"The Word of God is living, and active, and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing even to the dividing of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and quick to discern the thoughts and intents of the heart." (Hebrews 4:12,RV)
The Word of God is not simply living, but it gives life. "My soul cleaves unto the dust; quicken me [make me alive] according to your Word; ... your Word has quickened me." (Psalm 119:25,50) "Hear, and your soul shall live." (Isaiah 55:3)
Jesus says, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that hears my word, and believes on Him that sent me, has everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life. Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God; and they that hear shall live." (John 5:24-25)
God gives to us His Word, in order that we may live; if we but keep the Word, we shall keep the life, for it is "the Word of life." (1 John 1:1)
When man issues a commandment, the one to whom it is addressed is obliged to supply the force necessary to carry it into execution; but when God gives a commandment, the commandment is itself the living force that will work effectually in those who receive it. "His commandment is life everlasting." (John 12:50)
This is why it is that if we would enter into life, we must keep the commandments. Only in keeping the commandments of God have we life, for they are life. We keep them by faith, and they supply the life and righteousness.
The story of creation is given to show us the reality of these things. There we see the word in action. "By the word of the Lord were the heavens made. ... For He spoke, and it was done; He commanded, and it stood fast." (Psalm 33:6,9)
When He spoke, it was. The earth did not have to go about to make itself, when God spoke; but when He spoke, it existed. The darkness did not have to exert itself to produce light; but God commanded the light to shine out of darkness, and it was so. The earth was without form, and void. God desired order, but He did not expect the earth to put itself in order. "The Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be light; and there was light." (Genesis 1:2-3)
That same Word speaks to us. The Gospel is the power that creates, for "If any man be in Christ, there is a new creation." (2 Corinthians 5:17,RV,margin) "God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, has shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ." (2 Corinthians 4:6) The Word says to us, "Be filled with the Spirit." (Ephesians 5:18)
If we receive that Word, the Spirit will fill us, and will bring order out of the chaos of our minds and hearts.
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ... In Him was life; and the life was the light of men. ... That was the true Light, which lights every man that comes into the world." (John 1:1,4,9)
Therefore the same Word which in the beginning caused the light to shine out of darkness, says to us: "Arise, shine; for your Light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon you." (Isaiah 60:1)
If we will hear that Word, we shall as surely be "light in the Lord," (Ephesians 5:8) as the light in the beginning shone when God said, "Let there be light. ... God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit; ... and it was so." (Genesis 1:3,11)
There was no struggle on the part of the earth to perform the commandment of the Lord; only the reception of the Word of life, which works effectually wherever it finds an opening for it. Now, "As the earth brings forth her bud, and as the garden causes the things that are sown in it to spring forth; so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations." (Isaiah 61:11) "And God spoke all these words, saying, I am the Lord your God, which have brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. You shall have no other gods before me." (Exodus 20:1-3)
Now how did God suppose that we were to keep that commandment? Israel of old made the mistake of supposing that they themselves must furnish the power to do it, and they did not attain to the righteousness of the law. But God did not expect anything of the kind. Hear what He says, repeating almost the words that are in Exodus 20:1-3: "Hear, O my people, and I will testify unto you; O Israel, if you will hearken unto me, There shall no strange god be in you; neither shall you worship any strange god. I am the Lord your God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt; open your mouth wide, and I will fill it." (Psalm 81:8-10)
There was to be no straining to manufacture power which they did not have, but a simple yielding to the self-acting Word. Let the people but hear, and continue to hear, the Word of the Lord, and He will take the responsibility upon himself of seeing that strange gods are kept from among them.
The first commandment includes all the ten. The tenth commandment, "You shall not covet," (Exodus 20:1) is only another precept against idolatry, for "covetousness is idolatry." (Colossians 3:5)
The law ends just where it begins, and is as a whole but an exhortation to love God. But, "Love is of God." (1 John 4:7) And ... He sheds His love abroad in our hearts, by the Holy Spirit." (Romans 5:5)
So instead of expecting us to do what the flesh cannot possibly do, God simply asks us to submit to His love, to submit to His righteousness. "His commandments are not grievous," (1 John 5:3) but they are love. Thus we see that the commandments of God are in reality promises of what He will do for us, or rather, statements of what He has already laid up for us ready to our hand. His grace supplies all that His justice demands. He never asks anything of us that He has not first given to us. "How precious also are your thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum of them." (Psalm 139:17)
How precious is the thought that no matter what God requires us to be, no matter what He tells us to be or do, the very same Word that makes known to us the requirement, supplies the thing required.
Let us read all the commandments of God in the light of the 1st chapter of Genesis, and life will assume a new phase. Then the greater the commandment, the greater will be our thanksgiving for what the Lord has done for us; and even in the midst of the thunders of Sinai we can say, "Come and hear, all you that fear God, and I will declare what He has done for my soul." (Psalm 66:16)--Present Truth, December 1, 1898.