I.　In the Godhead Christ is the Word—the mysterious and invisible God defined and expressed—John 1:1, 18:

A.　The Word is the definition, explanation, and expression of God; hence, the Word is God defined, explained, and expressed—v. 1.

B.　To say that the Word was with God means that the Word is not separate from God—v. 1.

C.　The Word is eternal and self-existing; this eternal Word is a living person, Christ, the Son of the living God—v. 18; Matt. 16:18; Rev. 19:13.

D.　The life in the Word is the life of the tree of life in Genesis 2; since life is in Him, He is life, and He came that we might have life—v. 4; 11:25; 14:6; 10:10b:

1.　Life is in the Word, the expression of God; life can be found only in the expression of God—1:4.

2.　The Word, which is the expression and explanation of God, contains God as our life; when we receive the Word, we receive the life within the Word—5:24-26.

3.　Both the Word and the life are God Himself; the Word is the expression of God, and the life is the content of God—1 John 1:1-2; 5:11-12.

E.　The life in the Word is "the light of men"—John 1:4:

1.　When we receive Christ as the Word, the expression of God, He becomes our life, and this life is the light that shines within us—vv. 5, 9.

2.　When the Word is heard and the life is received, the life becomes the light shining within us to enlighten us—11:25; 12:35-36a, 45-46, 49-50.

3.　Christ is the light of life to bring the divine life to the world by shining forth God that man may be born of God to be His children, making man God in life and nature but not in the Godhead—1:4b-13; 8:12; 9:5; 12:46:

a.　When we receive His shining of the light of life, this shining imparts the divine life into us—1:9; 8:12; 10:10b; 11:25.

b.　The divine life becomes our authority to be God's children, God's kind, God's species, God's family—1:12-13; 3:3, 5.

F.　As the definition of the Triune God, the Word is for God's speaking; the fact that the Word is the entire God means that the Word is for the speaking of the Triune God—Col. 2:9; Heb. 1:2; John 17:6, 14, 17:

1.　The Word became incarnate as a man, and that man was God's speaking; the incarnate Word is the definition and expression of God—1:14, 18.

2.　Christ spoke God not only with clear words but also with what He was and what He did; He is altogether the Word of God and the speaking of God.

3.　As the incarnate Word, Christ is the defined God, the explained, expressed, and revealed God, the God made known to human beings—14:9-10.

4.　The only begotten Son was, is, and always will be in the bosom of the Father to declare, define, express, and reveal the Father; the more the Son speaks, the more the Father is declared—1:18.

G.　As the Word of God, Christ is the Word of life—1 John 1:1:

1.　The Word of life in 1 John 1:1 is the Word mentioned in John 1:1-4 and 14, who was with God and was God in eternity before creation, who became flesh in time, and in whom is life.

2.　The Word of life conveys the eternal life and is the divine person of Christ as the definition and expression of God.

3.　Life in 1 John 1:2 is a synonym for Word of life in verse 1; both denote the divine person of Christ, who was with the Father in eternity and was manifested in time through incarnation.

4.　Christ as the Word of life is the eternal life itself for our experience and enjoyment—v. 1; 5:11-12; John 11:25.

5.　Eternal life is not simply a matter or a thing; eternal life is a person—God Himself expressed in the Son—1 John 5:11-12.

II.　Romans 10:5-8 reveals Christ as the Word; in these verses, the word is used interchangeably with Christ, indicating that this word is Christ:

A.　Christ as the Word descended from heaven to mingle Himself with humanity for the accomplishment of redemption—v. 6; 8:3; 3:24:

1.　To "bring Christ down" refers to Christ's incarnation, for Christ came down from the heavens in His incarnation—10:6.

2.　In His incarnation, Christ as the Word brought the infinite God into the finite man, thereby mingling the Triune God with the tripartite man, that is, divinity with humanity—Matt. 1:20:

a.　He mingled Himself with humanity in order to accomplish God's redemption—John 1:1, 14, 29.

b.　After passing through His human living, Christ went to die on the cross as the God-man to redeem us back to God—1 Pet. 3:18.

B.　Christ as the Word ascended from the dead for justification unto life to those who receive Him by believing—Rom. 10:7; 4:25; 5:18:

1.　After His death Christ as the Word descended into the abyss, Hades, and He ascended from that place in His resurrection so that those who receive Him by believing in Him may be justified—3:24; 4:25; 5:1.

2.　When Christ died, He descended into the abyss, and in resurrection He was brought up from the dead, that is, out of the abyss—10:7; Eph. 4:9-10.

3.　Christ as is the One who has passed through incarnation and resurrection; therefore, we may say that He as the Word is the "processed" Christ:

a.　Christ as the Word has passed through a long process from incarnation through resurrection—Rom. 8:3; 1:3-4.

b.　In this process He accomplished everything that is required by God's righteousness, holiness, and glory and all that is needed to enable us to partake of Him—3:23; 10:8.

c.　He was God incarnated to be a man, and as a man, He was transfigured through resurrection into the life-giving Spirit for us to receive—v. 12.

d.　According to Paul, this processed Christ is "the word of the faith which we proclaim"—v. 8.

C.　The resurrected Christ as the life-giving Spirit is the living Word that is in our mouth and in our heart—1 Cor. 15:45b; Rom. 10:8:

1.　Christ in resurrection is both the Spirit and the Word—the Spirit for us to touch and the Word for us to understand—Eph. 6:17.

2.　We may receive the resurrected Christ as both the life-giving Spirit and as the living Word—1 Cor. 15:45b; John 6:63, 68.

3.　The word in Romans 10:5-8 is actually the gospel; when we hear the word, we hear the gospel, and when we receive the word, we receive the gospel and Christ Himself—Eph. 1:13; Col. 1:5; Rom. 1:1, 9, 15-16.