A Nugget from New Life Network
(by Dr. Larry Ollison)
Scripture for the Day – August 9, 2019
And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth. (John 1:14)
After Jesus had been tempted by the devil, He gave this interesting response. “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God'” (Matthew 4:4). Consider this. There are two types of bread. Of course, there is the physical bread that you eat with your physical body. But not only is there physical bread, there is spiritual bread. Jesus told the devil, “Man shall not live by bread alone.” He was referring to physical bread. Then He spoke of spiritual bread: “But by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.”
The first verse in the Bible tells us, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1). We know the way that He did it. He spoke and the heavens and the earth came into existence. We know from John 1:1 that Jesus was there in the beginning also. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” Then it says, [Jesus] “was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it” (John 1:2-5). Jesus was and is the Word.
The word comprehend in the Greek can also be translated “overtake.” The darkness did not overtake the light. So here we see that the Word was in the beginning and Jesus was the Word.
Let’s get a little clearer on this. Revelation 19:13 tells us that there is a name that Jesus will be given and this will be His name that He will have for all eternity. “He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God.” Revelation 12:11 tells us, “They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony.” Received by John in two God-given visions on the Isle of Patmos, the book of Revelation tells us that John saw Jesus clothed with a robe dipped in blood and His name is called The Word of God. So, Jesus was in the beginning as the Word.
If I were to say something to someone, that would be the word of Larry. If Larry is speaking, it’s the word of Larry. If God is speaking, it’s the Word of God. It’s God’s Word. God’s Word is Jesus. Jesus is the Word of God. If Jesus is the Word of God, then what did Jesus mean when He said, “It is written, ‘man shall not live by bread [earthly bread]alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.‘” (Matthew 4:4)? Jesus was saying, “You cannot live by earthly bread only, but you need to live by Me because the Word that proceeds from the mouth of God is Me. I am the Word of God. I was in the beginning.” That’s what Jesus was saying in Matthew 4:4. Look at it this way. What if Jesus was quoting John 1 and substituted the word Me (or I) for The Word of God? He might say, “In the beginning was Me. And I was with God. And I was the Word of God. I was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Me and without Me nothing was made that was made. In Me was life and I was the light of men. And I shone in the darkness and the darkness could not overpower Me. I am the Word of God.” Is that powerful or what? Jesus said, “Man shall not live by earthly bread alone, but by spiritual bread. I am the Bread of life. I am the Bread of God. I am the Word of God.”
