GOD HATH SPOKEN

"God, having of old time spoken unto the fathers in the prophets by divers portions and in divers manners, hath at the end of these days spoken unto us in his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom also he made the worlds..." (Hebrews 1:1-2).

William Barclay says "This the most sonorous piece of Greek in the whole New Testament. It is a passage that any classical Greek orator would have been proud to write." Theses verses affirm that God, the Creator, has communicated with humanity.  Some scoff at the idea that the Bible is a message from God. They reason that such is incredible and unbelievable thing.

But if there is an intelligent, omnipotent God who created the world and mankind; if He made man in his image, endowed him with volition and expects him to obey Him, then:

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It is entirely reasonable to conclude that He would give man instructions setting forth His will in understandable terms.

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It is to be expected that such a document would be perfect in content, since it came from an all-knowing, power powerful, perfect Mind.

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He who designed the human mind would be thoroughly capable of designing a book simple enough to be understood by man; practical enough to be workable in every culture and generation.

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We would expect that He who gave his only Son to die a tortuous death to purchase the church would not leave her without adequate reliable, authoritative guidelines for her faith, worship and practice.

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It is entirely reasonable that He would be fully capable of giving humanity such a record and equally able to preserve it in tact for all generations to come.

Note the several lessons these short verses teach us:

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God Hath Spoken. This asserts the fact of a revelation from the Creator to his creation.  It is a divine message, unique from all others. In over 2300 cases Scripture writers said, "Thus saith the Lord."

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God Hath Spoken. These word in the present-perfect tense, tell us that God's revelation is an accomplished fact.  "The faith was once for all (times) delivered unto the saints" (Jude 3).  The apostles were guided "into all the truth" (John 16:13). Notice that the writer does not say that God continues to speak new information to man!  The final chapter of our Bible was completed by the close of the first Christian century. Not one word has since been added.  We are strictly warned to neither add to nor take from His Word (Revelation 22:18-19).

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God Hath Spoken.  He has communicated with us in language, with understandable words. Paul explained that he and other inspired writers had the Spirit which is from God, "that we might know the things that were freely given to us of God. Which things also we speak, not in words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Spirit teacheth..." (I Corinthians 2:12-13).  Peter said that "men spake from God, being moved by the Holy Spirit" (II Peter 1:21).  Paul wrote "in a few words, whereby, when ye read, ye can perceive my understanding in the mystery of Christ..."(Eph. 3:3). To Timothy, Paul wrote, "'All scripture is given by inspiration of God" (II Tim. 3:16). The word "inspiration" means "God-breathed," suggesting that Scripture first  came from God's mouth. God does not communicate with us with feelings and impulses, only through His Word.

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God Hath Spoken Unto Us. He hath spoken to humanity, not to angels or demons. He speaks to all mankind, not just to a few professional clerics.    The Bible belongs to every man.

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God hath Spoken Through His Son.  Jesus is the divine Word of God (John 1:1; 14).  He came to declare the Father (John 1:18).  The words Christ revealed were from the Father (John 12:49).  His words will judge us in the last day (John 12:48-49).  They are authoritative and must be obeyed if we wish to please Him (Matthew 28:18,20).  We must never presume to go beyond his words (II John 9).  All who be Christians are responsible to Christ alone, not to Moses or any of the Prophets (Matthew 17:1-5).

The responsibility of the church and every Christian is to hear and heed the blessed Word of God (Revelation 2:29).

 

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