Two Ways News is a weekly collaboration between Phillip Jensen and Peter Jensen – a newsletter and podcast on a topic to encourage gospel thinking for today (subscribe at twoways.news).
In this episode, Phillip discusses the power of God’s word and the wisdom of his word by which he created the world. The power of words is one of the joys and problems of life. The devil’s power is in his lying words. Yet God’s word always achieves his purposes. Understandably but wrongly, this leads people in authority to censorship.
The previous episode is Christ and Creation. The next episode is Words and Relationships.
THE POWER OF WORDS
How could we keep silent?
Phillip Jensen: As I considered the issue of words, it lead me to think about President Trump. In some strange, bizarre way it occurred to me that he is like God, in that he rules by executive orders. All he’s doing is sitting in the White House, signing these orders, and then all kinds of things are done. It’s the power of the word that goes with a powerful person. The president is not all-powerful. So there are many ways in which he’s not like God, it’s just this one element. President Trump doesn’t do anything, he doesn’t go out with a shovel and make it happen. All he does is give his word. And it is words that I want to talk about today because words are so powerful.
We had a terrible thing happening here in the last weeks. A couple of nurses at Bankstown Hospital were interviewed and their interview went on to social media, and they spoke about what they would or wouldn’t do to Jews who came to the hospital. Their words have created enormous problems, not just for themselves but for our society. It is part of the problem of anti-Semitism. Our New South Wales government is discussing new legislation about anti-Semitic hate speech.
Our society upholds free speech, but free speech is not as free as people think. We have laws about libel and slander. We certainly don’t want people to be inciting violence or expressing hatred, but it goes much wider than that today. What about causing offence? What about hurting feelings? I’ve seen signs in several schools and in some churches, which say that everybody has the right not to be offended. I’m not sure we have such a right. We have a responsibility not to offend people, but I’m not sure we have the right not to be offended. It’s so easy to be offended. You may be offended because you have thin skin, not because what is being said is wrong. You may be somebody who feels you have the right not to be afraid. I’m not sure you have that right either.
Censorship
We do not want to restrict human freedom, freedom of speech. But censorship is such a difficult issue. Intellectual censorship is an appalling thing. If we’re not allowed to ask questions, not allowed to challenge ideas, and we’re not allowed to provide information, then how will we know the truth? How can we know the truth when certain information is not tested and when certain information is being kept from us? I may think I know the answer, but if the data is not being provided, then how do I know?
Governments have created censorship. There are state secrets that should be kept for the protection of the society. Is it for the protection of society or for the protection of the government? Hezekiah, in the Old Testament, told the Babylonians everything. He showed off all the treasures that were there. That was stupidity because the Babylonians were the enemies who were aroused by what they saw. They came and destroyed them. He would have been better off keeping some state secrets on that occasion. But then you only have to think of Stalin and Hitler and the ways in which governments have been protecting themselves rather than the nation.
Indeed, the government’s role in monitoring hate speech is a problem. Here in Australia, we’ve recently censored, that is, cancelled some artistic expression. An artist was representing Australia in an international art show, and because his works were viewed as anti-Semitic, he was cancelled. The arts community is upset with the government’s interference with artistic expression. People don’t like cancelling; they do not like censorship. Anything that moves towards anti-Semitism is something that our government is clamping down. It’s a question, they say, of social cohesion. How can our society be cohesive if one group is speaking death threats to another group within the society? But social cohesion can be used by a government to bring about censorship of any view that they don’t like. Any view which may be true but is not to the liking of the government of the day. How can you work out how much a person can and can’t speak in that kind of area?
It is not just the governments doing this; it is the markets as well. Companies protecting their brand name has even led to a kind of employment censorship, sacking people because, in the privacy of their own forms of communication they are saying things contrary to the company’s policy. The classic case was of Israel Folau, a footballer who was censored. He had his contract removed because he spoke religiously, Christianly, about things that were contrary to what the rugby union that employed him was standing for. Or so it was said by the sponsors of the rugby union. They didn’t want his name associated with them. But we’ve seen many of these cases where protecting brand names is sufficient for stopping people from speaking their minds.
A lot of censorship is not evil in intention. It’s just that people omit things. The feminists have rightly pointed out that over centuries of history writing, the role of women in the course of human history has just been omitted. It wasn’t an intentional omission of women, as if we didn’t want to hear about anything any woman ever did. It was just that women’s contribution was not considered important and so was omitted. Similarly, we find the Christian faith of people is omitted in the description of what they have done. There are great social reformers who have changed society. Their Christian faith has been left out of their history as the reformation that they’ve brought to society has been advanced. It would be very easy to read history and not realize how much Christians have been creative in bringing about changes within history. It’s like the other one, reverse censorship.
The syllabus writers don’t tell us so much of what must not be included as to what must be included. Certain things are considered essential to include in the teaching of children. It’s a reverse censorship.
Censorship by the media never stops. They speak against censorship every time, but they themselves are the great censors. They only publish what they consider to be of interest. There’s a whole range of ways in which the media act as the judge and jury.
God’s Words are Powerful
Why is language so important? Well, because language is so powerful. Words are really important.
And that takes me to Genesis. Words come right there in the very beginning of Genesis. Throughout Genesis 1, God creates by His word. Therefore, God says, ‘let there be’, and we then read, ‘and it was so’.
One of the great themes of Genesis 1 is that God has created the world by his word. There is only one God who creates everything. God is the subject of every sentence in Genesis 1. God’s creation is by His word. Psalm 33: 6
By the word of the LORD the heavens were made, and by the breath of his mouth all their host.
In the New Testament, 2 Peter talks about the creation of the world. 2 Peter 3:5
For they deliberately overlook this fact, that the heavens existed long ago, and the earth was formed out of water and through water by the word of God.
The world, the heavens, everything, was created by and through the Word of God. That’s why I started with Mr Trump. His words are powerful because at the moment he is powerful. Before the election, he could have signed as many executive orders as he wanted, and nothing would have happened, but now that he is the President, he signs an executive order and things happen. When God speaks, things happen because God’s words are powerful. It is because God is powerful, but also because he makes words powerful.
Words themselves were powerful. God’s words always achieve his purposes. Isaiah 55:10 -11.
For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.
God’s words are purposeful and intentional, the expression of his mind, but being God, the expression of his mind is what is to be, what will happen. It never returns to him empty. It always achieves his intention. So, when he created the world, he created it by his intention, by his purpose, he created it. And so it will achieve his purposes. That is, the world is not an accident. It’s not an accident of God. The world is not part of God. The world is the creation of God, created intentionally by his mind as is expressed by his words. God created rationally and purposefully. He even created us, rationally and purposely, to be like him. So we can relate to him by his word, for we are created in his image. It is the nature of God’s creation that this world, and everything in it, was created for his purposes, which have to do with habitation. Isaiah 45:18
For thus says the Lord, who created the heavens (he is God!), who formed the earth and made it (he established it; he did not create it empty, he formed it to be inhabited!): “I am the LORD, and there is no other”.
God speaks it into the form, the frame, and the character that it has. But we’re not told the details of how he did it. We don’t need to know the mechanical details. Unfortunately, our minds want to know the steps. We want to know why he created dinosaurs and then why he saw dinosaurs become extinct. But the Bible is completely silent on that because that’s not important. What is important is he created it, every part of it, rationally, purposefully, for his purposes to be achieved and he ordered it as an orderly world. It was the Word of God that created all things. In the New Testament, we learn that the Word of God was God. John 1:1-3
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. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.
I’m sure our translation is right to use the word “him” because it’s referring to Jesus. In verse 14, “the Word became flesh and dwelt amongst us.” But the Greek can be translated as “it.” It was in the beginning with God. It was actually his Son who was his Word. You can’t differentiate God from his Word because he is faithful and truthful. If God speaks to me, if God’s Word speaks to me, it’s in the end the same thing. We are not always faithful and truthful. Sometimes, you can differentiate between us and our word, but you can never differentiate between God and his Word. God is true to His Word under all circumstances. And so the Word was God. But we are created by the Word of God in His image. And God chooses to speak His words not only through angelic messengers, but through humans. 2 Peter 1:21
For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.
The prophets could stand and say: “Hear the word of the Lord.” It’s the same word that powerfully created the universe. That’s why Isaiah says that God’s word won’t go out and return to him empty. He sends his words out through his prophets because there is the word of God.
Words are Powerful
It is not just that the words of God are powerful. Words themselves are powerful because God is the creator of this world.
The devil’s words are powerful. It’s the power that we give to the devil by believing his lies. A lie that is unbelieved, a lie that is rejected, is a lie that has no power. But a lie that is believed, such as in Genesis 3, is a word that has power over people. And the devil is the father of all lies. He sends false prophets into the world. These false prophets speak against God and God’s people. The false prophets even call upon the true prophets to be silenced. You’ll find it in Jeremiah 14 or Jeremiah 23. In fact, in some ways, the only power the devil has is words. Lies, but they’re the lies that lead to death. The devil is known as the accuser because he accuses God and accuses God’s people in words. He’s known as a murderer because he leads people to death in their belief of his words. But he’s also known as the father of lies. John 8:44
You are of your father, the devil. And your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and has nothing to do with the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.
Speaking the truth matters. Even non-Christians now say: “the truth will set you free”, but they rarely put it in its right context. John 8:31
So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him: “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
The truth we’re talking about here is the words of Jesus. If you stay, if you remain, if you live and abide in his words, that’s the truth that will set you free. The world wants to claim truth, but if it is really the truth, it’s God’s truth. All truth is God’s truth, and it’s God’s truth that will set you free.
God’s word is found in Jesus because he is God’s word, and what Jesus has accomplished by his death and resurrection is the gospel word, which is the very power of God for salvation Romans 1:16
For I am not ashamed of the Gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation, to everyone who believes, to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.
We have a similar idea in 1 Corinthians 1, where the word of the cross is seen as the power of God. The power of God is at work in his word, which is why people want to censor it all the time. In Acts 5, the governing authorities of the day try to censor the preaching of the gospel. Acts 5:40
And when they had called in the apostles, they beat them and charged them not to speak in the name of Jesus and let them go.
The name of Jesus is the powerful name by which we must be saved; we’re told in Acts 4:12, “There is no other name by which we can be saved”, the name of Jesus. But society now says we’re not to say that; we’re not to speak of this.
Christian Censorship
In England some years ago, when Mr Blair was the Prime Minister, his public relations officer said: “We don’t do religion.” We don’t speak about what we believe. England is rife now with court cases that are taking place where Christians speaking in social media are finding difficulty in employment in social work, in teaching, in hospitals, because they’re saying the truth that will set people free.
The Gospel word of Jesus creates social disharmony and society is more interested in harmony than truth. There is always this temptation to stop people speaking. It even happens amongst Christians, where gospel preaching is spoken against on the basis of causing offence to people, being divisive, and being unhelpful. They say that we have to evangelize people just by our actions. But our actions will not evangelize people. Unless we speak in the name of Jesus, our actions will not be understood. But to speak his name today, as in the time of the Apostles, requires boldness, for society doesn’t want us to speak of the very truth that will save them.
Speaking the gospel boldly doesn’t mean we have to speak all the time. Ecclesiastes has warned us of a time of speaking. Ecclesiastes 3:7
A time to tear and a time to sow, a time to keep silence, and a time to speak.
There is a time to be silent. We don’t want to put pearls before swine. There’s a time for silence, and there’s a time for speaking appropriately in the context of our relationships. Yet our fear of censorship is not right. We must speak up. We’re not to worry too much about what to say. Jesus speaks in Mark 13 about being dragged before councils and not to be afraid. The Holy Spirit will give us the words to speak as that occasion happens.
We are the people who must speak because we cannot help but speak. 2 Corinthians 4:13
Since we have the same spirit of faith according to what has been written, I believed and so I spoke. We also believe, and so we also speak.
To my non-Christian friends, I’m sorry, but we must tell you about it because it is just so fantastic. It is so wonderful to be set free by the Word of God. For God’s Word created the universe and God’s Word has recreated us. Psalm 107:1-2
I give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever. Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, whom he has redeemed from trouble.
If you’re one of the redeemed of the Lord, speak up. Censorship is quite strong in other countries.
The worst kind of censorship in Western countries is self-censorship. We think it’s because of politeness, but actually, it’s because we’re afraid. We’re afraid that people will reject us. We’re afraid that people will reject the message. We’re afraid that we’ll say the wrong thing. And so we silence ourselves.
Instead let those who have been redeemed, those who have been saved, let us speak up because the Word of God is the power of God by which the world was created, which is in our mouths, and which can bring regeneration and new life to the hearer. How can we keep silent under such circumstances?
To Sum Up
Genesis 1 sets for us the foundation of thinking about the Word of God. Isaiah 66:2 says an extraordinary thing. It tells us whom God looks up to. You don’t expect God to look up to any human, but he does look up to somebody. It’s the person who trembles at the Word of God. If you rightly understand the power of the Word of God, you won’t self-sensor, because no power of humans can contest the power of God in your own mouth. Paul, when he speaks to the Thessalonians, thanks God that when they heard the Word of God, which was in his mouth, when they heard the Word of God, they didn’t take it as the Word of man, but as the Word of God, which was at work in them. 1 Thessalonians 2:13
And we also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the Word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it, not as the Word of men, but as what it really is, the Word of God, which is at work in you believers.and purpose and morality for us. And that all goes to his praise, his glory and his honour.
Scripture quotations are from The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
