The Eternal, Unchanging Word of God

There are some things that I think about for awhile. Sometimes, I’ll think about something for weeks, months, and occasionally, even years. 

My title for this post is something I've thought a lot about this year, particularly this past spring and summer - the eternal, unchanging, Word of God - called the Bible or the Holy Scriptures.

I grew up hearing Bible stories at home, at church in Sunday school, and during Bible class in my homeschool program. I memorized Scripture for school and for our Wednesday night “Awana” children's program at church. As I got older, instead of hearing Bible stories, we took turns reading verses in a chapter (or chapters) of the Bible for family devotions in the evening before bed. Growing up, my life was filled with the Word of God, something I'm very grateful for. (my family used the King James Version, the version I still read today.)

God used a small, simple verse from His Word to draw me to Himself when I was an 11 year old girl:

"If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me." Psalm 66:18 

God's Word is both precious and powerful.

This past spring, during a conversation with some other Christians, I said something like: 

"The Bible, God's Word, is the truth, and that is our final authority." 

Later, a comment was made in reply to mine: 

"Yeah, well, everyone says that."  

Inwardly, I thought (and desperately wanted to say but didn't): 

“Are you saying the Bible isn’t the truth or final authority?” 

“If the Bible isn't the truth or final authority, then what is?” 

To avoid contention, I didn't say anything because I knew: God's Word is the absolute truth. 

God Himself, the Creator of all things, says so in His Word: 

"Thy word is true from the beginning: and every one of thy righteous judgments endureth for ever." Psalm 119:160

The verse below clearly says that God's law is the truth: 

"Thy righteousness is an everlasting righteousness, and thy law is the truth." Psalm 119:142

Jesus, the Son of God, prayed and declared this to His Father: 

"Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth." John 17:17 

 

God's Word says that He has even put His Word above His Name. That is how high God values His Word. 

"I will worship toward thy holy temple, and praise thy name for thy lovingkindness and for thy truth: for thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name." Psalm 138:2 

The nice part about this conversation is that it gave me a lot of time to think about God's Word being the absolute truth. 

There are some people in this world who say that: "There are no absolutes." 

My reply to that is: "Yes, there are. God's Word is the absolute truth. Not only that, it is also eternally true."  

Psalm 119:89 says: "For ever, O LORD, thy word is settled in heaven." Psalm 119:89

I find tremendous comfort in all these verses. God's Word is the truth. It is eternal. It never changes. It is a solid rock on which we can stand. This should be foundational in the life of every believer. 

God's Word should be the standard and final authority of every Christian. Sadly, there are so many different Christian denominations today who disagree. I believe the statement made by this other person (mentioned above) came from this fact. Since so many Christians see things differently, does that mean that God's Word is not the truth or final authority? Of course not. 

God's Word is true and always will be. It stands firm. The Scriptures make that very clear. God's Word does not contradict itself. Why then are there so many different denominations? 

I’ve thought long and hard about this. 

There are Christians who, though they see the Bible as the truth, do not see the Bible as the final authority. Sadly, their church leaders are their final authority, not God's Word. I know of churches like this. 

There are also many Christians who, though they see the Bible as the truth and the final authority, do not read or study their Bible. I believe there are many Christians who are ignorant simply from a lack of study. 

I believe this is why we are encouraged to: 

"Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth." 2 Timothy 2:15 

We are to rightly divide the word of truth. How do we do that? By studying God's Word. 

I don’t consider myself to be a huge book reader, although, if you saw my stash of books, you might think otherwise. If I have a good book, I enjoy reading. It all depends on the book. There are definitely some amazing books out there! I’ve even seriously considered writing a book myself. (I’ve been told by others that I have a gift for writing. Whether or not that’s true, I don’t know.) I do enjoy sharing, provided people are interested. So although I’m not a huge book reader, I will admit, books are fun! 

Recently, I went through some books of mine that I decided I might not need anymore and may decide to try selling them on eBay sometime. 

Going through my books, made me think about the Word of God again. That’s a book that never changes. It is always relevant, and the Author is God Himself. That’s pretty phenomenal if you stop to think about it. 

I remember hearing once that, in our world today, we have more Christian self help books than any other time in history. Yet sadly, we seem to have more problems than previous generations. We need God’s Word.

In recent years, I’ve come to treasure God’s Word more than ever before. I frequently share verses on my Facebook page and WhatsApp status. I’m sure there are some who may get a little irritated, thinking that they didn’t sign up for their daily or weekly Bible verse from me, but I can’t help but share at times. God’s Word is precious. It is powerful. It is from God. God’s Word has all the answers we need. I personally believe the greatest thing Christian parents can teach their children is the Word of God.

Though I have some great, inspirational, Christian books, none of them compare to the Bible.  

God gave His people something very precious and very simple to follow - His eternal Word.