The Authoritative Word of God

Most of us have struggled with authority at some point in our lives. Most of us as children struggled with the authority of our parents especially when we were teens!  We didn’t like being told what to do or when to do it. We didn’t like to be told that we couldn’t go to the movie with our friends or that we had to be home by 10pm. Today you still may struggle with authority. Maybe you don’t agree with the way your boss runs your workplace. Maybe it’s those pesky white signs that tell you how fast you can drive your car.  Whatever your case may be, humanity has struggled with authority from the beginning.  Adam and Eve were instructed not to eat from the tree in the middle of the garden and what did they do? 
 
Although we still have many authorities in our lives there is one authority that trumps all other authority, God!  God as the creator and sustainer of all things has authority over everything (Colossians 1:15-20).  The authorities in our lives only have authority because God gave it (Daniel 2:21). God is the highest authority. What He says goes! When Jesus told the storm to stop what happened? The storm stopped and the disciples were amazed (Mark 4:35-41). The Word of God carries with it the Authority of God.  The Bible therefore is authoritative, and we must obey it!  To disobey the Word of God is to disobey God.  
 
It is because the authority of God’s Word that we can say unashamedly that marriage is between one man and one woman for life (Genesis 2:24, Ephesians 5:31).  It’s because the authority of God’s Word that we can say that life begins at conception (Psalm 139). It’s because the authority of God’s Word that the church meets together regularly to worship God together (Acts 2:46-47, Hebrews 10:25).  It is the Word of God that dictates how we should live and it is the Word of God that should dictate how we function as a church.  
 
One day, when I leave this earth my hope is that I would be known as a man who loved the Word of God, who preached the Word of God, and who obeyed the Word of God. I hope that is your desire too! 
 
 
“Unless I am convinced by sacred Scripture, or by evident reason, I cannot recant, for my conscience is held captive by the word of God, and to act against conscience is neither right nor safe.”
-Martin Luther at the Diet of Worms