“The Word Reveals Us” Hebrews 4:12-13

When I was in elementary school, I did something dumb. I know what you’re thinking, and yes, there were many things I did dumb while in elementary school. But I’m thinking of one time in particular that I did a boneheaded thing and I was embarrassed when it got out. I tried to live it down, but there was this one boy in a grade ahead of me that like to remind me of my mistake every time he saw me. As I said, it was an embarrassing event in my life, one that I truly wanted to forget and put behind me, but this one kid insisted on bringing it up every time he saw me. I finally snapped and threatened him. It was an empty threat, but he tired of embarrassing me and found something else to entertain him.

I know I’m not the only person who has done something dumb, and I know that I’m not the only person who wishes to forget it and get past it. I dare say if we were to go around the room, everyone here today would agree that they've been in my shoes.

Jesus tells us that we will have to give account to God for every careless word we say. That causes me great frustration and embarrassment. It’s not because I believe my words will cause me to lose my salvation. It’s just I don’t want to be standing in the presence of God when we review stupid things I’ve said and done.

Then again, there is something to be said for the ability to cut through the clutter and see things as they really are. Where would we be without x-rays or CAT scans or MRIs? We see the benefits of these “penetrating” options every day.

In short, there are times when we don’t want people to see the “inner us,” and there are times we want and need the exposure.

Today’s passage tells us that the Word of God is designed to cut through all the clutter and get to the real person that we are. In the Word we find the truth of ourselves—both good and bad—before the eyes of God.

Central Truth: The Word of God “judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.”

The Word reveals us because:

• It is living and active (12a)

Most of the time, when we hear the phrase “word of God,” we think of the Bible. And we should. The Bible is God’s word in a written form. With the Bible, we have the ability to carry God’s message with us anywhere we go, and we are able to access it readily. In today’s world, there are several apps and websites we can go to access any number of translations of the Bible, giving us a greater awareness of how God’s word is translated.

But if we limit our understanding of the “word of God” to just the Bible, then we do a disservice to the full meaning of the phrase. We were reminded a few weeks ago that Jesus is the living Word of God. He was with God in the beginning and is God. He is the Word made flesh, the living presence and embodiment of God in our world and in our lives.

John, in that passage introducing his gospel account, reminds us that this Word also created all things. That reaffirms the message of Genesis 1, when God spoke all created things into existence.

So it should come as no surprise to read that the Word of God is both living and active. Just as Jesus is still alive and active through His Spirit, so should we understand that God’s word is still active and living.

But the idea of “living” can also mean relevant and changing. After all, every living thing is changing each day. Sometimes the changes are imperceptible, but they’re there nonetheless. There is a debate among Constitutionalists about whether the U.S. Constitution is a living document. Those who say it is mean that we should be able to take the Constitution, written 231 years ago, can be updated and brought current with rulings and interpretations by the Supreme Court justices. Those who disagree with the idea of the Constitution as a living document maintain that the document says what it says and trying to foist modern interpretations onto it are misguided.

The idea of the Bible as a living document is also sometimes questioned. Is it still relevant in our world? After all, if the Constitution, at 231 years of age, may not be relevant to all areas of life, then surely a book that is about 2000 years old can also be questioned.

But the answer is the Bible is a living and relevant and active book because the Word Himself—Jesus—is living and active. The Bible is relevant today because it speaks of people and conditions that haven’t really changed from the moment Genesis was written to the present. People still sin, still turn away from God. God is the same yesterday, today and forever. If people never really change and if God never changes, then the word of God sent to communicate God’s love and expectations for humanity is still very much relevant and alive.

The activity of the word can be seen in the way it continues to change people’s lives. All we have to do is remember the testimony of the Gideons who have spoken to our church over the past 12 years to realize that God can use His written word, empowered and illuminated by His Holy Spirit, to speak to us today. The Bible changes lives because it’s message is still active and vital.

And God uses that living and active word to judge the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.

• It penetrates our soul and spirit (12b)

Years ago, Kim and I were members of a church in Tyler. One sermon, the pastor told about a member of the church that had a tendency to tell long stories. It soon became a habit of his friends to tell him, “Just get to the bottom line, Jim.”

I listen to politicians on television and the radio being interviewed. They’re asked a simple question, but instead of giving a simply answer, the politician goes off on a tangent addressing everything but the subject of the question. It’s very frustrating to hear, particularly when it’s repeated over and over again. I get that politicians don’t like to be pinned down on any one subject, but sometimes they need to take a clear stand of what they do and don’t believe on a particular matter.

The word of God, living and active, cuts through the noise and the feints and the efforts to distract and confuse, and penetrates the soul and the spirit. Its ability to penetrate is akin to a laser or a scalpel. The cutting edge of such devices are so exact and precise that they can slice through things without causing any real or permanent damage. So is the word of God very effective at cutting through all that hinders our walk with the Father and forces us to confront what is real in our lives and in our world.

The end of the verse tells us that the word of God judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. When God created us, He gave us three aspects. First, He gave us a soul. The soul houses the personality of each person. It is in the soul that we express our emotions and our quirks and ambitions. The soul is the very essence of each living person. To express the soul, God gave us bodies so we can communicate with other souls in our world. We use these bodies to connect with other humans, to interact with each other. And God gave us a spirit in order that we could communicate with Him. When we sin, the spirit dies. The soul and the body continue, but the spirit dies. It is only by God’s grace and mercy that He resurrects our spirit the moment we profess Christ as Savior and Lord.

We spend a lot of time working on our bodies. We seem to think that our bodies are the most important part of our persona. And there is some validity to that. After all, if we don’t take care of our bodies, we risk losing the ability to communicate with other people. We can become ill, damaged, even dead. But the body is not the most important part.

We need to focus on our soul, and the best way to improve our soul is to use our spirit to speak with and listen to the Father. Part of the way we do that is by prayer and by Bible study. By letting the Word speak to us, penetrating through the things that hinder our walk with Him, then we can begin to truly understand our thoughts and attitudes, and we can begin to make changes there with God’s help and guidance.

Because the word of God penetrates our soul and spirit, it allows us to judge the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.

• It lays everything bare to the eyes of God (13)

Finally, we come to the next verse. In this verse, we see dread and promise. I have been looking at the dread, but as I consider its meaning more carefully, I am coming to see the promise as well.

Going back to the MRI, I am reminded of my little escapade almost two years ago. I am grateful that there were doctors who could read the MRI and read it accurately. The initial doctor who first saw the MRI feared I was having a massive stroke. The second doctor, a neurosurgeon, saw the same MRI and drew a different conclusion. He understood it to be a head injury, but he didn’t know the extent of the injury until he did the surgery. I’m just grateful that I had doctors who knew that the MRI was serious and that I needed to be in the hands of the best person to do something about it.

That’s the way I interpret v. 13. Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight; everything is uncovered and laid bare before His eyes. While the writer of Hebrews says we must give account, and we must, if we are really seeking to learn and grow and follow God’s will, then we should welcome His incisive insight and awareness of who we really are. It is by coming to Him, asking Him to show us what He sees in us and about us, that allows us to better follow Him.

To be sure, the verse is also a warning to not try to hid things from God. It is the foolish person who thinks he can get away with something from God. Such a person will have to give an accounting to Him, and the Day of Judgment will not be pleasant for any of us.

But the promise of the verse is also that the Great Physician is seeing things as they really are. He is examining and prodding and pushing and encouraging as He cuts through all the superfluous things that seem so important to us.

Because the word of God lays everything bare to the eyes of God, it allows Him to correctly judge the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.

Conclusion

There are things in my life that I would like to keep hidden for all eternity, and I don’t think I’m alone in that matter. I believe each of us, to one degree or another, believe there are parts of us that are not pleasant and would damage our standing if others knew about it.

The Bible tells us that God knows about it. Everything is uncovered to Him, and He knows us better than we know ourselves. And that must be a freeing thing. It allows us to come before God with an openness and honesty that allows us to purge ourselves of the sin that hinders us, allows us to truly seek God’s compassion and forgiveness and direction. Because of the promise of these two verses, we know that we have a relationship with God that is more honest than any other relationship we can have. And, despite that, God still loves us and wants the best for us. And the best for us is to follow Him confidently and faithfully.

Are you ready to follow?