When God Speaks

The human race communicates primarily by the spoken word: sounds grouped together in a vast variety of ways to convey meaning. These sounds, words, are the means of revealing the mind of the speaker. Adam was created in God's image with the ability to speak so that he could talk with God, but after the fall, verbal communication between God and man became very rare. Then came the confusion of languages at the tower of Babel -- God saw that because all people had one language, there were no boundaries for them. Their common communication allowed them to manifest their pride in a unified way. So God created a very effective boundary to prevent that unity: whatever language had been before, it became quite inadequate for universal expression of the mind among people.

But God still desired to express His mind to mankind, and He did so in human language, through one nation, a group of people with one language. And through that one nation and language, God kept His promise of sending redemption for all nations and languages. The Word came. Jesus, God in the flesh, walked the earth and revealed God's mind to man. Though the Man Jesus spoke Aramaic and Hebrew, His portrayal of God's heart could be understood by people of any language. His very words had power to create, heal, and even restore life, not because there was anything special in the sounds He spoke, but because they were an expression of God's thoughts. And when God speaks, things happen. The word of God is the revelation of His will, and the word of man will never stand against it.

By the word of the Lord the heavens were made . . .

[He upholds] all things by the word of His power.

 Then God said . . . and it was so.

 Psalm 33:6, Hebrews 1:3, Genesis 1:9