Letters From Grandpa #497

• LETTERS FROM GRANDPA
• 497

Dearest grandchild,

Today’s letter will be about words. Remember! Words are important! Jesus is the “Word” of God and He created everything: “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.” (John 1:1-2) Jesus is the “Word” who “explains” what God is like! (John 1:18)

Note that God “spoke” before anything was created. “And God said ‘Let there be light’, and there was light.” (Genesis 1:3) First, God “spoke” and then something was created. Day 3 and day 6 were special days of creation for on those days God spoke twice. It was on these two days that God created life. On day 3 God “spoke” plant life into existence, and on day 6 God “spoke” life into existence for animals and man.

All of creation responds to the voice of God. God’s “words” have power! God can speak and open the mouth of a fish (Jonah 1:17). God and speak and close the mouth of a lion (Daniel 6:22). Even the winds and the waves obey his voice (Matthew 8:26).

It is interesting to note that among all the creatures of earth only man has the ability to speak “words” as God does. Animals, insects, and birds can communicate on lower levels, but only man uses “words” that can describe a scientific theory, a history lesson, a love story, or a book of Bible stories for children. Only man uses “words” that can be stored in a library or defined in a dictionary. Our lungs, throat, tongue, cheeks, lips, and larynx are uniquely designed to enable us to say “words”. Moreover we can shout, scream, laugh, sing, cry, hum, and whisper. Interestingly, the creature most capable of reproducing the sound of human “words” is not the chimpanzee, but the parrot. Further, your “words” are as unique as your fingerprints. Your “words” can therefore be used to turn on your smart phone and verify your identity in a wide variety of other situations that require security.

The heavens declare the “glory” of God (Psalms 19:1, but only man is created in his “image.” Please note: “So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.” Then God said, “I give you every seed- bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds in the sky and all the creatures that move along the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food.” And it was so.” (Genesis 1:27-30)

God created man in his own image so that he could not only understand the “words” of God, but could also create “words” on his own. Please consider: “Now the Lord God formed out of the ground all the beasts of the field and all the birds of the air. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name. So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds of the air and all the beasts of the field.” (Genesis 2:19-21) Today the branch of science that gives “names” to organisms is called “taxonomy.” Adam was not a Neanderthal dragging his knuckles on the ground, he was a scientist.

Our “words” reveal who we really are for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks (Matthew 12:34). Unidentified corpses are routinely called “John Doe” or “Jane Doe”. Scientists can weigh and measure their bodies and take samples of their DNA, but science has no way of knowing what they were thinking and only vague assumptions of what kind of a person they were. A voice recording or personal letter can tell us more in 5 minutes about a corpse than a microscope can reveal in 5 years.

So also our “words” play an essential role in our salvation: “For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.” (Romans 10:10) Even though Jesus knows our thoughts (Matthew 9:4), salvation still requires that we confess him with “words.” Jesus said: “Whoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess before my Father which is in heaven. (Matthew 10:32)

It is also with “words” that we communicate with God in prayer. Even though God knows what we need before we ask him (Matthew 6:8), He still commands us to “ask”. “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. “Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!” (Matthew 7:7-11)

Nothing so clearly reveals who your really are as your “words,” “For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned.” (Matthew 12:37) Perhaps that is why the Psalmist said: “Set a guard over my mouth, O Lord; keep a watch over the door of my lips” (Psalms 141:3) Please choose carefully the “words” you say for they reveal who you really are!

I love you,

Grandpa Boyce