God's Word is Life Transforming

THE WORD OF GOD

Adapted from a sermon of Rick Warren from "A Purpose Driven Life"

Introduction

• As Christians, we believe that God’s word is truth.
• We go to church, we go to bible studies, because we want to hear God’s word.

In the beginning was the Word

• God created the universe by speaking his Word.
• “Let there be light.” and light entered the universe and pushed out the darkness.
• Because of God’s words, time, space, matter came into existence.
• God’s word is the most powerful force in the universe.
• The Bible records God speaking audibly to people many times.
• We may find these in Exodus 3:14; when he said to Moses at the burning bush, “I Am who I Am.”
• In Joshua 1:1; it records, the Lord spoke to Joshua, the son of Nun, and Moses’ assistant.
• In the New Testament book of Acts 9:15-16, Jesus speaking to Ananias about Paul said, “Go, for he is a chosen vessel of Mine to bear My name before Gentiles, kings, and the children of Israel. For I will show him how many things he must suffer for My name’s sake.”
• In the gospels, in Mark 1:11, God spoke to Jesus and said to Him, “You are my beloved Son in Whom I am well pleased.”
• OTHER EXAMPLES are Judges 6:18; 1 Samuel 3:11; 2 Samuel 2:1;Job 40:1; Isaiah 7:3; Jeremiah 1:7 ;
• There was power in that voice.
• You know what happened after God spoke this to Jesus.
• Jesus was able to withstand the temptations of the devil in the desert.
• God’s words encouraged Jesus. 
• His words gave Jesus the confidence, the assurance, the validation that he needed to defeat the devil in the desert.
• From this example in Jesus’ early ministry, we can rest in the truth that God’s words have power.

His Words are Spirit and Life

• God’s spirit can bring life to the dead.
• We know the story of Lazarus.
• After Jesus had prayed he spoke and commanded to Lazarus to come forth.
• And Lazarus came out of the tomb alive.
• There are many miracles Jesus performed by speaking.
• Those who were sick became well. That’s life.
• Those who were blind now see. That’s life.
• Today, Christians have the Spirit in them. We have God’s spirit in us, who believe and trust in Him.

Jesus says in John 6:63, that “The Words I have spoken to you are spirit and life.”

• It can make life in you and me where our own willpower doesn’t make anything happen. 
• Do we believe this?
• I hope so.
• Because when we begin to trust and believe in what Jesus says, his words can make our life abundant for his good works.

His words are living and active

• Did you know that God made a decision to give us life, by speaking his truth, so we might become the crown of all the creatures he made?
• You can find this, in James 1:18. "Of His own will He brought us forth by the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures." -NKJV
• God’s words, even though we don’t hear them anymore, are all written down in a collection of books called the Bible.
• The bible is not just a historical book.
• It is not just a book of teachings and nice sayings.
• The bible is not just a guidebook for daily living.
• If it’s just these things, I could just pick up any self-help book in the library, or Chapters, or Kindle.
• “The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People” by Steven Covey
• "Greatest Life Lessons" from Tony Robbins
• These books they tell you what to do, what you need to improve on, what you need focus on, etc.
• But one thing they don’t have is God’s power - the active and life-giving power of God.

The author of Hebrews in Hebrews 4:12 says, “For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.”

• Sharper than any two-edged sword
• In ancient times, a two-edged sword is the sharpest tool. It can cut both ways.
• And God says that His word is sharper than a two-edged sword.
• This verse, hits three things all-in-one.
• It speaks of our spiritual life.
• Do you know when your soul begins and your spirit ends?
• The soul and spirit are part of God’s invisible creation.
• And nothing in the universe can affect these two except God’s word.
• Our soul is what makes us unique and our spirit is God’s gift.
• We know that when man fell, our spirit died.
• Through God’s word, with our faith in Jesus, God brought us back to life again.
• We are a new creation.
• Our spirit lives.
• The verse speaks of our physical life, when it refers to joints and marrow.
• God’s word brings healing. 
• Even in this modern age, we hear testimonies from Christians and sometimes non-Christians who are being healed from cancer, heart disease, hypertension, diabetes, because the Church, through the Holy Spirit, has spoken healing prayers to these people.
• God’s word can cut along bone to separate the joints and can crack the marrow to rejuvenate life giving blood.
• Lastly, the verse talks about our thoughts and intents of the heart.
• God’s word can make a difference in the way we think and feel.
• We all know that our heart is not literally responsible for our emotions.
• Our brain is the center of our rational thought including our emotions.
• Our hearts beat faster when we’re angry, or excited. And it beats slow when we are relaxed and peaceful.
• But over the years, we developed an expression that says we think with our brain and develop intentions with our heart.
• Science can now say, that it’s all in the brain. It’s the chemicals that make us say, or do, or intend things.
• God’s word, however, makes the distinction between mental thoughts and our emotional thoughts.
• When you hear God’s word, you accept it in your mind. 
• You make that decision in your mind to follow Him, to hear Him.
• But God’s word can make it’s way from your brain to your heart and so now, it affects your emotions.
• Whatever Jesus said to Zacchaeus, when Jesus went to his house, it transformed Zacchaeus from a corrupt tax collector, to a super generous person.
• When Jesus asked the woman caught in adultery, “Where are your accusers? Has no one condemned you?” and the woman said, “No one, Lord.”. Jesus’ then said, “Neither do I condemn you, now, go and sin no more.”
• Jesus words brought the woman’s faith, remember she called him Lord, so she has mental assent, down to her heart, her emotions.
• So without the baggage of condemnation, the woman now has the power in her to change and sin no more.

God’s Word Transforms

• So we know the bible is not just a guidebook for daily living.
• God’s word can change and transform you and me.
• So that we can live an abundant life today that is according to his purpose.
• Abundant life is not the same as abundant living.
• The world tells us that the signs of success are having lots of money in the bank, big house, nice cars, nice gadgets, eating good food, a university degree, a management position at work, a successful practice in medicine, dentistry, or accounting, all things I can agree is abundant living.
• But this is not the abundant life that Jesus is talking about.
• We may or may not have abundant living, but we all have an abundant life in Jesus.
• A life that is full of God’s words, that our lives are transformed by them.
• A transformation that can sometimes become so unbelievable. We don’t think it’s real.
• We all have moms and so we know that they’ve taught us not to take anything that isn’t ours. That would be stealing.
• When I was young, I used to steal money from my mom.
• I used the money to buy food snacks, toys, trump cards, school supplies, clothes, shoes. The things that she didn’t buy for me.
• When my mom would wonder, where I’d get my stuff, I told her they are gifts from my friends.
• I don’t really know if she knew. Maybe she suspected a little.
• It wasn’t her words that made me realize what I was doing was wrong. In my mind, I wasn’t really stealing because, she’s my mom.
• She is supposed to provide not only for things that I needed but also for things that I wanted.
• But, what transformed me from thinking like that was the Bible.
• My parents were catholic so we had a Bible on display in a glass armoire in our living room.
• I took it out of the display case and I started reading it.
• It just so happened that I was reading the book on Exodus. When I got to the part where it says, “do not steal”, and of course I read some more.
• But something changed me.
• I became conscious of what I was doing to my mom, stealing from her, that I was overtaken by fear.
• All fear. Fear from God, fear from disappointing my mom, fear from anger from my dad.
• But being a child, I was more fearful of what my parents would do.
• And so being trained in the catechism of Catholicism, I went to the priest and confessed my sin.
• Whether or not I really did receive forgiveness for my sins, what I do know is that I didn’t steal from my mom anymore from that point on.
• It recreated a new life for me. I was transformed by his word.

Recreates life

• God chose to give us life through his word.
• I mentioned this earlier, in James 1:18. "Of His own will He brought us forth by the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures." -NKJV
• God’s word can recreate life in us.
• In my confession to you today about my childhood sin, back then I wasn’t still living the abundant life that God had planned for me.
• But in retrospect, every time I think about the instances throughout my life where I had heard from God through the Bible, my life was being recreated at that point and I was growing up to become God’s child.
• It’s like I knew, at some point in my adult life, that I will accept Jesus Christ in me and I will be his friend, his brother, his co-heir of the kingdom.
• It’s amazing. And unbelievable.
• God’s word also does not die after it’s been planted in your heart.
• They say that evangelizers are like farmers, they throw the seed to the ground, and rain, and sunshine, and the nutrients of the soil make them grow.
• Like God’s word in our hearts, God also makes it grow.

• And God’s word is like seed that is “incorruptible”
• It means it is not subject to decay, or death.
• It is everlasting.
• Don’t worry too much about a friend or a relative or an enemy, trying to convert them from their religion to the only true religion which is Jesus Christ.
• If you are not confident in your ability to speak God’s word to other people, it’t okay.
• In the meantime, learn and practice. Overtime you’ll develop the confidence by God’s grace.
• But for your friend, or relative, or enemy, just give them a bible as a gift. 
• When they start reading it, you don’t even have to care when they start.
• But when they do, God’s incorruptible word will be planted in their hearts and their life will be recreated.

Eradicates guilt

• Do you realize that guilt is a paralyzing emotion?
• Have you ever been so filled with guilt that you can’t think straight, can’t sleep at night, you lose appetite?

• There’s a story of a father who asks his boy to fetch water from the ocean with a wooden basket.
• Of course, overtime the boy takes the basket to fill it with water, by the time he gets to his father the water had already spilled and leaked through.
• The boy who is frustrated, asked the father, why do you give me a basket to fetch water? Can’t you just give me pail?
• The father said to the boy, but son, look at the basket, it’s now clean from the washing of the water through it.
• Jesus in talking to his disciples said, in John 15:3, "You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you.”
• Every time we immerse ourselves in the water that is God’s words, the bible, the dirt in us which is sin, is slowly but surely washes away from our nature.

Activates faith

• Like I said earlier, there are many books that can tell you how to live a good life.
• But none have the power to affect change. Real long-lasting change.
• The bible is not like any book where you read it once and instantly you become a believer.
• And lets’ just say that you instantly believe.
• How can you tell if your faith has been made active?
• How do you know if your faith is in operation in your life?

In Romans 10:17, Paul was talking about how the Jews have over and over rejected the gospel of Jesus that was being preached to them.

• He writes, “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”
• How different is the people of the world today from those of the Jews in the first century?
• The world hears about Jesus, about God, but the world sees the good news as ridiculous, as foolishness.
• Even us who have become enlightened by God’s word, we still need to hear God’s good news about Jesus over and over.
• We need our faith activated.
• And by studying God’s word, hearing sermons, going to bible study, every time we have God’s word in our hearts our faith gets activated.
• Like an incandescent light bulb, the light ramps up. And suddenly the light is activated in full power.

Stimulates growth [15]

• When we read the bible, we grow mature in our faith.
• From a mustard seed, we can grow into a tree whose roots go several feet underground.
• The words of the bible, teaches us, rebukes us, corrects us, and trains us.

• In what is considered Paul’s individual pastoral letters to one of his leaders in Ephesus, Paul writes to Timothy in 2 Timothy 3:16-17 "All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, 
for reproof, 
for correction, 
for instruction in righteousness, 
that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.”
• Doctrine is the same as teaching. 
• For example, the doctrine of grace through faith. There are also doctrines on marriage, on good living, on ministry, etc.
• You will find these in the letters to the Romans and Ephesians.
• Reproof is the same as rebuking (or criticism).
• Rebuking is needed when we fall, when we sin.
• We find these in the letters to the Corinthians and Phillipians.
• We know especially the Corinthian church and all the bad practices of unlovingness, sexual misconducts, abusing the spiritual gifts, etc.
• If you are feeling convicted of sin, you can read those epistles.
• Correction is when we start to follow wrong doctrines.
• During the 1st century, the Galatian church was turning away from grace and truth and they are going back to the law.
• "I can’t believe your fickleness—how easily you have turned traitor to him who called you by the grace of Christ by embracing a variant message! It is not a minor variation, you know; it is completely other, an alien message, a no-message, a lie about God. Those who are provoking this agitation among you are turning the Message of Christ on its head.”
• That’s a paraphrase of Galatians 1:6-7 from the MSG bible, by the way.
• Paul was also correcting the Colossian church who have been infiltrated by the Gnostics.
• These are people who claim to believe in Jesus, who also believe in special mystical knowledge and therefore stuck in spiritual knowledge.
• All they cared for was living away from the material world and isolating themselves from the real material world. To attain godliness is to become spirits.
• Lastly, there’s instruction in righteousness, which is the same as training.
• It’s like when you train for a marathon, you develop habits that make you efficient and prepared in the upcoming marathon.
• Marathoners begin their training four to six months before the actual marathon event.
• God’s word is good for training.
• For us Christians, what is our marathon event?
• When we become salt and light to the world.
• And you know what, being salt and light to the world is not easy.
• It’s gruelling. It’s painful many times. Just like Jesus, you will be rejected, made fun of, discriminated against.
• But guess what, hearing God’s word is like training for the marathon.
• Are you ready to start the marathon?

Illuminates the mind

• When God said let there be light in Genesis, we can use that as a metaphor to our own minds.
• Before Christ, our minds were in darkness.
• When I stole from my mom, my mind was in darkness.
• But God’s word brought light to my darkness and darkness was slowly being pushed away.

• In Psalms 119:130, the psalmist sings, “Understanding your word brings light to the minds of ordinary people.” 
• Did you know that meditation is one of the most beneficial activities you can do as a Christian?
• I’m not talking about the Yoga incantations, the Ohhmms.
• I’m talking about meditating on God’s words.
• How can I best explain meditation?
• Do you worry?
• When you worry, you think about the negative things in your mind over and over.
• It’s like guilt, you worry too much and you can’t do anything anymore.
• Meditating on God’s word is the opposite of worrying.
• Instead of thinking about negative things, you start to go over God’s word in your mind over and over.
• When you wake up, you think about it.
• When you are in your car waiting for your wife to finish shopping, you think about God’s word.
• When you’re in the bank ATM, lining up to withdraw money, you think about God’s word.
• When I want to resist buying the latest gadget, I counter it by meditating on a passage of Psalm 23, “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.”

Elevates mood

• Nothing in this world can lift you up more than the comforting words in the Bible.
• No doubt that every Christian experiences sadness, loss, depression, failure.
• There is also no doubt, that if you are not a Christian, you also experience sadness, loss, depression, failure.
• The difference is we have God’s word which has power, to comfort us in our most need.
• In funerals, we speak God’s word that bring hope and joy to those who are left behind.
• We hear God’s words from Paul: “Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope” (1 Thessalonians 4:13)
• Have there been instances in your life where you were down and reading the Bible lifted up your mood.
• You were sad and and then comforted.

• In Romans 15:4 Paul writes, “For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope." Romans 15:4 NKJV
• This is not my testimony but I read this in an article.
• When Pacquiao tied with Marquez and lost to Bradley in 2012, many people in the Philippines including his own mom, blamed his losses for switching religions.
• He was Catholic and he became a born-again Christian.
• I’m sure there were moments that Pacquiao felt low and down.
• But I’m also sure that he found comfort in God’s words. 
• Since that time he made a couple more wins and won against Bradley in another fight in 2014.

Liberates potential

• When you become free from worries, from your past, from whatever bad thing you did, you feel that a heavy weight has been lifted from your shoulders.
• You are now suddenly able to do things you’ve never considered doing.
• Before receiving power from God’s word, you were reluctant to help out the people in need.
• You will not let go of that money and give it to someone in need.
• But after discovering and experiencing the truth in the Bible, you become free from your bondage to money.
• And now you can give money away just like that.
• Before you were not considering to feed the homeless.
• Now, you are out there serving in the church kitchen to feed the community.
• Have you experienced this feeling?
• This feeling of liberation.
• If not, I encourage you to get back to reading the Bible.
• Only God knows your potential in life.
• And only He has the power to release your potential into the world and do his good works for him.
• But how can you really know if you don’t listen to his words.

"Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” 

• God’s word will reveal to you his purpose and his plan for your life.
• Spend time to hear him.
• Spend time to listen to him.
• Spend time with him, through bible reading and bible studies.

Summarize - How does God’s Word Change You?

• recreates life
• eradicates guilt
• activates faith
• stimulates growth
• illuminates the mind
• elevates mood
• liberates potential

How Do you Start Gaining these benefits?

• There’s three things you can do to start gaining the benefits from God’s Word.

• You should Learn

• Accept and

• Do

• First Learn God’s Word.
• Read the Bible.
• Use the tools that are available today to help you read through and understand the bible.
• These days, it’s so convenient.
• The bible is available everywhere.
• Why do you experience trouble, depression, frustration, difficulty in life.
• Jesus said to the Pharisees who were constantly testing him and doubting him, 
• In Mark 12:24, in addressing the Sadducees who did not believe on the resurrection, Jesus answered: You are completely wrong! You don’t know what the Scriptures teach. And you don’t know anything about the power of God.
• So, first is Learn.
• Second, Accept God’s Word.
• Accept its authority over your life.
• Continue to make God’s words part of your habits.
• Addressing the Thesalonians and their conversion to Christ, Paul writes, "We always thank God that you believed the message we preached. It came from him, and it isn’t something made up by humans. You accepted it as God’s message, and now he is working in you. 1 Thes 2:13.
• When you accept God’s word when you read in the Bible, trust that the power in his words will transform you day to day, week to week, month to month, year to year into a person like Jesus.
• So, first Learn, then Accept.
• Lastly, do.
• Apply God’s principles in your life.
• Receiving, accepting, reading, researching, meditating, remembering, memorizing, reflecting, on bible verses are all for nothing if it remains all in your head.
• Pray for God’s grace in your life that you are able to practice everything that he had commanded you.
• Ask for faith, and with little faith that you have, God will multiply it and you become doers of His Word.
• Doing does not mean you are trying to earn his favour.
• God’s favour is already in you when you have Jesus Christ.
• To abide in him means to abide in his truth. And the truth is in God’s words.

I will close, with this verse from John 8:31, "Jesus told the people who had faith in him, “If you keep on obeying what I have said, you truly are my disciples.”