Life In The Word

I wish to begin our message this morning by sharing some verses out of Deuteronomy 28. In Deuteronomy 28:66-67, God gives a warning to His people, saying, “Your life shall hang in doubt before you; you shall fear day and night, and have no assurance of life. In the morning you shall say, ‘Oh, that it were evening!’ And at evening you shall say, ‘Oh, that it were morning!’ because of the fear which terrifies your heart, and because of the sight which your eyes see.”

Some of us here today might feel as though our life is hanging in doubt before us. We doubt that we will ever have abundant life, and we waste our days wishing our life away. We say to ourselves, “When will life ever get better? Maybe tomorrow will be a better day.” However, when tomorrow arrives, nothing has changed, and we are still left empty and unsatisfied, with no meaning or purpose, and devoid of true joy and peace. We live in fear, and we’re terrified by the prospect of life never improving.

On down in the passage, Deuteronomy 28:58 tells us that this will be our lot in life, “If you do not carefully observe all the words of this law that are written in this book, that you may fear this glorious and awesome name, THE LORD YOUR GOD.” If we do not read and observe what is written in the Scripture, then we will be devoid of abundant life. In Philippians 2:16, the Scripture is called “the word of life” that leads us to “rejoice in the day of Christ.” Jesus tells us in Luke 4:4 how, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.”

This morning we’re going to look at “Life in the Scripture” or “Life in the Word.” Philip P. Bliss declared, “Sing them over again to me, wonderful words of life. Let me more of their beauty see, wonderful words of life. Words of life and beauty, teach me faith and duty. Beautiful words, wonderful words, wonderful words of life.”(1) It is my hope today that we will come to embrace the truth that there is life in the Word of God.

Matthew 19:16-19

16 Now behold, one came and said to Him, “Good Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life?” 17 So He said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. But if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments.” 18 He said to Him, “Which ones?” Jesus said, “You shall not murder, You shall not commit adultery, You shall not steal, You shall not bear false witness, 19 Honor your father and your mother, and, You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

“If you want to enter into life” do what? “Keep the commandments” (v. 17). This person approached Jesus asking how to gain eternal life – and we can also apply this to true, abundant life in the here and now – and Jesus told him to keep the commandments.

Notice that this man asked, “What good thing shall I do?” (v. 16). He thought he could gain eternal life, or salvation, through “good” works. Therefore, Jesus replied and stated that no one is good but God; and this is true, for according to the Bible there is none righteous (Romans 3:10), and no one can work their way into heaven (Ephesians 2:8-9). Jesus made sure this man realized that no one is good enough to earn life in the Lord, and only then did He introduce him to the commandments or the law.

No one can work their way to heaven through keeping the law. The commandments can’t save us in and of themselves, but whenever we study them, obey and observe them, they lead us to the source of life. It has been said, “The law is the light that reveals how dirty the room is, not the broom that sweeps it clean.”(2) The law is not life, but it directs us to life. Paul declared in Galatians 3:21 and 24, “For if there had been a law given which could have given life, truly righteousness would have been by the law . . . [However] the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith.”

In Matthew 5:17, Jesus announced, “Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill,” and then in Romans 10:4, we read, “For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.” The law leads us to life in Christ – or rather, it points the way – and when we find Jesus we enter into what Romans 8:2 calls “the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus.” In a moment, we will come back to the idea that the law points us to life in Jesus.