The Word is Alive

The Heart of the Scripture's Story - An excerpt of the same title by by Erin Geischen, taken from Intouch Magazine June 2011 issue

In the beginning was the word. It's how the story begins, both Part 1 (The Old Testament - the Torah), and Part II (The New Testament).

Rather than a long litany of divine commands, we recognize the Old Testament as an elaborate, intricate buildup to - and the new Testament as a celebration of - the person of Jesus Christ. Taken as a whole, the written words point to the Word. The Word made flesh. It's the key to the entirety of our faith. 

While inspired by God, the Bible as an incredibly unique anthology, written by many human authors spanning milleniums. There we find everything from moving narratives and violent sagas to worship songs, and angry prayers; genealogies and love poetry to historic records and cryptic prophecy. A stranger to its pages might wonder why exactly believers call such a diverse range of writings as God's  Word. But if you allow Scripture to ask you deep questions - ' piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit" (Heb. 4:12) - and let t inspire you to ask some of your own, it becomes apparent that every verse pulls the reader toward the same desire, the same center: the Word enfleshed. And He reveals the heart of a Creator who longs to be with His creation - A Father who will do whatever it takes to bring His children back to Him.

 

A few decades ago, a group of linguists were welcomed by a community in Indonesia. The purpose was to live with the tribe, learn their language and create a written alphabet so the Bible could be translated. Considering the scope of the project (66 different books, with 1189 chapters) the translators initially figured that following standard procedure would be the most logical: start with a gospel book from the New Testamenet and get straight to the story of Jesus as soon as possible. But as they gruadually learned the new language's nuances and the culture behind it, they came to realize how important elobarte oral storytelling was to the trib'es identity. The plan changed. If ever there was an epic story to tell, it was this one. And the story of Christ didn't just start with His birth.

That year, the translators labored over their spoken language skills while one of them, an artist, drew hundreds of large symbolic illustrations that followed the Bible's narrative arc. Finally, they announced that they were ready. All the surrounding villages were notified, and on the day the storytelling was to commence the entire tribe gathered to listen. And the translators started at the very beginning.

The process took days as they moved from character to character (beginning from the Old Testament of the Bible): The first people who hid from God; their son who killed his brother; Abraham , who climbed up a mountain to sacrifice Isaac; Moses, who led his people out of slavery; David the teenage shepher who became a warrior king and legendary poet... The storytellers told of sin and loss and exicle and God's continual act of redemption. And then tey finally came to the end of Part 1 - 400 years of silence and waiting. The tribe hung on every word.

All this, and they still had yet to explain the "plan of salvation," who Jesus was, and for that matter, what any of these stories had to do with one another. Yet, the day Part II began (the New Testament of the Bible), the translators started to tell of a baby born in the darkness of night in the town of David, and something astounding happened. The audience erupted in excitement. "This is the One!" they said, cries of recognition rippling through the crowd. "This is the One everyone's been waiting for! He is the sacrifice, the Lamb of God who will take away people's sin!"

The Word of God  goes beyond its written message, and even beyond history or prophecy or song. It goes beyond the ancient commandments and even the parables Jesus told. When taken in as a whole story that points to the Word Himself, the written letters are illuminated by God's Spirit, revealing His grace and truth to us.

John ends the closing chapter of the Bible with these words of Christ's: "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end" (Rev. 22:13). He is the first word and last word. Which is why, as Scripture says, "You have been born again not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, that is, through the living and enduring word of God" (1 Peter 1:23). It is His Word - alive, moving in and through us - that ignites the words and writes them in our hearts.