NAMES AND TITLES OF CHRIST
WORD OF GOD
DR. JIM DIXON
REVELATION 19:11-16, JOHN 1:1-5, JOHN 1:14
MARCH 9, 1997
Muhammed was an Arabian man who, in the 7th century AD, established the religion of Islam. Muhammed was born in Mecca, but he gathered his followers in the city of Medina. He really wanted Christians and Jews to join in following him. He told the Jewish people that he honored Abraham. Muhammed told the Christian people he honored Christ. He instructed his followers to turn and face Jerusalem when praying because he knew that Jerusalem was sacred to Jews and Christians alike.
But the Jewish and Christian people refused to follow Muhammed . In fact, they branded him a theological apostate. And so, Muhammed became enraged, and he instructed his people to turn away from Jerusalem and to face Mecca when praying, the city of his own birth. Although he grew disenfranchised with Christians and Jews, he continued, he said, to honor both Abraham and Christ. It is said that Muhammed placed a picture of Jesus Christ in the Kaaba in the city of Mecca, the most famous and most sacred shrine in Islam. It is said that that picture of Jesus Christ remains in the Kaaba today.
Muhammed called Jesus Christ “The Word of God.” The Koran calls Jesus Christ “The Word of God.” But tragically, Muslims do not honor Jesus Christ and they do not understand the meaning of this title “The Word of God.” Even more tragically, many Christians (and perhaps most Christians) do not understand the meaning of this title either. What does it mean to say that Jesus Christ is “The Word of God”?
This morning we have three teachings because this title has three meanings. These three meanings are seen through the three languages of the Bible. The Bible is written in Greek, in Hebrew, and in Aramaic. These were the three languages used in Israel in the time of Christ. This title, “The Word of God,” has a different meaning in each of these three languages. First, for the Greeks, the title “The Word of God” meant “the mind of God.” For the Greek speaking people, to say that Jesus Christ is “The Word of God” is to say that Jesus Christ is the mind of God.
On April 18, 1955, Albert Einstein died. Albert Einstein, through his theory of relativity, had revolutionized the scientific world. Its view of time, its view of space, its view of motion, of matter and of mass… his theories laid the foundation that made possible the harnessing of the power of the atom. Albert Einstein was one of the greatest minds this world has ever seen. When he died on April 18, 1955, his body was cremated, except for his brain. The Princeton Hospital preserved the brain of Albert Einstein because they wanted to study it to see if there were any irregularities that might explain his great genius. They could find no such irregularities except for an unusual number of glial cells. But nothing to account for his great genius.
The brain of Albert Einstein was soon forgotten, until 23 years later in 1978 when a reporter from Princeton, New Jersey, began to search for the brain of Albert Einstein. Where was it? The Princeton Hospital had preserved it, but where was it then? He began to search, and he began an inquiry, and he went from person to person. Finally, this reporter from Princeton, New Jersey, located the brain of Albert Einstein in Wichita, Kansas. The brain belonged to a man named Dr. Thomas Harvey, who had conducted the autopsy on Albert Einstein and somehow, through Albert Einstein’s son, was given permission to keep the brain.
This reporter went to Wichita in Kansas to the home of Dr. Thomas Harvey and he found the brain of Albert Einstein all cut up. The brain was placed in three bottles. The cerebellum was placed in a separate bottle in a Mason jar. They were all the parts of the brain soaking in formaldehyde. These three bottles were all kept in a cardboard box. The box was labeled “Costa Cider.” The box was behind a beer cooler in the cluttered office of Dr. Thomas Harvey.
As Christians, most of us understand that the brain and the mind are not synonymous. We understand biblically that the brain is part of the body—part of what the Bible calls the “soma,” and the mind is part of the soul—part of what the Bible calls the “psyche.” If we’re biblical, we understand that the brain is really just a computer used by the mind. So the brain dies at death but the mind continues. It’s part of the soul and it continues after death. Albert Einstein did not believe this. Albert Einstein believed that the brain and the mind were synonymous and when the brain died, the mind died, and that was cessation of existence.
Einstein believed in the existence of God. He was Jewish by race. He was not Jewish by religion. He belonged to no organized religion, but he did believe in the existence of God. He would not have cared about his brain and the way it was treated after his death. He had no great respect for the mind of man, but he did have a great respect for the mind of God. Albert Einstein said that he believed through his scientific studies and through his study of psychics he had caught a small glimpse of the great mind of God. He said the mind of God is eternal. The mind of God, he said, is benevolent. But he said the mind of God is basically unknowable, utterly transcendent, not possible to really truly know. Nobody can really know the mind of God. That’s what Albert Einstein believed.
The Greek people would have agreed with him because the Greeks also believed that no one could really know the mind of God. The Greeks exalted the mind of man. Aristotle and Socrates taught inductive and deductive reasoning as the only means of arriving at the truth, but they didn’t do this because they thought the mind of man was supreme. They believed the mind of God was supreme but unknowable, utterly transcendent, unknowable. The Greek people called the mind of God “The Word.” That’s what they called the mind of God, “The Word,” “The Logos.”
In the Bible, in the Prologue to the Gospel of John, we have these words. “In the beginning was the Word. In the beginning was the logos, and the logos was with God and the logos WAS God. The logos became flesh and dwelt among us.” The mind of God came to earth. When the Greek speaking people heard this title, Jesus is “The Word of God,” they understood Jesus is “The Mind of God” come to earth—the Mind of God suddenly becomes knowable.
If you want to know how God feels, how God thinks with regard to sex, with regard to money, with regard to pleasure, with regard to marriage… if you want to know how God thinks with regard to the poor and with regard to the suffering of the world… if you want to know the mind of God with regard to children and family or the church or work or play… if you want to know the mind of God, you can know it through the Word of God, Jesus Christ, because the Word of God is the mind of God.
But you see, biblically God wants us to understand that He did not send His Son into the world to satisfy our curiosity with regard to His mind. Jesus Christ did not come into this world just so your curiosity and mine could be satisfied and we could know the mind of God. No, Jesus Christ came into the world because as the Mind of God He wants to transform your mind and mine. That’s what the Bible says.
He’s not simply the mind of God and this is some kind of curious fact. This is a pertinent revelation. He is “the Mind of God” and He offers to transform my mind and yours. You see, the Bible says in Romans, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be ye transformed by the renewal of your mind.” The Bible says, “Have this mind in you which is yours in Christ Jesus.” Christ came into the world to give you, in some measure, His mind, the mind of God. This is His great purpose in your life. This is His great purpose in my life, to transform our minds because our minds are fallen through sin and desperately need transformation. “The Word of God,” the mind of God, has come into the world.
It takes power to transform our minds and so this leads us to the second meaning of this title, “The Word of God,” for the Hebrew speaking people. This title, “The Word of God,” means “the power of God.” To say that Jesus Christ is “The Word of God” for a Hebrew person meant Jesus Christ is the power of God. We live in a world enamored with power, a world enamored with political power, a world enamored with corporate power, a world even enamored with psychic power. We live in a world that’s enamored with raw, natural, physical power.
In August of the year 1883, on the Indonesian volcanic island of Krakatoa there was a great explosion. The volcano at Krakatoa exploded in one of the greatest volcanic eruptions in the history of the world. The top of the mountain just blew off. The explosion was heard 3,000 miles away. Giant boulders flew 50 miles through the air. Tidal waves were formed in the Sunda Strait and those tidal waves were 130 feet high. They swept over islands and 36,000 people drowned. A dust canopy was sent heavenward, and dust enveloped the earth for twelve months. It was one of the greatest volcanic eruptions in civilized history. It ranked up there with Vesuvius, which blew in 79 BC, destroying the city of Pompeii. It ranks there with Theria of Santorini, the volcanic island that exploded 1,500 years before Christ, destroying the Minoan civilization.
Just this year, Hollywood has made a movie called “Dante’s Peak.” Some of you saw that. It’s a movie about a volcano. Just this year one of the major television networks made a movie also with the theme of a volcanic eruption. Hollywood is making yet another movie in these upcoming months about a volcanic eruption. You see, people are fascinated by the sheer power unleashed in a volcanic eruption.
Of course, there is a great deal of power in nature. There is a great deal of power in the creation. Of course, there’s a great deal of power in the sun, the star that’s at the center of our solar system. In fact, that sun emits more power in one second than all of the volcanoes that have ever erupted in the history of this world. And yet our sun is at best an average star. There are stars far greater and there are pulsars and quasars and black holes and unbelievable power in nature, unbelievable power in the cosmos, unbelievable power in the creation. If there is great power in the creation, how much greater power do you this the Creator has? How much greater power do you think God has to have formed the galactic systems and thrown them into the cosmic void? What kind of power would that have taken?
Well, the Hebrew-speaking people described the power of God through this title, “The Word.” They really believed “The Word of God” was the power of God. God spoke and things happened. They viewed “The Word of God” as living and having life of its own. And so, you come to Genesis, chapter 1, in verse 3 and the Bible says, “And God said let there be light.” You come to Genesis 1:6, and God said, “Let there be an expanse to separate the waters, between the waters, to separate water from water.” You come to Genesis 1, verse 11, and God said, “Let the earth bring forth vegetation.” Genesis 1:20, “And God said let the sea team with living creatures and let the birds fly above the earth in the expanse of the heavens.” You come to Genesis 1:24, and God says, “Let the land bring forth living creatures according to their kind.” In each case,” and God said,” “and God said,” “and God said,” “The Word of God” having creative power.
In Isaiah, chapter 9, God says, “My word which proceeds from My mouth will not return to Me void but will accomplish that which I please, that which I purpose.” In Hebrews, chapter 11, the Bible says, “By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God.” In Hebrews, chapter 4, the Bible says, “The word of God is living and powerful.” This was the Hebrew word “dabar,” “The Word.” The word was the power of God.
And so, you come to the Prologue of John’s gospel and John says, “In the beginning was the word. The word was with God and the word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him. Without Him was not anything made that was made.” Jesus Christ, “The Word,” is the Creator because He is the power of God. So, you come to Mark’s gospel, chapter 1. A leper comes up to Jesus Christ and said, “Lord if You will, You can make me clean.” Jesus reached down and touched his leprous, ulcerated body and Jesus said, “I will. Be clean.” He was healed in a moment in time because Jesus is “The Word of God.”
In Mark, chapter 4, Jesus is on the Sea of Galilee in a boat with the disciples. There’s a great storm and the boat is filling with water. The boat is about to sink, and the disciples are panicked, and Jesus is asleep at the stern of the boat. He’s asleep on a cushion. The disciples shake Him and wake Him and say, “Master, do you not care that we perish?” The Bible tells us that Jesus stood, and he spoke even to the wind and the waves. He said, “Peace. Be still.” And the wind stopped. The waves abated and the Bible says there was a great calm because He is “The Word of God.”
In Mark, chapter 5, Jesus was in the house of grieving parents because their little girl had just died. Jesus went into that little girl’s bedroom with her parents and Jesus stood over her bed and looked at her dead body. Jesus said, “Talitha cumi,” “little girl, arise,” and she moved from death to life because Jesus is “The Word of God.” In John, chapter 5, Jesus stood at the pool of Bethesda near the Sheep Gate in the city of Jerusalem. There was a man there who, for 38 years, had been crippled, paralyzed, unable to walk. Jesus stood over him and said, “Arise. Take up your bed and walk,” and he arose, he took up his bed and he walked because Jesus is “The Word of God.” He is the power of God.
In John 11, Jesus stood outside the tomb of a dead man and Jesus said, “Lazarus, come forth,” and the dead man came forth because Jesus is “The Word of God.” Jesus said, “Heaven and earth will pass away but My words will never pass away.” He is “The Word of God” and He is the power of God.
Perhaps you’re sitting there thinking, “Well, I’d like Him to send a few words my way.” I mean, maybe you’re sitting there thinking “Well, I’d sure love Him to speak over my bank account,” or maybe you’d like Him to say a few words over your body because you’re sick. Maybe you have a really serious disease. Maybe you have cancer and you’re afraid and you just wish Jesus would speak the word or maybe you want Him to speak the word over your relationships. You want Him to speak the word so that your wife will come back to you, or your husband come back to you. You want Him to speak the word so that your spouse will love you again. Or maybe you want Him to speak the word so that maybe you can have a wife or so you can have a husband because you’re single and you’re tired of it. Or maybe you’d like Him to speak the word over your career because things just aren’t going so well. And God does care about all these things. He cares desperately about you.
Maybe you want Him to speak the word over your children because the world is a scary place, and your kids aren’t doing so well. Christ cares. He cares desperately. He cares about your family. He cares about your career. He cares about your health, your life. And sometimes Christ does speak the word of provision and the word of protection. Sometimes He does these things, but God wants us to understand that His primary concern is the transformation of our mind.
You see, these two meanings of this title, “The Word of God,” are related. He’s “The Word of God.” He is “The Mind of God” and He is “The Power of God.” His power is released for the transformation of your mind that you might have the mind of Christ. That’s His primary concern. And so He speaks words which bring into our life those circumstances that enable our minds to be transformed. He could speak the word and just transform your mind in a moment in time supernaturally, but He’ll never do that because He will not violate your freedom. He wants you to want to see your mind transformed. Only then is His power released. He’s constantly bringing into your life circumstances and events that will make you willing to invite Him to transform your mind. That’s what He’s all about. That’s why what we’re talking about here is really repentance.
You see, the word “repent” in the Bible in the Greek is “metanoeo,” and that word literally means “to change the mind.” It’s only as we come in repentance that the power is released for the transformation of our minds. And so, if there is sin in your life, God wants you to repent.
Perhaps you have sins of pride and there are sins relating to self and ego. Maybe you want to be served and you really don’t want to serve. Maybe you enjoy a little gossip and slander, sins of pride. God wants you to repent today, that His power might transform your mind. Maybe there are sins of pleasure. Sometimes these sins are chronic and addictive and they might involve alcohol and the abuse of alcohol. It could involve tobacco and the abuse of tobacco. Maybe you have been smoking for years and you’ve just tried to quit and you can’t and you’re ruining your body. God wants you to repent today. Or maybe you’ve been doing the same thing with alcohol or maybe the sins of pleasure have something to do with sexual behavior. Maybe it has something to do with lust or pornography or adultery or fornication. God wants you to repent so that His power might be released for the transformation of your mind.
Maybe it has to do with the sin of materialism where your life is just all caught up with money and stuff and you don’t seek first His kingdom and you don’t seek first His righteousness. God just wants you to repent that His power might be released for transformation.
You know, sometimes the power of Christ is released as He speaks through a counselor when we repent. Sometimes the power of Christ is released when He speaks through brothers and sisters to whom we have confessed our sin as they come together and hold us accountable that we might live as He’s called us to live.
He loves us so much. That’s why He wants to transform us. Sometimes His power is released even in a service like this when, in a moment in His presence, we repent, and He speaks, and His power is released for healing and transformation.
As we close, I want us to take a look, very briefly, at the Aramaic meaning of this title because when the Bible says Jesus is “The Word of God” to the Aramaic speaking peoples, that meant “Jesus is God.” You see, the Greek speaking people, “The Word of God” meant “The Mind of God.” To the Hebrew speaking people, “The Word of God” meant “The Power of God.” To the Greek it was logos. To the Hebrew it was dabar. But to the Aramaic speaking peoples, it was “memra.” The word memra in Aramaic means “the word.”
Of course, Jesus spoke Aramaic, Galilean Aramaic. The people in Israel understood that this title was complex and had many meanings. This word memra, this Aramaic word, was for the Aramaic speaking people a circumlocution for the name of God. It was a way of saying the name of God without saying the name of God. It was a way of circumventing the name “Yahweh.” You remember how in Exodus 3 God appeared to Moses in a burning bush? God said, “Take the shoes off your feet, for the ground on which you are standing is holy ground.” God called Moses to lead his people out of bondage to slavery in Egypt.
Moses said, “Well, who should I tell the people has sent me?” God said, “I am the God of your fathers. I am the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.” Moses said “Yes, but what is your name?” God gave His name, what theologians call the tetragrammaton, the divine name “Yahweh,” which means “I Am.” The name of God. That name became so precious as the centuries went by that some of the Aramaic speaking people were afraid to utter the name Yahweh and so they developed a circumlocution, a way of circumventing the name but still referring to God, a kind of paraphrastic word. That word was memra. They called God “The Word.”
The Jews did the same thing. The Hebrew-speaking people did the same thing when they developed the name Jehovah, because Jehovah is a made-up word. It takes the consonants from Yahweh, combines with it the vowels from the Hebrew word “adonai,” which means lord, and those vowels and consonants are combined together to make the word Jehovah—a circumlocution, a way of avoiding saying the divine name. That was true of the word “memra” for the Aramaic speaking people.
So, when you said Jesus is “The Word of God,” you were saying Jesus is the Mind of God, the Power of God, God. Jesus is God. What an amazing title. And that’s why John, in the Prologue to his Gospel begins by saying, “In the beginning was The Word. The Word was with God. The Word was God.” He said, “The true light which enlightens every man is coming into the world,” because the Word of God is the mind of God which enlightens. He said, “All things were made by Him,” because the Word of the God is the power of God which creates.” He said, “The Word of God was God” because The Word of God is a divine title. Jesus is God. That is why the prophets of old, when they spoke, they said, “Thus saith the Lord…”.
The Bible says in Hebrews 1, “In many and various ways God spoke of old to our fathers by the prophets but in these last days He has spoken through the Son.” You see, when the prophets spoke, they said, “Thus saith the Lord…”. Then they spoke in the name of the Lord God. Jesus never said, “Thus saith the Lord,” because He is the Lord God. He always spoke this way. “Truly, truly, I say to you…” because He shares one nature with His Father and shared glory with Him before the foundation of the world.
If you believe He is Immanuel, God with us, God come into the world… if you believe He is The Mind of God, The Power of God… If you believe He’s God, then every day you need to fall down before Him. Every day I need to fall down before Him and say, “Search me, oh God. Try my thoughts. See if there be any wicked way in me and cleanse me from every sin. You are The Mind of God. Give me your mind today. You are the Power of God. Use that power to transform me. You are God. I want to live for You. I want to serve You.” Let’s pray.