Words are powerful. 

I often repeated this mantra throughout my career as an elementary school teacher. In our classroom we learned how to use our words to communicate ideas, thoughts, and feelings. Through them we expressed needs and fostered friendships. When used well, words empowered my young students.

God illustrates the powerful nature of words throughout both the Old and New Testaments of the Bible. One of the first passages I ever read eloquently captures this theme:

In the beginning was the Word [Jesus], and the Word [Jesus] was with God, and the Word [Jesus] was God. He [Jesus] was with God in the beginning. (John 1:1-2 NIV)

As I first read the beginning of John’s gospel, what others may have always understood about Jesus surprised me. I never knew He was with God in the beginning; I always assumed God created Him later, almost as an afterthought. And of all the names to use for Jesus, why did John call Him “the Word” (John 1:14)? To help me understand, I turned to the very beginning of the Bible which reads similar to the opening line of John’s gospel:

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. (Genesis 1:1 NIV)

The creation story still leaves me speechless. God created the world simply by speaking words:

Day 1: Day and night (Genesis 1:3-5)
Day 2: Sky (Genesis 1:6-8)
Day 3: Dry land, seas, plants, and trees (Genesis 1:9-13)
Day 4: Sun, moon and stars (Genesis 1:14-19)
Day 5: Creatures that live in the seas and fly in the air (Genesis 1:20-23)
Day 6: Animals that live on the land (Genesis 1:24-25)

From the very beginning, God used words to fulfill his plans. As we return to the New Testament, we can understand why John referred to Jesus as “the Word”. Through Jesus, God accomplished what my students learned to do with their words:

Communicated His thoughts (John 12:49)
Revealed His ultimate idea-our salvation (1 Peter 2:24-25)
Fostered friendship through reconciliation (2 Corinthians 5:18-19)
Demonstrated love for us (John 15:13)

Most importantly, a promise from Jesus revealed another parallel to God’s use of words in the very beginning:

“Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life. (John 5:24 NIV)

Just as physical life came through God’s words, eternal life comes through Jesus. Jesus came, not as an addition to God’s plan, but as the fulfillment of it. Not only does the Word speak life into creation and eternal life into our souls, it also gives life to faith:

So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ. (Romans 10:17 NIV)

Because I grew up not believing in God, people often ask me what brought me to faith. Was it the scientific evidence of the balance and harmony of nature? Archeological finds supporting Biblical accounts of events? Or maybe the mathematical impossibility of the Big Bang Theory?

My answer is much simpler. I read the Bible.

When I share this, I see frustration in their faces. Invariably, they ask the obvious question. But how do you get an atheist to read the Bible? I think the Apostle Paul answers it best:

You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts. (2 Corinthians 3:3 NIV)

As Christians we carry Christ with us wherever we go. People without faith are watching. I saw in my coworker something lacking in my own life: unquenchable joy, regardless of her circumstances. Finally, I asked her how she could always be happy. In her own words, she attributed her joy to her relationship with God. The first gospel message I ever read came from her daily life in our workplace. 

Intrigued, I visited her church. Curious, I began studying the Bible. Through those studies, the Lord breathed faith into my heart. Today I have been a Christian for over forty years. Even now when something shakes my faith, I turn to the Scriptures. Through them faith is not only born, but grown and strengthened.

Yes, words are powerful. God’s words breathe life. I am living proof.

Wherever our life’s journey takes us, I pray we reflect the power of God’s Word ~ as we honor the One who faithfully leads us home.