The phrase “word of God” appears often in the Bible and can have a slightly different meaning depending on context and the Hebrew or Greek word used. John 1:1 says, “In the beginning was the Word. And the Word was with God and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God.” Here, Word is a title of the Lord Jesus. The term translated “Word” is logos, which basically means “the expression of a thought.” Logos can be thought of as the total message of God to man (Acts 11:1; 1 Thessalonians 2:13). Jesus embodied that total message, and that is why He is called the “Logos,” or “Word,” of God (Colossians 1:19; 2:9).
I think you're taking a lot of liberties in your thoughts here. Logos of John 1 means something considerably different than "the total message of God to man". Though the use of Logos in John 1 conveys expression or better said, manifestation, it is not the message of God to man. It is the very expression, or rather
expressing of God - period. It has to do with the very essence and nature of creation and creating itself, through Logos. Its focus is not man in its nature, but ALL manifesting. When John 1 establishes this eternal nature of what Logos is (which was mirroring the metaphysical use of Logos by Philo of Alexandria as a starting point), he then ties it to Jesus in verse 14 by saying this eternally manifesting agent of God's being became manifest in a human form, in order to impart to Jesus this role of being the pure manifestation of God in the world.
In what you said above about it being the expression of "a thought", that of course does not convey the meaning of John 1. It was not a thought, or an idea, but rather Thought or Mind itself in expression. Or Idea itself, in the sense of intention of the Divine being. It has no single, separate thought or idea isolated from a separate mind. I think this is a poor, and badly limiting perception of the nature of God as a separate being with a head full of separate thoughts and ideas like a human mind might have. In other words its a strictly anthropomorphic view of God; God imagined in the image of man.
Logos is also used many times when referring to the written message of God (John 17:17; 1 Timothy 4:5; Revelation 1:2; Colossians 1:25). Hebrews 4:12 says, “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.”
How did you read "written" word of God in any of those passages? It's not talking about ink and paper in any of those. I think that's the point of this thread actually, to point out this assumption about that collection of various writings about God that people gathered together into a binder and called "the Bible". That's not the "word of God" being spoken about in any of these passages! The word of God is frankly something in the heart, a spiritual knowing, a spiritual revelation, not specific words spoken in dictation like a scene out of the Ten Commandments with Charlton Heston, magically "written by the finger of God".
Jesus showed a link between the written Word of God and Himself, in that He is the subject of the written Word: “You study the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about me” (John 5:39).
Ah, there is an assumption of logic at work here that because you have inherited this notion that the Bible is "the word of God", then when Jesus cites scripture it means what you believe! A common mistake people do, starting with an end story, and reading it back into something that didn't exist back then. Of course Jesus cited the scriptures as speaking about who he was. He also said that the rocks and stones would cry out in testimony of him. When was the last time you sat down with a rock and considered it part of the Bible? And yet, it too speaks of God. All of creation itself is the "word of God" to those with ears to hear, and eyes to see. To limit this to the so-called "written" word of God is to not hear Logos in creation at all. It assumes a leather-bound book is where Truth is found.
I do believe that is what Jesus' "message" to the world, to see and hear and know God in everything. When he says search the scriptures, he is speaking to them who believe they can find God in them that they should be able to know him through it too, if they have ears to hear. He's not limiting it to the scripture, but starting with their ideas that scripture is something they turn to to hear about God. Those who spoke of God, through the "word of God" in their hearts, conveyed the Spirit of Truth, and if they read and hear that, they too will see him. Hence, why he later says to them, "If you had known the Father, you would know me!".
Imagining the whole "Bible is the word of God", as some separate "authoritative" collection of supposed dictations is to limit what one allows themselves to see and hear in order to have the "total message of God", which is that the only true "written word" is that which lives, breathes, and creates endlessly in the heart. It is not set in stone, not static, not complete, but living, dynamic, and creative. In other words it is Spirit. In fact, there is no "total message", as God is infinite. By definition, "the message" is limitless.
Another Greek word used for “word” is rhema. Rhema refers to the actual spoken/written words of God (Hebrews 6:5). When Jesus was being tempted by Satan, He answered, “Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word [rhema] that proceeds from the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4). We are told in Ephesians 6:17 to “take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word [rhema] of God.” Jesus demonstrated we need the actual recorded words of God to overcome Satan’s attacks.
Again, you are reading back a modern understanding into these passages. When Jesus countered the temptations to stray from the path of God, he cited scripture to basically put himself back into alignment with his desire to serve God. No one says that having teachings to draw from is not important. There are many things others have taught which speak Truth to us, that we draw upon in order to keep ourselves true to our good intentions in a spiritual path. But note when Jesus says, "but every word that proceeds from the mouth of God", there is no limitation to that. A "living word", is something that comes from the heart, in the moment, as well as that which others have spoken before you. "Every word that proceeds from the mouth of God," includes what you hear "in the moment", at that moment. Again, not written in stone, but in the "tablets of the heart".
An interesting thought to this, that when Jesus so relies on previous words from others about God, about the spiritual path, this shows to me someone who at that moment was so depleted, weakened, that he could not find that voice within himself to help bring him back into alignment (understandable after fasting for so long). So when he calls out to the words of his predecessors in his tradition, scripture in this case became a "touchstone" for him. There are plenty of touchstones which brings one back to God, when they are in a place where they are unable to hear God for themselves. But does this mean they should idolize these touchstones as God itself? I think that's the point of this thread.
The phrase “word of God” means more than the printed words on a page. God is a communicator and has been speaking into the human realm since the beginning. He speaks through His creation (Psalm 19:1), through ancient prophets (Hosea 12:10; Hebrews 1:1), through the Holy Spirit (John 16:13; Acts 16:6), through Scripture (Hebrews 4:12), and through the Person of His Son, Jesus Christ (John 14:9). We can learn to know God better by seeking to hear Him in every way that He speaks.
All this I have just said. But the idea of the "written word of God" as being some authoritative "owner's manual", is a misguided notion. All of these are "the word of God" as you said. And so are we, if we are in fact aligned with Spirit. And yet, who of the Christians who "believe in the Bible", consider any of these of equal, if not greater importance than the Bible?? That is my point. There is an misguided worshipping of this book, above all other forms of communication.
If they cannot see God in creation, if they cannot see God in another's person and being and voice and words, if they cannot see God in the words of another, and recognize it as such, then how can they see God in the Bible? To limit authority to that book alone, or above all other revelation, is in fact idolatry. If they cannot hear God in the wind speaking Truth, they cannot hear it written down through the words of others, despite those writings being collected into a book and called "the word of God".
