One of the main things we should get out of Genesis 1-3 is that we are made in God's image. It is such a massive truth as it applies to all facets of life – when we deny it, our humanity falls. Conversely when we really believe this, it impacts the way we treat others and view ourselves. Our ability to have a relationship with God is because we are made in God's image. One important characteristic of being made in God's image involves our unique use of language. Many of the thoughts and ideas in this study come from The War of Words by Paul David Tripp.
Our ability to communicate with words distinguishes us from the animal kingdom
No animal is capable of speaking in a manner in which humans can understand
From Language Instinct, (not a Christian author) “As you are reading these words, you are taking apart of one of the wonders of the natural world, for you and I to belong to a species with a remarkable abilities....simply by making noises with our mouths, we can reliably cause precise new combinations of ideas to arise in each other's minds. The ability occurs so naturally that we forget what a miracle it is.”
Before creating us, God was already a speaking God. The reality of language existed before He created humans
Genesis 1:3 “Then God said, let there be light. And there was light.”
God brought the universe into existence by speaking
Genesis 1:26 “Let us make man...”
Genesis 2:23 “And the man said...”
God is speaking, and later on man speaks.
Genesis 1:5&8&10 “Called the light day, expanse heaven, earth, seas...”
He is speaking things into existence
He is then naming the things He speaks into existence
Isaiah 40:26
He calls all of these billions and trillions of stars by name!
John 17:24
We also know that there was a love relationship with fellowship and communion between the persons of the Trinity before the foundation of the earth
John 1:1 “In the beginning was the Word...”
The second person of the Trinity is called the Word
“The Eternal Word” -Faber
The first words a human being ever heard were not from another human, but from God
Genesis 1:28 “God said 'Be fruitful...'”
The first words to men were instructions from God
Adam and Eve understood
This shows that the first humans were programmed with language learning abilities. This is a characteristic that animals do not have – it is innate in our makeup because we were made in the image of God.
This was not just people grunting like cavemen, but it was language understood by Adam and Eve, and they could respond.
Their ability to respond was programmed, but their actual responses were not. They were not little recorders in little puppets because God made us to be relational beings
Try thinking without using words!
The vital importance of language in having a relationship with God
If we are going to understand much about God, it will be through language because He has chosen to reveal Himself that way
God right off the bat begins to teach man through words, through language
He can be known because He is a God who speaks
His words not only give us understanding about who He is, but about who we are
What if God created us, put us here on earth, and said nothing?
We would have question upon question. Adam would ask “What is going on? What is all this? Why am I here?”
He could not understand his existence without God speaking
This is the dilemma of modern man – if you reject God, you end up with meaninglessness or absurdity and no true meaning of life
You cannot make sense out of life unless you hear what God has to say about it
One of the first uses of language by man was in accordance to God's words to him
In ancient times, to name something was to have authority over it
God allowed Adam to name the animals because He delegated authority over these things to Adam
Adam named Eve because he was in a position of headship in their relationship
This is not derogatory or demeaning
Genesis 2:23
I think this can be taken as a love song, or love poem. I think it was addressed to both God and Eve – he was thanking God and adoring Eve.
It is the use of language as it should be – expressing thankfulness and love
Until the fall, words were only used to glorify God
There were no arguments, hate, lies, yelling, cursing, condemning, manipulated words, selfish words... there were only true words spoken in love
The purpose of language is to communicate truth in love from God to us, us to God, and us to each other
...But into that Paradise came another speaker
For the first time words were spoken on earth in order to plant doubt about God's word
Satan's lie was spoken in complete opposition to God's plan for language
Human speech has since become “a world of iniquity”
James 3:6
What evil, what corruption, what terrible results have come through the tongue!
God is not done with the tongue yet – He is working to bring communication back to what it is meant to be
He will sanctify our speech through what He has done through Christ
In Heaven, all our communication will be for the glory of God and the good of others
It will all be used for its original intentions
Right now as we are being conformed to the image of Christ, this area of our lives is improving and changing
We need to daily offer our lips to Him to be used the way He intended
James No one can tame the tongue, no person – only God can
Our desire should the same as the psalmist “Let the words of my mouth and meditation of my heart be acceptable...”
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