The Power of the Word of God

I read this recently and was again amazed at the power of God's Word:

"God's Word has always been His chosen instrument to create, convict, convert, and conform His people. From the very first announcement of the Gospel in Genesis 3:15, to the initial word of promise to Abraham in Genesis 12:1-3, to His regulation of that promise by His Word in the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20), God gives life and heath and holiness to His people through the agency of His Word. From the reforms under Josiah in 2 Kings 22-23, to revival of God's work under Nehemiah and Ezra in Nehemiah 8-9, to that great vision of the Valley of Dry Bones in Ezekiel 37:1-14, where God breathes the life of His Spirit into His dead people through the preaching of His Word, God always sends His word when He wants to renew life in His people and assemble them for His glory" [Mark Dever, The Deliberate Church: Building Your Ministry on the Gospel (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2005), 33-34].

Isaiah 55:10-11: "10 As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, 11 so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it."

Matthew 4:4: "Jesus answered, "It is written: 'Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.'"

Romans 1:16: "I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile."

Romans 10:17: "Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ."

1 Thess. 2:13: "And we also thank God continually because, when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but as it actually is, the word of God, which is at work in you who believe."

Hebrews 4:12: "For the word of God is living 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."

James 1:18: "He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created."

James 1:21: "...accept the word planted in you, which can save you."

1 Peter 1:23, 25: "For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God....And this is the word that was preached to you."

So next time you doubt the power of the Word, read these passages! May God richly bless you.