spoken word God communicated to these prophets. And we can therefore see that the word of God which came to the prophets, and was later written down, is the same spoken word by which God created. In each case, we are referring to God's expression out of himself, whether he spoke and it was, or whether he spoke to a prophet and it was written down. Therefore, we can see clearly that at least two of these three "word of God" concepts are the very same thing.
Peter enlightens us further when he says, "the prophets who prophesied of the grace that would come to you made careful searches and inquiries, seeking to know what person or time the Spirit of Christ within them was indicating as He predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories to follow" (1 Peter 1:10-11) and no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God" (2 Peter 1:21; cf. Acts 3:21).
At this point, things become abundantly clear. The Word which came to the prophets is the same Word which became flesh (John 1:14). And it therefore becomes clear that God's spoken Word, the Word which came to the prophets, and the Word which had become flesh, are all the same thing.
With this starting point, a very clear picture comes into view concerning just who Jesus was and is. God created by means of his spoken word. God's spoken word also came to the prophets via the Holy Spirit and was later written down. And finally, this spoken word, by which God created all things, and which was spoken to the prophets and written down as words in the Bible, came to be flesh, that is, Jesus Christ. And for this reason, the apostles indicate God created all things through Jesus Christ because the word by which God had created all things had become flesh, the person Jesus Christ.
A son is regarded as an expression of the Father. God's word is his expression. Hence, Jesus is God's expression in the form of flesh. The same expression that was spoken to create the world, and to spoken to the prophets, was now a fleshly thing. Indeed, God is love and this flesh was God's love itself. His fleshly son was how God was expressing his love toward us. This son was God's expression, God's word, God's word by which all things were created. This word had become flesh and it is the same word by which God created all things. Then this word was spoken in order to create; now this word was a person of flesh named Jesus, God's Son. When we accept that Jesus of Nazareth is the same spoken word by which God created all things, all these things become crystal clear and we can really begin to understand just .
Trinitarian doctrine leaves people very confused. Those who have such doctrine as their foundation comprehend the written Bible as "the Word of God." Then they read that God created all things through his spoken word. Rational minds know this does not mean God created by means of a 66 bookk written canon. And then they read that God created all things through Jesus Christ. The Bible even refers to Jesus as God's Word in the very same context it tells us this is the Word by which God created all things (John 1:1-3). And so the Trinitarian is left with accepting that God created through his spoken Word while God also created through Jesus Christ and these two things are left in a disjointed confusion. And the problem is even further exacerbated by defining God's word in a third way as "the written Bible" and since God did not create through the Bible this is left disjointed from the other two disjointed definitions they have in their mind. The result is a confused mess of concepts which cannot be comprehended together in a clear manner.
"For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways," declares the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways And My thoughts than your thoughts. For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, And do not return there without watering the earth And making it bear and sprout, And furnishing seed to the sower and bread to the eater; So will My Word be which goes forth from My mouth; It will not return to Me empty, Without accomplishing what I desire, And without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it.(Isaiah 55:8-11).
In the beginning was the Word.... My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to accomplish His work.... I proceeded and came forth from God; I came not of my own accord, but he sent me. (John 1:1, 4:34, 8:42).
The Bible explains that God's word is like a seed. God planted his seed, the Word, in this earth, and conceived a son, Jesus Christ. God's word died on Calvary. In this way, he emptied himself (Php 2:5-9). But God's word did not return void. God's word rose from the dead full of the power and glory of God and returned to God the Father as a Son. God's Word died and was made void but God's Word never returns to him void.
But God raised him from the dead and for many days he appeared to those who came up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are now his witnesses to the people. And we bring you the good news that what God promised to the fathers, this he has fulfilled to us their children by raising Jesus just as also it is written in the second psalm, "You are my son, TODAY I have begotten you.'
