What is “the word of God”?

I’ve been thinking a lot recently about the phrase “the word of God” as it appears in the Bible. It actually started with a reflection on John 1:1

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

In this context, it’s abundantly clear that John is using the word, “Word” here to refer to Jesus. If there was any doubt (and there really shouldn’t be) it’s removed entirely by the time we get to verse 14

And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth.

I know him, that’s Jesus! But why does John use “Word” here for Jesus? I’ll be honest I actually find it somewhat confusing (as a literalist, I actually find a lot of John confusing - word pictures often lose me - but that’s a blog for another day). What does it mean that Jesus is the Word? Well, we know it was by his word that God created the heavens and the earth. And we also know that it was through Jesus that all things were made. So, I think here John is reminding us that Jesus is the creative agency of God AND that God still speaks. I think John is also telling us that Jesus is the good news manifest (or incarnate) among us (though I still wish John had written, “In the beginning was the Second Person of the Trinity.”)

But all this musing got me thinking about other uses of “the word of God” in scripture. My guess would be two of the most well-known examples would be Ephesians 6:17 and Hebrews 4:12

Take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

 Indeed, the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing until it divides soul from spirit, joints from marrow; it is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

Now, if you had asked me (before I started thinking about it) what does the “word of God” in these verses refer to, I quickly would have answered, “the Bible.” Obviously, the Bible is the word of God, and obviously I sound witty and clever every time I grab my Bible and refer to it as my sword (or forget it and lament, “I’m unarmed!”). But here’s the thing; when these verses were written, the Bible as we have it today did not exist! So, what did “the word of God” mean to Paul and to the writer of Hebrews? I’m beginning to think it refers to the proclaimed gospel spoken and preached and shared by God’s people. Of course, this does not mean that the Bible is not the word of God, it is included, but the word of God is not limited to just the written word.

This is fun because I feel like I’m treading out on thin ice, and I’m hoping this will lead to some good dialogue but let me clarify just a bit. I’m not trying to suggest that the Bible is anything less than our sole rule for following Jesus. I don’t believe in ongoing or new revelation that should be added to the Bible and all spoken gospel proclamation must align with the truth of the written Bible. But I am suggesting that the living, active sword of the Spirit that we wield in ongoing spiritual warfare is the gospel which is both written in the Bible and proclaimed verbally throughout the world.

It’s actually astonishing when you think about it, how often in the New Testament “the word of God” or even just “the word” is used for the preached gospel (see Matt 13:19ff, Mark 2:2, Mark 4:33, Luke 3:2, Luke 5:1, John 10:35, Acts 4:4, Acts 8:4, Acts 13:44, 2 Cor 2:17, Eph 1:13, Phil 1:14, 1 Thess 2:13, 2 Tim 2:9, and Heb 13:7 as just a few of the many, many examples). Jesus and his earliest disciples did not have the New Testament and yet they frequently used the phrase “the word of God” sometimes it would appear referring to their Bible (our Old Testament) but other times referring to their proclamation.

So, what say you? Am I way off base? Am I onto something? And perhaps most importantly does it matter? I think it does! The centrality of “the word of God” for God’s people means that we must know the written word of God. We must steep ourselves in it so that we bleed gospel and then…we must proclaim it! It is alive and active, it is our weapon, and it is the power of God unto salvation!