How to be Class Apart (Part 2)

Greek words for ‘Word’ John 17:17 ESV – Sanctify them in the truth; your Word is truth. We can be set apart in God’s reality. And the Word brings His reality. If there’s anything in our life that does not align with the reality of Jesus, we will find that reality in the Word. In […]

December 5, 2022

Greek words for ‘Word’

John 17:17 ESV – Sanctify them in the truth; your Word is truth.

We can be set apart in God’s reality. And the Word brings His reality. If there’s anything in our life that does not align with the reality of Jesus, we will find that reality in the Word. In the Word, we can find God’s reality. But that reality will not open up to us if we sleep keeping our Bibles next to our pillows. The Word will become real if we read it because faith comes by hearing.

In the Bible, we find three Greek words for Word. The first is ‘Graphe‘, which means the written Word or the sacred scriptures. The second is ‘Logos‘, which means God’s inspired Word, or the reasoning of God. In the gospel of John Chapter 1, the Word mentioned is Logos, which refers to Jesus. The Bible reveals Jesus. Having the Bible will not solve our problem; we need to know Jesus. When we read through the scriptures, we have a revelation of who Jesus is. After the resurrection, Jesus walked with his discouraged disciples who were moving from
Jerusalem to Emmaus, and on the way, He did not reveal Himself in the flesh but through the scriptures. So if we want to see Jesus through our physical eyes, we must first see Him through the scriptures.

So scriptures or graphe are meant to unveil the logos that reveal Jesus. When we read through it or listen to a sermon, Jesus is revealed to us.

The third term is ‘Rhema’, meaning the spoken Word of God. The spoken Word created everything in the universe (Hebrews 11.3). When God said, “Let there be light,” it was the spoken Word upon which the Holy Spirit acted. When we have a revelation of logos,it has the power to become rhema as we speak it out. And the Word we speak out has the same power as when God speaks it. But it all begins when we read, meditate and confess the scriptures.

Crucified with Christ

The scriptures reveal the person of Jesus. When we dwell on the Word, it can take on flesh in our life.

James 1:22 ESV – But be doers of the Word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.

Here the ‘doer of the Word’ means doing logos. We cannot be a doer of the person of Jesus unless we become the Word. The Word can take flesh in our life. The day we accepted Jesus as our Saviour, our ‘I’ element (or ego) died. We do not have to die physically to be united with God.

We died spiritually with Jesus when He was crucified. Paul asserts the same in Galatians 2, saying, “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me” (Galatians 2.20 ESV). The same happens when two people marry. They are no longer their personalities but united as one. When we receive Jesus, we are united with the Triune God in every manner. Heaven after death is not the reality of any Christian, but this oneness with the Triune God is heaven.

Implanted Word

The Word we received when we heard the gospel can become flesh in our life so that we can be doers of the Word. If we tell a baby to eat alone, it is unfair, as the baby does not have the potential to do it. So when God expects us to become doers of the Word, He has given us the potential to do it.

James 1:21 ESV – Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted Word, which is able to save your souls.

‘Implanted’ comes from the Greek word ‘emphyton’ which means embryo, growing or germinating. When we accept Jesus as our Saviour, we receive the implanted Word of God. We cannot be a doer without receiving the implanted Word. The implanted Word cannot be earned, but it is received as a gift from God. Since it is implanted like a seed, it has the power to germinate.

The interesting part about a seed is that, though it is tiny, it can germinate when sowed into the ground under suitable conditions and can grow into a huge tree, producing fruits that contain more seeds. Every Word that we receive is like an embryo that has the power to germinate in our lives. We only need one seed of God’s Word. It can germinate under the right conditions and bring forth many fruits. The Bible says, ‘receive the implanted word, which is able to save our souls.’ For every area of our life that requires saving – health, emotions, finances, personality, and relationships – the implanted Word can redeem that area.

The Channel for God’s Word

John 1:14 ESV – And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

The Logos, in the beginning, was with God (John 1:1), which shows the spiritual reality of the Word. However, the Word became flesh through Mary.

Luke 1:34-35 ESV – And Mary said to the angel, “How will this be since I am a virgin?” And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore, the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God.

The Word in the spiritual realm has to become the Word in the physical realm for us to access anything God wants from us according to His will. For this, we need to become the channel that is willing to deliver the spiritual Word into the physical realm. When the Holy Spirit comes upon us, and the power of the Most High overshadows our lives, we become doers of the Word. In other words, when the power of the Holy Spirit overshadows us, there is an outflow of the implanted Word that can be delivered through our life. The Word can become flesh in us, manifested in our actions and gestures as we live.

Even in the seed form, we received the implanted Word in fullness when we accepted Jesus as our Saviour. The seed word has the power to overflow through our spirit into our minds, hearts and bodies. The Word was delivered as a baby boy through Mary. When we heard the gospel and said yes to Jesus, He came into our life. This means that we only receive the seed word once in our life. We don’t receive it every Sunday. We receive that seed Word once in our spirit. When the seed grows from within us and overflows into our physical reality, we are no longer babies but mature sons of God.

Class Apart

Unlike the seeds of this world, which require time to grow, the seed Word is not under the subjection of time. For a baby to be born, it takes nine months. For the word to germinate and mature requires the revelation of God. Every time we hear the Word, through sermons or reading scripture, we hear God’s spoken Word from that seed within ourselves, and that seed has the power to do whatever it takes for us to fulfil God’s purpose.

There is the implanted Word within us which grows in an inside-out process. Everything that we need for a life of godliness is already within us. We must be attentive when listening to God’s Word that comes to us as rhema or the now-Word. The now-Word of today might not work for tomorrow; tomorrow, we will need a new now-Word. The Word for today can deliver our souls now from all that is crushing us. The Word that will bless us now is within us and activated through our speaking. Logos get activated when we listen to God’s Word.

The day we accepted Jesus, we became a class apart. The day we commit to coming to a church, we become another class apart. In other words, the more we grow in diligence and maturity, the more we mature to higher levels or classes. Various stages of maturity require varying responses. So what worked for us ten years ago may not work for us now spiritually. If we have matured in the spiritual realm, we must respond to the Word accordingly. No matter what portion of scripture the pastor shares from, based on our maturity, we will receive the rhema word that can set us free.

Proverbs 2. 1–5 ESV– My son, if you receive my word and treasure up my commandments with you, making your ear attentive to wisdom and inclining your heart to understanding; yes, if you call out for insight and raise your voice for understanding, if you seek it like silver and search for it as for hidden treasures, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God.

We cannot find God’s knowledge by being lazy. It requires a certain amount of diligence from our side. When we listen to a sermon and receive from the implanted Word attentively, one Word from the Holy Spirit is enough to set us free. One Word is enough to be delivered from that sickness that we’ve been struggling with for the last 20 years or for us to be set free from all the debts that we have been in for the last 15 years. We have been blessed with every spiritual blessing. The Holy Spirit contextualises every Word for us to redeem us from our chaos.

Characteristics of the doer of the Word

James 1. 23-25 ESV– For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.

Here James uses the illustration of the mirror to tell us the characteristics of the doer of the Word. The purpose of a mirror is to show us how we look. Three characteristics of doers of the Word are as follows:

1. Doers Persevere

Firstly, doers persevere in looking at the Word. Like the natural mirror, the spiritual mirror, which is the Word, will show us how we look in the spiritual realm. In the spiritual mirror, we will always see Jesus. When we look in the natural mirror, we have so many things to get disappointed by. But when we see ourselves in the spiritual mirror, it reflects the person of Jesus within us. Hearers of the Word see their spiritual reflection, but easily forget what they see. Hence, they behave in their natural self.

In our respective homes, if we had a mirror that could show us our spiritual reflection, most of us would be shocked. We wouldn’t believe it, and that unbelief in the Word limits us to being hearers of the Word. When we persevere, despite the world saying that we are short tempered people, we see ourselves as compassionate and slow to anger through the Word. For us to believe in the Word, the repeated hearing of the Word is needed (Romans 10:17). The Psalmist says, “God spoke once and I heard twice.” The repeated hearing of the Word or meditating on the Word shows our perseverance.

2. Doers Remember

Secondly, doers of the Word do not forget what they see in the mirror and act accordingly. If we see a reflection of who we are, we act accordingly. If we see a reflection of us as kings, we act like kings. If we see a reflection that we are the righteousness of God, we will act like the righteousness of God. Remembering our spiritual reflection is important to be doers of the Word. Whatever we struggle with today is because we struggle to see that God has already released it over our lives. For instance, we don’t forgive because we don’t think we are forgiven. We hold everybody accountable because we think God is holding us accountable. If we can receive perfectly from God, we can lend perfectly to others. Know that grace is expressed with people. We might know every verse in the bible that talks about grace, and might be an expert in grace theology, but our grace theology will be tested in our dealings with people. Our revelation of God determines our behaviour.

In the kingdom of God, what we forget and remember will define the reality that we live in.

Deuteronomy 8:18 ESV – You shall remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth, that he may confirm his covenant that he swore to your fathers, as it is this day.

These blessings that we receive from God can delude us where we are shortsighted and fail to see God, the Promise-Giver. Remember we do not do it by our strength. If we can remember from Monday to Saturday what we heard on a Sunday, it’ll set us free. It’ll prepare us for all the
challenges that we face through the week. What we intentionally choose to remember and forget will determine the reality that we choose to live in. Everyone has a unique style of how they memorise the Word. Figuring out a technique that works for us, will help us memorise and
remember the Word.

It is not more information or revelations that we have, but our capacity to see the Word in the flesh for our realities that initiates transformation. There are some verses in the Bible which we know as a concept, but it has the potential to become our reality. If we are yet to see it in flesh, do not argue with the Word, or passively read it; instead continue meditating on the Word until it becomes a reality. The spiritual Word has the potential to become a physical Word through us who are the channel.

3. Doers Act

Thirdly, the doer of the Word will be blessed in their doing. Many people wait on external circumstances to change. However, circumstances will not change unless we act upon the Word that we have received. As Christians, we need to understand that faith is spelt as R-I-S-K. When we hear the Word of God, we have to take the steps of faith. Even after hearing the Word of God, if we are passive or too comfortable in our realities, nothing will change. Circumstances will change when we remember what we heard, and persevere in it, followed by acting accordingly in the physical realm. Then the spiritual realm will bring all the necessary changes to our lives and circumstances.

We need to take a step of faith, which is the conviction that we have, because we are blessed in our doing. Our worrying about things will not help us in any way, but we have to trust God in what He has said through the Word. The only disclaimer is we have to hear God’s Word. Risking ourselves without hearing God’s Word is recklessness. But if we hear God’s Word, it will happen. Instead of waiting on circumstances to change, wait for His Word, so that we can take the steps of faith. If we think naturally, we will operate naturally. Let us think supernaturally, then we will operate in the supernatural. Believe in the providence and deliverance of God. Let Him assure us. If we can believe in Him and put the Word to action, nothing will be impossible for us.

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