Experts might tell us the sharpest knife in the world is the Obsidian flake--the Obsidian flake. It cuts ten times sharper than razor blades. It can fracture down to a single atom. It is a sharp sliver from volcanic glass. It once flowed as hot magma, molten magma that hardened.
Yet there exists something far sharper. It is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword. It is the Word of God. As we run the race of life TOGETHER God's Word double energizes us. The Preacher of our text today from Hebrews underscores a key point. He declares God's Word, which brought the WHOLE universe into existence, acts as a living agent that gives life to all creatures.
Apart from the Word of God, there would be no life, no light, no love. We take this for granted. Centuries ago one of the most brilliant scientists, Johann Kepler, said that sound science was thinking God's thoughts. This Word of God gives life to every cell our body.
We are learning that each invisible cell in our body contains a string of DNA that is the length of the human arm from elbow to index finger. A cubit! This DNA is tightly coiled into an invisible little ball. When this ball divides, Jesus has designed it to have three billion letters to get the job done rightly. By His powerful Word, our body, a little universe in its own right, breathes, walks, eats, sleeps, and grows.
Go and tell, how in each cell, Jesus is providing a mammoth mighty miracle. Through His Word we live, move, and have our being. His Word is living and active. This living Word which not only sustains life but can keep a person from dying an eternal death.
While it is God's Word of power that upholds the whole universe, it is Jesus' Word of the gospel that creates hearts of love. By nature because of sin, our hearts are prone to becoming calloused, hard-hearted. The more enlightened we become by the Word of God, we see more clearly the darkness of the human heart. We see the need for the law and gospel scalpel daily to open our arteries to receive the needed oxygen of His love. That Word of love, of full pardon from the cross, constantly cleans out our spiritual arteries of the plaque of pride.
Both the law and gospel are needed. The law is a mirror bright to bring the inbred sin to light. It flashes a light on our lust, greed, selfishness, and easy-to-be-hard ways to the neighbor in need. The gospel images the MRI of God's heart. In so doing, it reveals the good news that the millions of sins we commit, have been fully, freely, forgiven. Jesus, as our great High Priest, the writer tells us was the Lamb of God Who took the hit on Mt. Moriah for us.
This law and gospel work of God's Word is sharper than any two edge sword. It is so sharp it can divide soul and spirit. It can divide the indivisible. God's strong Word will read our heart infinitely better than any heart echo gram. It is a billion times sharper than a Samurai sword. It reveals the very thoughts of our heart (Hebrews 11:6).
A human judge or jury can judge words and deeds--and that only crudely. God's living, active Word, however, like a surgical Judge discerns what's going on in our hearts and it alone is able to fix it. It flashes a light more bright than the sun and exposes the evil that lurks within human hearts. Without this, our hearts would become rock hard soil, soiled by sin. It is Jesus' Good Friday love that gives us a new heart. This heart is filled with joy over sin forgiven, hope over Jesus' victory over death, and love to live life with a Biblical vision that is not a delusion. Better yet, in a profound mysterious way, Jesus actually tabernacles in our heart by way of His Word.
Most of mankind either lives with no hope or dwells with the delusion that humans can save themselves. As a result we see people trying to console themselves in their endless diversions. Last weekend over 31 million Americans bet on the Super Bowl not knowing pregame the outcome. How much better would our nation be, if we studied the perfect prophecies of God. These prophecies tell us of the fantastic new heaven and earth awaiting for us. They also assure us of Jesus' perfect record of fulfillment in the past.
What a disorder humans have! We are insensitive to the things that really count, but are so sensitive to things that often don't add up to a hill of beans.
The Word of God which is living and active. It alone can set us free from the bad bets of religion. All the religions of the world are betting man can sneak into the back door of heaven by his works--yet the Bible from Genesis to Revelation says this is a hellish fantasy. We cannot come into the presence of a holy God dragging our stink-to-the-high-heavens sin. Nor can we stand before God with our filthy fig leaves.
The living, active, life-saving, life-enhancing Word reveals that only Jesus is the Pioneer and Perfecter of our faith (Hebrews 12:2). From front to finish Jesus brings across the finish line--victorious, glorious.
He alone, as our great high Priest, knifed through the sepulcher of death with the scalpel of forgiveness. To do this, Jesus had to have massive credentials, infinitely than any mere mortal. The writer to the Hebrews early on describes the Divine credentials of Jesus: Through Jesus the world was created; through Jesus we see the exact image of God; through Jesus the whole universe is upheld; through Jesus, purification for our sins has been made; and in Jesus, we have One who fills the whole universe as God and man (Hebrews 1:1-4).
Given how it is God's life-giving Word that keeps us alive physically and spiritually, this two-edge sword should be by our side every day. Faith in the living God comes by hearing and hearing through the double-edged sword of God. That sword is both our offensive and defensive weapon for life and hope for eternal life.
In our Old Testament reading Isaiah declared God's Word NEVER returns empty (Isaiah 55:11). The Gospel for today (Luke 8) reveals that God's Word can produce in human lives a bumper crop of blessings (100 fold!) that will have an ongoing effect for all eternity. "Take care how you hear the Word of God" is the most important holy habit of the lives we live. Today, you have come to God's house to have the seed of God's Word sown in your heart to improve the soil of your heart and to engage in the eternal smart.
Allow the scalpel of God's Word daily to attend and mend your heart. In so doing, the most powerful agent in the world, the Word, will enable you to be productive in the things that really count. While the world fritters away the gift of life, allow God's healing knife to bring you the fullness of life. This Word is the Father's gift in Jesus so that your joy will be full (1 John 1:4).
Questions
1. Read the verse six verses of Hebrews chapter one. Note five awesome things about Jesus.
2. What do you think about the Obsidian flake knife? Yet this would be dull blade compared to God's Word. Why? God's Word cuts things that are invis_______! Like soul and s_______.
3. How did Jesus make your body like an amazing universe? If you stretched out the DNA of your cells how far would it go? All our veins and arteries would go around the whole world.
4. The two great teachings of the Bible are law and gospel. Which one reveals our sin? Which one reveals Jesus' forgiving love?
5. Jesus is in heaven but He also dwells in our _______.
6. Important phrase: "Right hand of God." Hebrews 1:3 and 12:2 as well as well as 1 Peter 3:22 reveal Jesus is at "the Right Hand of God." If God is everywhere, where then is Jesus?
7. Is Jesus' as cosmic Lord bound by time and space?
8. Jesus is so powerful He gives His body the ability to be everywhere at once? See Revelation 1:7 and Matthew 25:33.
9. We are bound to time and space and three dimensions, Jesus as Lord is Lord over science. His first miracles He turns water in an instant into forty year old wine (John 2:1-11).
10. What is the most important habit for us develop so that our joy might be full and we will be equipped for every good work?
