«　WEEK 4　DAY 1　»

　　Matt. 4:4 But He answered and said, It is written, “Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out through the mouth of God.” John It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits

　　6:63 nothing; the words which I have spoken to you are spirit and are life.

　　The Bible shows us …God’s speaking, God’s word. Hebrews 1:1-2a says, “God, having spoken of old in many portions and in many ways to the fathers in the prophets, has at the last of these days spoken to us in the Son.” Thus, in the Bible we first have God, and then we have God’s speaking, the word that proceeds out of His mouth. (Life-study of Proverbs, p. 39)

　　Christians need to daily contact the Lord, be touched by the Spirit, and receive more life. We can do this by touching the Word….How wonderful that today God in Christ as the Spirit is embodied in the Bible. The divine word in the Bible is the “wire” that embodies and conveys God, Christ, the Spirit, and life. The Bible as God’s breath (2 Tim. 3:16) conveys God, Christ, the Spirit, and life into our being, just as a wire conveys electricity into a building. We need to daily take in the word in the Bible to have it “installed” and “switched on” so that God, Christ, the Spirit, and life may be transmitted into our being.

　　The word of God is actually composed of three elements—Christ, His death, and His resurrection. The basic ingredients of the Bible are not stories or doctrines but Christ, His death, and His resurrection. When we read the Bible, if we pick up only stories or doctrines rather than Christ, His death, and His resurrection, our Bible reading is in vain. Regardless of what chapter or verse we read, we should always take in and enjoy the three basic ingredients—Christ, His all-inclusive death, and His resurrection.

　　The first few verses of the Gospel of John do not mention the death or resurrection of Christ, but if we eat the healthy word by pray-reading these verses, the result will be that the germs within us will be killed, and the weaknesses within us will be swallowed up. This is a killing produced by the killing element of Christ’s death in the word. As we continue pray-reading, we will be supplied with life by the same word, which also contains the nourishing element of Christ’s resurrection. This is the Christian life—a life of receiving killing and nourishing from our God through the Word.

　　The proper reading of the Bible always transmits a killing element into us. If we do not receive any killing when we read the Bible, our reading is in vain. Our physical eating similarly enables our body to kill the germs in us. If we do not eat properly every day, we will quickly become sick from many germs. As long as we eat well and regularly, we do not need to take antibiotics. Through our eating we will naturally have the killing element. In the same principle, every time we read the Word, we receive a killing element. Actually, it is not we ourselves but the negative things within us, such as our natural life and our flesh, that are killed. (CWWL, 1978, vol. 3, “The Healthy Word,” pp. 213-214, 177-178)

　　In John 6:63b the Lord said that His words are spirit and life. Here the “words” follow the Spirit [v. 63a]. The Spirit is living and real but rather mysterious, intangible, and difficult for us to apprehend. However, the Lord’s words are substantial. First, the Lord indicated that for giving life He would become the Spirit. Then He said that the words He speaks are spirit and life. This indicates that His spoken words are the embodiment of the life-giving Spirit. He is now the life-giving Spirit in resurrection, and the Spirit is embodied in His words. When we receive His words by exercising our spirit, we receive the Spirit who is life. (CWWL, 1982, vol. 2, “The Fulfillment of the Tabernacle and the Offerings in the Writings of John,” p. 215)

　　Further Reading: Life-study of John, msg. 16; CWWL, 1985, vol. 4, “The Full Knowledge of the Word of God,” chs. 1-3; CWWL, 1985, vol. 5, “Speaking for God,” ch. 2