God’s (Jesus’) omnipotence (all-powerful) defines his authority when it comes to His Word. If we truly subscribe to the fact that God created everything out of nothing (ex nihilo), then it follows that His Word is also true, accurate, and authoritative. As human beings, we must accept the fact that we are imperfect, and thus, not in a position to question the all-powerful God. Richard Muller noted this as follows, “. . . the word is also employed to denote God’s infinite excellence above all that is low and created.”[1] This speaks to how we should examine ourselves and determine that God is superior to us (and we are not superior to Him).
In the final analysis, Jesus Christ is the Word of God. The apostle John opened his gospel with these words, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1:1). This verse equates the Word of God with God Himself. This is not an unusual equality. After all, we might say that someone named Harry is a policeman. Both Harry and a policeman are people. But when it comes to God, we cannot equate Him with someone else. That is because He is supreme above all other beings – there is none other like Him. But regarding Harry the policeman, we can say that he upholds the policies of the local district. In a similar way, we can say that God upholds His own policies, namely His Word which is unique and distinctive from anything else. The actual equality between the Word of God and Jesus Christ is made clear in verse 14: “The Word became flesh.” We already noted in verse 1 that the “Word was God.” Here, the Word or God became flesh. This is a direct reference to the birth of Jesus Christ as noted in Luke 2. Also, John noted in Revelation 19:11-13 that a rider on a horse would come, “He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God.” The phrase, “the robe dipped in blood” is a reference to the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, His blood being poured out for our sins. So these verses show that the Word of God is Jesus Christ, and that Jesus Christ is God Himself.[2]
[1] Richard A. Muller, Post-Reformation Reformed Dogmatics: The Rise and Development of Reformed Orthodoxy, ca. 1520 to ca. 1725. Volume 3: The Divine Essence and Attributes (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2003), 499, in Peter J. Gentry, “The Meaning of ‘Holy’ in the Old Testament,” Bibliotheca Sacra 70 (October-December 2013): 400.
[2] Jesus Christ (God the Son) is one manifestation of God. The other manifestations are God the Father and God the Holy Spirit. So there are three manifestations of God, but still just one God. Each manifestation is governed by how God presents Himself to humanity.