There is a way of starting at the finish line. A way of declaring the end from the beginning. “Thus says the LORD, "Stand by the ways and see and ask for the ancient paths, Where the good way is, and walk in it; And you will find rest for your souls.”” (Jeremiah 6:16).

     There is always so much more to God than what initially ever meets the human eye. Behind all that we may first see, there is ALWAYS a precise and deliberate “WHY” to everything that God either does, or designs, or declares. For instance, out of all the possible options available to God, have you ever wondered WHY it was that God specifically chose “a book” to represent all the amazing answers that unlock the deep mysteries and deep meaning of life? And to use “words” as the building blocks of that book to frame the contours of His blueprint for living authentically? 

     If you take a look at the structure of a book, what is a book made up of? Primarily a collection of pages. But what holds it all together? A spine! What holds man physically together? A spine! What else? The ribs attached to that spine. What do the ribs attached to the spine of man represent? The pages of the Bible attached to the spine of the Book. What allows man to keep his posture in natural life? His spine and ribs. What allows man to keep his posture with God? The Word. Like the ribs, the words protect, support and allow us to breathe the breath of life. The Word captured in bite size chunks as “the bread of life” upon the pages of a book, the Bible. Which is still the most printed and read books of all time. And just like man’s ribs expand when the lungs fill up with oxygen, the words on the pages of the Bible fill up and come to life when “the breath of life” that is the Holy Spirit brings them all to life. There are also two lungs framed like a book. One for each side of the spine. In the same way, the Ten Commandments are framed like the two pages of a book bound together by a spine. God has deliberately designed the human body to represent and reflect the image and likeness of the living Word. 

     This is just one of a number of other illustrations that the human body reveals both about the identity of God and His nature as the living Word. But we know this to be true already because God clearly says man has been made in the image and the likeness of God. And He is the Word. He describes Himself as the Word, being the entirety of everything written “as words” across all the pages of the Bible. For man’s gain, He has effectively captured upon paper the essence of Himself as the Word in the function and form of “a book”. And it is “the words” of that Book that are the living Word that frames all of life. “By faith we understand the universe to have been formed by the word of God, so that the things being seen have not been made from the things being visible”. (Hebrews 11:3). And if God is the living Word, it makes sense, as the image and likeness of God, that man is then the living representative of that living Word.

     And of the living Word, Jesus also says: I AM the way, and the truth, and the life. On the left side of Jesus as “the Word” is the way. On the right side is the life. And as the centre piece is “the truth”. In much the same way, when one looks at the Bible, being the representation of the Word, on the left side of the spine, we also have “the way”. On the right hand side we also have “the life”. And what holds “the way” and “the life” together is none other than “the truth”, which is the spine of it all. In the same way, when you open the Bible, “the way” is the “Old Testament”. For the law points the way. On the other hand, “the life” is the “New Testament”. “The law” of the Old Testament is brought together with “the life” of the New Testament through the centrepiece of “the truth” that sets all men free. It is clear from this that I AM definitely IS the way, and the truth, and the life. Which is where the expression “the spirit and the letter of the law” comes from. The Bible, as the living Word, is both the letter of the law (the commandments, statutes and ordinances) brought to life by the living Holy Spirit. “The way” is the letter. “The life” is the Spirit. It is the Spirit that brings the letter to life that together are revealed as the truth. 

     And that is why God has given the anatomy of man two legs. Because we are to always WALK in that truth. And He has given us two arms, for we are to do ALL THINGS in the truth. “Be not hearers only, but doers” (James 1:22). And He has given us eyes that we may see with the truth. And a mouth that we may speak the truth. And most important, what is behind the rib cage of man? The heart. For we are to do all things “in love”. The motive behind “the way and the truth and the life” is always love, for the culmination of “the way and the truth and the life” is always love. For the greatest of these is love (Matthew 22:37-39), being the spine and the posture of all the scriptures. And just like on the Cross, “on love” hang all the Law and the Prophets. “All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments" (Matthew 22:40). And it is when all things culminate in love, that then it is true that there is a way of “declaring the end from the beginning”. And when we start in love with all things, it is true that there is a way of “starting at the finishing line”.

     Every day man is faced with two choices, like looking at the two pages on either side of the spine of an open book. Does he choose “the way of man” on the left hand side, or does he choose “the way of the Father” on the right side? The heart of the Father is to have His children always turning to what is right, to the right side, which is the way of God. Which is one reason why Jesus sits on the right side of the Father in heaven. Which is also the same side that God’s people notably read from. From right to left. With God there are never any coincidences. At the same time, what do we make books out of? Paper. What is paper made from? Trees. The two trees in Garden of Eden. The tree on the left. Man’s way. Or the tree on the right hand side. God’s way. 

     When our trust is in the “ways of man”, we always seem to keep starting over and over again and again. When we do things in our own strength and understanding, we never make it to the finish line of the book of life. We keep having a number of false starts. But when we start with God, we start at the finish line, from the back of the book, and then work out the rest thereafter. Because our eyes are on the prize, which is the finish line. “I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 3:14). And because, with God, He sees the end before the beginning. “I declare the end from the beginning, and from long ago what is not yet done, saying: My plan will take place, and I will do all My will” (Isaiah 46:10). When we do things in God’s way, not our own, we start as a finished product in the making. For God says better is the end of a thing than the beginning of a thing (Ecclesiastes 7:8). When we start with God, and stay on the straight and narrow path that is the spine of TRUTH, God will show the WAY that leads unto LIFE. 

Which is living authentically. 

Which is LOVE. 

     When we start with His Word, we start at the finish line. For by confidence in His Word, and hope in His promises, and trust in His character and heart as both Father and God, by faith we declare the end from the beginning. And just like for Jesus, where the Word became flesh, we are to take the words on those pages, and let them become flesh in our lives and the lives of our neighbours too. For when we start with the Word, the end of a thing is ALWAYS better than the beginning. For then, we too, will be the living Word. 

“But He knows the way I take; When He has tried me, I shall come forth as gold. "My foot has held fast to His path; I have kept His way and not turned aside. "I have not departed from the command of His lips; I have treasured the words of His mouth more than my necessary food.” (Job 22:10-12).