One of the most challenging endeavors when ministering to men and women standing for marriage restoration is getting them to recognize and consistently put their trust and confidence in the power and authority of God’s Word. And since doing that has been the focus of many recent conversations, it’s something we obviously need to cover in a lot more depth, because without the Word of God and what it teaches about God’s view of marriage, divorce and remarriage, we have nothing to stand on. Yet, when we do understand what the Word says and fully understand and recognize its absolute power and authority, our attitude toward our circumstances and spouses and the stand we’ve taken for the restoration of our marriages will be radically transformed. In John 10:10, Jesus warned that the devil comes only to steal, kill and destroy, and assures us that He came to give us more abundant life. But until we really understand the power and authority of God’s Word, it’s not possible to fully realize and experience the promise of the abundant life Jesus came to give us.

So perhaps understanding and recognizing the absolute power and authority of God’s Word begins with realizing that the Word is Jesus Christ; that He WAS the Word and that the Word became flesh, which is something MANY Christians are totally unaware of. Yet John 1:14 says The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. And John 1:1-5 says:
The Word Became Flesh
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
2 He was with God in the beginning.
3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.
4 In him was life, and that life was the light of men.
5 The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.

What an awesome description of the Word; because it’s nothing if not about the glory of Jesus Christ, the One and Only, and full of grace and truth! And when we go back to the beginning and read the Bible’s account of creation in Genesis 1-2, it’s pretty hard to deny the indisputable power and authority of God’s Word! When God said something, it happened, and it happened exactly when He said it and exactly as He called for it to happen. And what He declared in the beginning was and remains exactly the same today! And just as John 1: 3 says, Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.

The fact that NOTHING was or is made contrary to or without the Word of God is confirmed in Genesis 2:4-5, which is also very significant when considering the authority and reliability of God’s Word, because it says This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created. When the LORD God made the earth and the heavens-and no shrub of the field had yet appeared on the earth and no plant of the field had yet sprung up, for the LORD God had not sent rain on the earth and there was no man to work the ground… That’s very significant because it also affirms God’s declaration about the power and authority of His Word as stated in Isaiah 55:10-11, which says As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it. And John 6:33 says For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” So when we read these verses and consider the relationship between the Word and Jesus; it’s no wonder that Jesus is referred to as ”living water” and the “bread of life”, and that the Bible is often referred to as the “living Word”, as confirmed in the following verses:

Acts 7:38 – He was in the assembly in the desert, with the angel who spoke to him on Mount Sinai, and with our fathers; and he received living words to pass on to us.

Hebrews 4:12 – For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.

God’s Word truly does judge and reveal the thoughts and attitudes of our hearts, because they are a mirror of what we REALLY believe about Jesus and what His Word says. As Luke 6:45 tells us, The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks. But the sad truth is that our mouths are not consistently speaking the Word of God. In fact, even sadder yet, there are way too many times when the Words we speak (and even think or write) are totally contrary to the written Word of God. And when we do that, the Word of God must judge the thoughts and attitudes of our hearts as NOT believing Jesus; and that we are in fact calling Him a liar, because His Word is either true or a lie, and it’s either ALL true or ALL a lie. And when we reject the power and authority of the Word, we also reject the power and authority of Jesus Christ. So I hope and pray we’ll all get VERY SERIOUS about recognizing the absolute power and authority of God’s Word; and write it on the tablets of our hearts so we can truly live the abundant life Jesus came to give us, even as we continue standing in faith and confidence for the restoration of our marriages and families. To that end, let’s claim and never forget 1 Peter 1:23, which says For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God.; and Isaiah 46:10-11, which says I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come. I say: My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please. From the east I summon a bird of prey; from a far-off land, a man to fulfill my purpose. What I have said, that will I bring about; what I have planned, that will I do.

And when we recognize the irrefutable and absolute power and authority of God’s Word, we can rest in the knowledge that God WILL BE faithful to uphold it and bring about the purpose and plan He had for our marriages from the very beginning, which has NEVER changed, and remains exactly as stated in Genesis 2:20-25, which says:
20 So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds of the air and all the beasts of the field. But for Adam no suitable helper was found.
21 So the LORD God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man’s ribs and closed up the place with flesh.
22 Then the LORD God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man.
23 The man said, “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called ‘woman,’ for she was taken out of man.”
24 For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.
25 The man and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame.

And then in addition to Malachi 2 making it VERY clear that God hates and will not sanction or tolerate divorce; in Matthew 19, Jesus very strongly affirmed that no wisdom, plan or insight of man would EVER change God’s original plan and purpose for marriage. And even though His response made it very clear that Jesus considered a question concerning divorce unnecessary since God’s Word had already given His plan for marriage; He restated God’s original plan for marriage and went a step further by affirming that what God had joined together, no man should put asunder or separate. And when the Pharisees specifically challenged that because Moses had commanded them to give their wives certificates of divorce when they divorced them (he was not condoning or approving divorce; he was saying that they had to give their wives the certificates they’d need to remarry), He stated that anyone who remarries after divorce for reasons other than marital unfaithfulness commits adultery. And God still upholds His Word and original plan for marriage today exactly as Jesus affirmed it in Matthew 19:1-9:
Divorce
1 When Jesus had finished saying these things, he left Galilee and went into the region of Judea to the other side of the Jordan.
2 Large crowds followed him, and he healed them there.
3 Some Pharisees came to him to test him. They asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any and every reason?”
4 “Haven’t you read,” he replied, “that at the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female,’
5 and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’?
6 So they are no longer two, but one. Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate.”
7 “Why then,” they asked, “did Moses command that a man give his wife a certificate of divorce and send her away?”
8 Jesus replied, “Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because your hearts were hard. But it was not this way from the beginning.
9 I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for marital unfaithfulness, and marries another woman commits adultery.”

So when we truly recognize and are willing to surrender to the absolute power and authority of God’s Word, we can be content in all circumstances and experience peace that passes understanding, because we realize that not only are ALL THINGS created by the Word of God, but just as Hebrews 1:3 tells us, ALL THINGS ARE SUSTAINED BY HIS POWERFUL WORD! So read and study it and be blessed and encouraged!

Posted Monday, January 14th, 2008 at 9:41 pm in Seeds Of Faith.