John 1:1 – “and the Word was God.”

Have you ever heard the statement, “The Bible doesn’t just contain the Word of God, it is the Word of God.” This is a very true statement and worth meditating upon, but it goes even beyond that. If we truly believe John 1:1, “and the Word was God,” then not only is the Bible the Word of God, but it is a manifestation of God Himself. The Bible reveals God to us because it is a manifestation of Himself. The same Word that was “made flesh and dwelt among men,” was written down and given to men. Just as the earthly life of Jesus is a manifestation of God and just as much as the Holy Spirit in our lives is a manifestation of God; the Bible that has been given to us by God is a manifestation of Himself.

It is often hard for us to think of the Bible as this because to us it is such a common, natural thing. But this really isn’t all that different from how He’s manifested Himself in the past. When the Word became flesh He manifested Himself as a common, natural baby. When He was growing up He was just a common, natural boy. Certainly He was seen as special for those who really knew Him, but if you had seen Jesus playing with the other boys on the street it is unlikely you’d be able to know which one was to be the Messiah. Also, when God speaks to us through the inward witness it sometimes seems nothing more than a common, natural thought, but it is still God manifesting Himself to us. So it is with the Word of God. Some who don’t really know it see it as just another book, but it is a manifestation of God Himself.

Through His Word we perceive that He is speaking.

What is a manifestation? A manifestation is a perceptible, outward expression. If I am in a completely dark room and I don’t move or speak, I am not manifested because there is no perceptible expression of myself. However, if I speak then you can perceive I’m there so I am manifested. That’s how God’s Word is a manifestation of Himself. Through His Word we perceive that He is speaking. Not only that, but a person’s words reveal their thoughts and their thoughts will reveal their character and your character is who you really are. So when God has spoken in the written Word it is God Himself.

Most Christians would agree with the statements I have made concerning the Word of God, but how many of us really believe it. How many really believe that the Bible that we have is as much God as Jesus in His earthly ministry. James 2:17 tells us, “Faith, if it has no corresponding action, is dead.” It goes to say in verse 18, “I will show you my faith with my actions.” So if we really had faith that the Word of God is God, wouldn’t we have some corresponding actions with it? Wouldn’t the way we approach the Word show that we truly believe when we are in our study and reading of the Word we are in the presence of God.

Let me ask you this. What would you do if an angel appeared from heaven and told you that on such and such a day, at this hour, God was going to manifest in your home and that for one hour He would personally answer any question that you had for Him? If you truly believed that, then from the time you heard it to the time God was going to come, you would write out every question you could possibly think of and then spend hours deciding which questions were the most important to ask. You would not care how long it took; you would do everything in your power to be confident that when the time came you knew which questions would be the most important for your life.

The simple truth of the matter is, if we truly believed that the Word of God, that has been given to us, was really a manifestation of God, we would do the exact same thing. We would go before our study of the Word with the same awe and expectation as if we were in the very presence of God, because we are. This Bible, that can be as accessible as the closest Wal-Mart, is a manifestation of God. And we don’t just have it for one hour; we can give our lives to the study and the meditation of it. Every question we could ever possibly desire answered can be found when we are in the study of this Book.

I’ll be honest with you; I don’t have this kind of revelation concerning the Word of God. I don’t set the time I should to study and mediate it like I should, but I do desire to. I desire that the Word of God be so real to me that it would be no different if God Himself came and spoke to me. I desire to see the Bible that sits on my bookshelf as a place where I can be in the very presence of God. I desire to know God, but I can’t do that without His Word for the Word is God.

The very wisdom of the ages may be sitting on your bedside table.

So it should be in the life of every believer. Don’t allow the fact that you can pick up a Bible for just a few dollars take away from the fact that you carry an immeasurable treasure. The very wisdom of the ages may be sitting on your bedside table. The answer to every question you have may be sitting on a shelf somewhere. Your cry for the very presence of God may be only an arm length away. If you want to truly get to know God then remember this, the Word is God.