God’s Word is Essential to What He Does

At MissioSERVE, we are committed to equipping pastors and church leaders worldwide to do the work of expository preaching. We do this because expository preaching recognizes the unbreakable link between God’s work and His Word. Throughout history, God has determined to act through His Word and in accordance with it. This connection between God’s work and His Word is so strong and prevalent that we may safely say: God’s Word is essential to what He does.  

To begin with, we have previously noted that the Scriptures are not merely the work of men. They were “breathed out by God” (2 Tim. 3:16) as the human writers were “carried along by the Holy Spirit” (2 Pet. 1:21). God has long demonstrated the pattern of speaking to us, whether through prophets or through His Son (Heb. 1:1-2). There has always been an expectation that we should learn from what He has preserved in writing for us (Rom. 15:4). So, the first thing we must recognize in the relationship between God’s Word and His work is that His Word is one of His works. God was very intentional in giving us this communication from Himself. He is not a silent or distant God. He is the Living God who speaks to His creatures, mankind. This means that God’s Word itself is the key, foundational work by which we understand everything else concerning God and His activity.

Secondly, the Word of God proclaims what God is doing. Anyone who is slightly familiar with the Bible knows that it is full of stories, ranging from stories about personal choices between faith and sin to stories of national deliverance and global catastrophe. Although these stories vary greatly in scope and theme, they all bear a consistent mark: they place emphasis on what God is doing in and through the events of the story. Across the pages of the Bible, through the ages of time and history, we see God “at work” — busy accomplishing His purposes and fulfilling His promises. God has been actively involved in the affairs of men and nations while also preserving the record of His works so we may know them.

However, it would be a mistake to think of the Scriptures as merely a testimony of what God has done, for they are much more. The Scriptures are an invitation to learn of Him through His works and respond to Him with faith and hope. Throughout His Word, God repeatedly refers to Himself in connection with His works, whether of creation, deliverance, resurrection, or mercy. Frequently, He explains what He is doing and why, so that we may learn about His motives and character in the process of observing His works. He even announced some of His works in advance so that His power and sovereignty could be seen, stimulating faith and resolve in those who trust in Him. In communicating His works in this way, God placed a premium upon believing Him at His word rather than waiting to see new evidence of His nature and purposes. Indeed, without the kind of faith that believes God at His word, it is impossible to please Him (Heb. 11:1-6).

This brings us to a third, essential aspect of God’s Word with relation to His works, namely, that God works through the Word itself to accomplish His purposes. The Word is a work of God, and it reveals the works of God, but it is also a key means by which God works His work. This is especially true in the miracles of repentance, regeneration, and sanctification. Because God requires men to honor Him, accepting the testimony of His Word about Himself and His activities, the bulk of all we associate with salvation is predicated upon hearing His Word and responding to it with humble faith. It is through the Word that we are confronted with our sin and are called to repent in the face of His just condemnation of us (Rom. 3:19-20). It is through the “good news” of the Word that the seeds of hope, which lead to faith in Christ, are planted (Rom. 10:14-17; 2 Tim. 3:15; 1 Pet. 1:22-25). Through the Word, we are sanctified by God’s truth (Jn. 17:17), transformed through the renewing of our minds as we respond to the revelation of His plan for us and His power at work in us (Rom. 12:1-2). And through the preaching of the Word, we are built up, little by little, into mature children of God, stable in our faith and fully equipped to do all that God has called us to do (2 Tim. 3:16-17; Act. 20:32; Eph. 4:11-16, etc.). Throughout the entire work of salvation, God’s Word is the very means by which His people are converted and built up!

Now, let us return to reflect upon our commitment to expository preaching. As we have defined it, expository preaching is the kind of preaching in which the content and intent of the sermon are designed to faithfully communicate the content and intent of a biblical text. It is preaching that takes great care to recognize and honor God’s design to work through His Word, giving it a unique role in what He accomplishes. It is preaching built on the conviction that the best message any preacher can preach is the message that God designed the text to communicate. And it is preaching that rests in the power of that divinely shaped text to speak the truth of God with all the transformative power needed to grow the people of God and build His Kingdom.