The Word Works
“Our eternal, transcendent, all-glorious God, who forever exists as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, is by his very nature a communicative being.”
Go ahead and re-read that sentence. Slowly.
That is the very first sentence in the Sovereign Grace Statement of Faith, which opens by declaring this glorious truth, that the One True God is a God who speaks. It is God’s very nature to communicate himself, to reveal himself, and to make himself known.
God’s communicative nature is the foundation for all language, logic, and community. Because God speaks, we can know God—not simply know about God, but know him personally.
Because God speaks, words really matter. Spoken words, written words, formal and informal speech—it all matters because God speaks.
In 1 Thessalonians 2:13, Paul writes, “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.”
God Communicates through People
The Thessalonians were idol-worshipers until the living and true God revealed himself to them (1 Thessalonians 1:9). But notice how God made himself known. He did so through his word delivered by human messengers who spoke in human language.
Isn’t it astonishing that God chooses to communicate himself in this way? He could write a message in the sky for everyone to see. He could command an angel army to appear in the heavens. He could do any number of the things that atheists say would persuade them to believe.
Instead, God communicates himself to people through people. Wayne Grudem says it like this: “One must either read the gospel message in the Bible for oneself, or hear it from another person.” [Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2000), 118] Think about your own story. Someone—or most likely many someones—told you what the Bible says about who God is and what God has done for you in Jesus Christ. And you became convinced that these were not merely human words, but the very word of God.
The mission of the church is to make and multiply disciples of Jesus Christ. And disciple-making ministry is verbal. Paul says earlier, “Just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak …. We proclaimed to you the gospel of God. … We exhorted each one of you and encouraged you and charged you to walk in a manner worthy of God” (1 Thessalonians 2:4, 9, 12, emphasis added).
What do you do with the gospel once you have believed it? You speak! You explain it to others so that they can hear it and respond to it.
Notice those verbs: proclaim, exhort, encourage, charge. Whether the gospel is preached to a large crowd or discussed in one-on-one conversations, God communicates his divine message through human messengers and human language.
Who do you know who is far from God? And what opportunities do you have to bring God up in everyday conversations? We are always conversing—around the dinner table, in the car, over a cup of coffee, at the water cooler, on the sidelines or in the bleachers, over texts and phone calls. By God’s grace, these ordinary conversations can become occasions for people to hear from God through us.
The Word of God Works
Paul ends 1 Thessalonians 2:13 by asserting that “the word of God … is at work in you believers.” God directs his dynamic power toward us through his Word. His Word is not stagnant or abstract. It works. It gets stuff done. It stirs hearts. It changes attitudes. It produces faith. The word of God is powerful and effective.
Listen to what Paul says in 1 Thessalonians 1:4–5 (emphasis added): “For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you, because our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction.”
How could Paul say with confidence that God has chosen the Thessalonians? Because when the message of the gospel came to them, it didn’t go in one ear and out the other. They didn’t shrug their shoulders indifferently. The evidence that the Spirit of God was powerfully and discernibly at work was the fact that the Thessalonians heard the gospel and became fully convinced that the message was from God.
Many people have heard God’s word, but simply hearing the word benefits no one. However, where God’s word is received and believed, that is where you can be sure God is powerfully working.
Do you want to experience God’s dynamic power at work in you? Then read and meditate on and recite and listen to and talk about God’s Word. And above all, believe it.