My pastor is giving a sermon series on gifts. I’ve thought about how words are gifts to us, if we choose to use them as such. I’ve reflected on how God’s word brings us life and is a gift to us, how Jesus is the Word of God, and is such both Savior and Word, a gift of salvation, communicative power, and truth.
So, this month, I’m going to focus on Words as Gifts, which isn’t quite the same focus as the sermon series at my church, which is focused on gifts of the Holy Spirit. Specifically, this week my Pastor discussed 1 Corinthains 12:1-11 and also referenced Psalm 68, Ephesians 4:1-16, and Matthew 16:18. If you want to know more, I highly recommend listening to the sermon online, which will show up at this page soon. And, today it can be found here.
So, for my focus this month on Sundays, I’m looking at these verses as a focus:
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”
John 1:1-5
And this verse:
“Gracious words are a honeycomb,
Proverbs 16:24
sweet to the soul and healing to the bones.”
And this verse:
“The soothing tongue is a tree of life,
Proverbs 15:4
but a perverse tongue crushes the spirit.”
“The words of the mouth are deep waters,
Proverbs 18:4
but the fountain of wisdom is a rushing stream.”
“In the beginning was the Word…” From what we know, which is limited to human understanding, the universe started as a formless void, and God created light by speaking His word, or singing it, into this formless, dark void. I don’t really want to get into the whole Creation Story versus random Big Bang here because, for me, the point is that God created the universe. How He did it? Well, I am okay with not knowing the specifics yet. Besides, God’s voice could have sounded like a “big bang” in the universe.
I do believe God has a voice. He was/is the Word. We are made in His image and the reason we speak is because of that.
The question is, always: Why? Why would God create such stubborn, willful, independent, thirsty people who ask “why” and other questions?
I think God likes dialogue.
Maybe this is stretching it for some, but really, if we look at the Bible as our main evidence, we have God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit in community with each other from before the beginning of time.
And then, God created the entire universe and humanity with His voice, with His word wound into our very DNA.
When I read the Bible, I find evidence again and again, of God’s love for all people, but his specific working through individuals who call on His name, who speak to Him, who pray to Him, who ask questions, and who worship Him.
This is a gift to us. The Word of God is a gift to us. The very heart of communication, voice, speaking, writing, vocabulary – all are a gift from God and part of His nature, as the Word of God.
What words have been a gift to you in your faith life?
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