October | 2013 | The Proverbs 1:20 Column

IS IT BY THE WORD OF HIS POWER OR BY THE POWER OF HIS WORD? – — by Mary A. LaClair

727 words

Heb 1:1-4
“God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds; who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become so much better than the angels, as He has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.
NKJV

Wouldn’t it read much better if it said ‘by the power of His word’? But that would not be correct.

The Word of His Power

Every once in awhile a Scripture will seem impossible to understand. Sometimes I think “Maybe it’s actually a mis-print.” In an effort to clear up any misunderstanding I search numerous other versions.

The Scripture, “He upholds all things by the word of his power”, seems more natural to read as ‘by the power of his word’; yet I find that it is correct as written; “…by the word of His power.”

Searching the internet for what other ministries might think this unusual wording means, I was not satisfied that I’d found enough there. In my heart I asked the Lord several times what is the significance of this special wording, wording which seemed backwards to me.

I was probably folding laundry when something just dropped itself in my mind, with no pre-thought and no effort of my own. Surprise! This thought was the answer to my long asked question. I have since found Scripture verifies and proves that which was suddenly planted in my mind.

Jesus used the words of the Father. Jesus’ power is from the Father and the words of the Father. That is his Power. I feel that the word Power should be capitalized in this reference.

John 5:19-20

19 Jesus gave them this answer: “I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does. (NIV)

John 12:48-50

49 For I did not speak of my own accord, but the Father who sent me commanded me what to say and how to say it. 50 I know that his command leads to eternal life. So whatever I say is just what the Father has told me to say.” KJV

It’s not the power of his own word, Jesus’ power is the Father and the Father’s words! The words spoken by the Father carry power. Jesus upholds all things by the spoken word of the Father — the spoken word of his Power!

Jesus himself often said that he did, and said, only what he saw his Father do and what he heard his Father say.

Saying ‘the word of his Power’ is giving a double implication, double significance, to the mind picture of the Father being Power, and the importance of the word of Father God, the God-head of the Trinity.

John 5:30

30 By myself I can do nothing; I judge only as I hear, and my judgment is just, for I seek not to please myself but him who sent me. KJV

John 8:27-29

28 So Jesus said, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am [the one I claim to be] and that I do nothing on my own but speak just what the Father has taught me. 29 The one who sent me is with me; he has not left me alone, for I always do what pleases him.” KJV

John 14:9-10

10 Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you are not just my own. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. KJV

I now see this Scripture as ‘He upholds all things by the Word of the Father’ the “Word of His Power…His Power being the Father and the Father’s words.

Jesus wants us to know that the words are not his words, therefore it is not ‘by the power of his word’. The ‘Word of His Power” means the source of the power is the Father; thus, all things are upheld by the word of The Father who is the Power in Jesus –just as the Word of God should be the power within us if, and when in faith, we speak the words of the Father which were also spoken by Jesus.

It may be like saying that one cannot separate the Word from the Father. Jesus is the Word made flesh and one cannot separate Jesus from the Father, they are One. This is what Jesus tells us in the Scriptures quoted above, if one can see it.

Heb 1:3