Words Matter #3

Oct 15th 2010

Jesus is the Word.

In this blog-series on “words,” I probably should have started here. Perhaps there is no other energy more vital to the words that matter, than this reality. Jesus is the Word. Jesus matters. Words matter.  John, one of Jesus’ closest disciples wrote these words recorded in his gospel.

So the Word became human and lived here on earth among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness.  And we have seen his glory, the glory of the only Son of the Father. John 1:14
I could say that if we want our words to matter we should look to the example of Jesus.  And that would be wise counsel, Jesus gives us good teaching and example of the use and value of words.  But this is something different that is weighing in on my soul.  I am saying that it is not enough to ponder the example of the words of Jesus.  We need to ponder the Word which is Jesus.  If we want our words to matter we need to be passionately devoted to the Word and His glory — the glory of the Word.

It is not enough to study the example of Jesus we need to devote our hearts and our minds upon the glories of Jesus.  And it is not enough to say, “Christ is full of glory” and then leave that general statement hanging in the air as though it is self-explanatory.  We need to get specific.

We must ponder the wisdom of Christ…   We must ponder his authority… We must ponder his providence… We must ponder his word that upholds the universe — the word — that when heaven and earth pass away will stand like a rock…  We must ponder his power…  We must talk about his purity… We must think and ponder about his trustworthiness, he has never broken his promise.  We must ponder his justice.  The heartbeat of redemption is justice. When Jesus died he did justice to God.  We need to talk about his patience… We need to talk about his endurance….  We must ponder his grace that justifies us and overwhelms us with blessings that we do not, could not deserve.  We must talk about his love… which was shown as deeply in the act of washing feet as it was while hanging on a cross.

If words matter, really matter than we can not speak all day long of things that matter less than the Word.  We cannot spend all day long talking about everything but Jesus.

Henry Scougal was a chld prodigy. He attended the University of Aberdeen in Scotland at the age of 15. At 19 he was appointed instructor of philosophy at the University. After 4 years of teaching, he left the university for a 1 year pastorate. After that he was called back to the University to teach in their divinty school. But what attracts me to him was not his achievements so much as it was the fact that it was said of him, that his whole soul seemed to be swallowed up in the contemplation of Jesus Christ.

I want to be like that because the Word matters.