God’s Living Word Has All Authority
Jesus concluded the first classroom session with his apprentices by urging them to really listen to what he was saying, and then to apply it in their lives. This would be the only way to succeed as his protégés, and simultaneously to assure themselves of a grand future. The authority with which he taught left an indelible impression on his listeners:
(Matthew 7:28–29 NKJV) And so it was, when Jesus had ended these sayings, that the people were astonished at His teaching, (29) for He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.
We see that Jesus’s audience was “astonished at his teaching.” According to the original language, they were “struck out of themselves.” What was it about his teaching that so overwhelmed them? “He taught them as one having authority.” God’s living word still has the same authority today. But where did he get that authority, and how does it work?
First, we note that Jesus is the “Word”: “In the beginning was the word … and the word was God … and the word became flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1:1–3, 14 NKJV). Jesus is the Word; the Word is God; he became a human, and lived among us; Jesus is the living Word of God.
Second, Jesus was God’s apostle, sent to earth on an assignment from his Father to bring us God’s message (his Word):
(Hebrews 1:1–2 NKJV) “God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, (2) has in these last days spoken to us by His Son …”
(Hebrews 3:1–2 NLT) … think carefully about this Jesus whom we declare to be God's messenger and High Priest. (2) For he was faithful to God, who appointed him …
Third, Jesus only said what he heard with his Father:
(John 14:24 NKJV) “He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine but the Father’s who sent Me.”
(John 14:10 NKJV) “… The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the works.”
(See the end of this teaching for other verses where Jesus confirms that he spoke his Father’s words with his Father’s authority.)
Jesus is both God and man; he was fully human while on earth—God, living as a man. Yet, at the same time, he is God; and he is God’s living Word in action. He said that the words he spoke were all received by revelation from his Father; and they were all spoken in love, at the right place and time. Hence, all that he said was said in God’s authority, and God ensures that it is enacted, etc.
(Jeremiah 1:12 ESV) Then the LORD said to me, “You have seen well, for I am watching over my word to perform it.”
Sadly, God’s authoritative, living Word was destined to be handed over to sinners. Here he was mocked, ridiculed, belittled, tortured, and murdered. He was crucified in “the place of the skull”—Golgotha (John 19:17). Note: whenever we unwisely bring God’s living word into the place of our skull—natural human reasoning and intellect—he always comes carrying his cross.
Thankfully, the same authoritative, living Word of God not only humbly submitted to death on our behalf, but he has resurrection power. On the third day he rose up from the grave—alive, and not ever subject to death again.
This has a powerful application in our lives; when we receive living word from heaven, we are often tempted to bring him to the place of our skull. Here he is subject to all the same ridicule, torture, and belittlement. This is the place all living words from God die. However, he still has resurrection power; and when life returns to the word God gave us after the ordeal of being crucified, he comes back to life … immortal—not ever subject to death again.
This is such very good news. When Jesus rose from the dead, he—God’s living Word—declared:
“All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.” (Matthew 28:18 NKJV)
The living words that God speaks to you and me have all the authority of the resurrected King of kings and Lord of lords, Jesus. Thankfully, even the words that have died and then resurrected still have “all authority … in heaven and on earth.” For us, receiving a word from heaven is not only life giving and faith building; it has all the authority of Jesus. Nothing can overrule him if we believe the living word, act on it, and confess it wholeheartedly.
Today, I encourage you; there is nothing in heaven or on earth more authoritative than a word you receive from God—the living Word of God is God. To that word, every knee must bow; and every tongue must confess that he is Lord (Phil. 2:9-11). He will prevail in prayer, in mind renewal, in spiritual warfare, in confession, and in declaration.
What word has God given you? Don’t take it to the place of your skull and give it a trial to test its veracity by your intellect or worldly reasoning. Don’t hand it over to mockery or ridicule by disclosing it to the wrong people for judgment; instead, receive it, believe it, meditate on it, and confess it. God will watch over his word to make it happen (Jer. 1:12). Even when it seems totally impossible, he can do the impossible. Remember, the word he speaks to you has all authority, and everything must [eventually] bow to that word … unless we kill it off through unbelief.
(John 14:10 NKJV) “Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the works.”
(John 3:34 NKJV) “For He whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God does not give the Spirit by measure.”
(John 7:16 NKJV) Jesus answered them and said, “My doctrine is not Mine, but His who sent Me.”
(John 8:26, 28, 38 NKJV) “I have many things to say and to judge concerning you, but He who sent Me is true; and I speak to the world those things which I heard from Him.” ... (28) Then Jesus said to them, “When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He, and that I do nothing of Myself; but as My Father taught Me, I speak these things. ... (38) “I speak what I have seen with My Father, and you do what you have seen with your father.”
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