New Reminders: Words

According to Wikipedia, “A word is a basic element of language that carries meaning, can be used on its own, and is uninterruptible.  Despite the fact that language speakers often have an intuitive grasp of what a word is, there is no consensus among linguists on its definition and numerous attempts to find specific criteria of the concept remain controversial.” In church we say “The word of the Lord” after reading from the Bible. It is important that we understand God’s word.

In John 1:1 we read “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  He was in the beginning with God.  All things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made.” I can read and understood each word, but the meaning of the verse has always puzzled me a little, ever since I first read it.  I suspected that the meaning may have gotten lost in translation and didn’t give it a lot of thought.  As I read it now, I want to understand why it says: “…and the word was God”.  How can that be?

One possible interpretation is that it is only with words that it is possible for human beings to understand the concept of God.  Without words, we would not be able to conceive of God.  In other words, without words, we would not have God because we would not have a means of articulating the nature of God.  What’s more, it is only through language that we are able to understand what God wants us to do.  As far as we can tell, animals do not have a God because they do not have a language with which they can form an understanding of Him.  It is through words that we can conceive of a supernatural being who created everything and to whom we can pray in our own language.  It is when we are able to hear or read the word of God that we are able to believe and start to understand the concept of a loving Father, a giver of forgiveness and grace by which we might be saved.

It is through the word of God that we are able to develop an understanding of the nature of God and His relationship with human beings.  For most of us, this began with hearing Bible stories as children and culminated in a mature understanding and faith in God and the sacrifice of His Son Jesus as a redeemer for all who believe.  It was by speaking phrases such as “Let there be light” that the Bible tells us that God created the universe including human beings with the ability to develop languages with which to express their belief in Him.  Praise be to God for his unspeakable gift of salvation and the words to understand and accept it.