‭‭ “14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” Ephesians 6:14-17

“12 For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.” Hebrews 4:12

The sword of the Spirit is our offensive weapon against attack

“Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted[a] by the devil. 2 After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 3 The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.” 4 Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” 5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. 6 “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written: “‘He will command his angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’” 7 Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’” Matthew 4:1-7

3 Greek words for the Word of God:

1. Graphe- Written Word/ the Bible Text/ The written Scriptures
2. 
   Logos- 

• The meaning of the written Word or the essence/substance of the message of the written Word. 
• It is the mind of God.
•  It is identified with Jesus the second Person of the Trinity. (See notes in our Bible App for a deeper understanding).

John 1:1 “In the beginning was the Word (Logos), and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

1. 
   Rhema- 

• A rhema Word is a verse or portion of Scripture that the Holy Spirit brings to our attention with application to a current situation or need for direction.
• The spoken Word or declaring out loud the meaning of the written Word from the heart not just from one’s head. 
• A Word spoken with conviction! 
• God’s mind is now in your mind and you declare it with power!
• Jesus is the ultimate Rhema Word of God. He is the living Word.

John 1:14 “14 The Word (Rhema) became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

The Authority of the Word

“12 For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.” Hebrews 4:12

1. 
   The Word of God is Living
2. 
   The Word of God is Powerful
3. 
   The Word of God Penetrates
4. 
   The Word of God Divides 
5. 
   The Word of God Judges
6. 
   The Word of God Instructs

“16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17 so that the servant of God[a] may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” 2 Timothy 3:16

Additional Notes for later study on Jesus and the Logos Word of God

John argues that Jesus, the Word or Logos, is eternal and is God. Further, all creation came about by and through Jesus, who is presented as the source of life. Amazingly, this Logos came and lived among us: “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth”( John 1:14).

John’s Gospel begins by using the Greek idea of a “divine reason” or “the mind of God” as a way to connect with the readers of his day, who mostly spoke Greek, and introduce Jesus to them as God. Greek philosophy may have used the word in reference to divine reason, but John used it to note many of the attributes of Jesus. In John’s use of the Logos concept, we find that

-Jesus is eternal (“In the beginning was the Word”) Jesus was with God prior to coming to earth (“the Word was with God”)

-Jesus is God (“the Word was God.”) Jesus is Creator (“All things were made through him”)

-Jesus is the Giver of Life (“In him was life”) Jesus became human to live among us (“the Word became flesh and dwelt among us”)

The Meaning and Significance of Logos 

In reference to the history and development of Logos, the Gospel of John mentions two phases: creation and revelation. The Word reveals Himself through the mediation of objects of sense and also manifests Himself directly. Therefore, in this part of the prologue . (John 1:3-5) a threefold distinction also occurs.

(i) He is the Creator of the visible universe. "All things were made through him"--a phrase which describes the Logos as the origin of the entire creative activity of God and excludes the idea favored by Plato and Philo that God was only the architect who formed the cosmos from previously existing matter. 

(ii) The Logos is also the source of the intellectual, moral and spiritual life of man. "In him was life, and the life was the light of men." He is the light as well as the life--the fountain of all the various forms of being and thought in and by whom all created things live, and from whom all obtain understanding. 

(iii) The climax of Divine revelation is expressed in the statement, The Word became flesh," which implies, on the one hand, the reality of Christ's humanity, and, on the other, the voluntariness of His incarnation, but excludes the notion that in becoming a man the Logos ceased to be God. Though clothed in flesh, the Logos continues to be the self-manifesting God, and retains, even in human form, the character of the Eternal One. In physical creation, the power of God is revealed. In the bestowal of light to mankind, His wisdom is chiefly manifested. But in the third especially is His love unveiled. All the perfections of the Deity are focused and made visible in Christ--the "glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth" John 1:14

How Is Jesus the Logos (the Word)?

In Greek philosophy, the logos remains an impersonal force, a lifeless and abstract philosophical concept that is a necessary postulate for the cause of order and purpose in the universe. In Hebrew thought, the Logos is personal. He indeed has the power of unity, coherence, and purpose, but the distinctive point is that the biblical Logos is a He, not an it.

All attempts to translate the word Logos have suffered from some degree of inadequacy. No English word is able to capture the fullness of John's Logos when he declared that the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. Attempts have been made by philosophers to translate Logos as logic, act, or deed—all of which are inadequate definitions.

God's Logos does include action. The Logos is the eternal Word in action. But it is no irrational action or sheer expression of feeling. It is the divine Actor, acting in creation and redemption in a coherent way, who is announced in John's Gospel.

That the Word became flesh and dwelt among us is the startling conclusion of John's prologue. The cosmic Christ enters our humanity. It is the supreme moment of visitation of the eternal with the temporal, the infinite with the finite, the unconditioned with the conditioned.

(From Christanity.com)

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