After Jesus was baptized, He was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. Matthew 4:2-4 “And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward He was hungry. Now when the tempter came to Him, he said, ‘If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.’ But He answered and said, ‘It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’’” The first temptation that the devil gave to Jesus was to tempt Him to prove that He was the son of God by turning stones into bread. Jesus responded by quoting Deuteronomy 8:3 that “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.” Let us consider how important this principle is.
Obviously, you and I have to eat in order to live. Without food (bread) we starve and die. But the principle given by Jesus is that you and I must also take in the words of God to live. While food gives live to our physical being, the words of God give life to our spiritual being. While you and I do not want to miss a meal, we should also not want to miss taking in the words of God on a regular basis because they sustain our spiritual life.
We should live “by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.” God does not speak very often to man. But He did speak to Jesus and Jesus relayed what God said to us. Jesus is spoken of as the Word; He was in the beginning with God. John 1:1-2 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God.” Jesus relayed to us the words of God. John 12:49-50 “For I have not spoken on My own authority; but the Father who sent Me gave Me a command, what I should say and what I should speak. And I know that His command is everlasting life. Therefore, whatever I speak, just as the Father has told Me, so I speak.” Jesus gave many of God’s words to His apostles. But He also sent the Holy Spirit to guide them and tell them more of God’s words. He told His apostles in John 16:12-13 “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.” You and I have the words that proceeded from the mouth of God because we have the words written down of what Jesus said that came from God and the words that the apostles wrote down as they were guided by the Holy Spirit who received the words from God. Yes, you and I have the words of God because they are recorded in the Bible.
You have faith because of the word of God. Romans 10:17 “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” You are born again through the word of God. 1 Peter 1:23 “Having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever.” Just as good food enables a child to grow and mature, the word of God also causes you to grow spiritually. 1 Peter 2:2 “As newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby.” You live by the word of God (Matthew 4:4). God’s word will judge you in the last day. John 12:48 “He who rejects Me, and does not receive My words, has that which judges him — the word that I have spoken will judge him in the last day.” How important is the word of God!
The word of God is living and powerful. Hebrews 4:12-13 “For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” Because of the power of the word of God, it will change your life, if you let it. You will be transformed into His image; you will become a light in the world. His love will be perfected in you. 1 John 2:5 “But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him.” But you must be a doer of the word of God. James 1:22-24 “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was.”
As Jesus said, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.” Implant God’s word in your heart so that it will save your soul. James 1:21 “Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.” I encourage you to have a healthy diet of the word of God and live by it.