by Jennifer Maxey
Synopsis: Language is the principal method of human communication, consisting of words used in a structured and conventional way and conveyed by speech and/or writing. It is also the means by which God communicates with us, and we with Him.
Ten years ago, I began tutoring students in English grammar and composition. This intensive course lasts three years and involves a significant commitment of time and energy. After my second “Parent Orientation Meeting,” one mother passionately voiced a series of pointed questions: “Why should my children study all this information about language? How can this help them see God? When are they really going to use this? Or at least, why do they need this level of instruction at their ages?” “This just seems pointless to me. Do you think God really cares if my kids do grammar? It’s only words.” To be honest, I was taken aback with the tone and questions, and had no ready answer, so we simply moved forward with the rest of our meeting. However, over the next few days, I seriously considered whether the teaching and learning of language is, in fact, a valid use of my time, or anyone else’s. My conclusion, in brief, follows.
Language is an attribute of Deity. In Genesis 1, our Almighty God used language to create our world and all that is in it. He spoke and it was so. The phrases, “And God said. . . ,” “And God called. . . ,” “And God blessed. . . ,” are used fifteen times in the first chapter of the Bible.
Jesus Christ is the Word, which was with God in the beginning. John 1 tells us, “All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.” This Word that was Deity with God before the world, became flesh, and has become our Lord and Savior.
This attribute of Deity was passed on to mankind in the created world, and is a part of the fulfillment of the Godhead’s desire to “. . .make man in our own image, after our likeness” (Gen. 1:26). Through faith in the revealed Word, we know that this gift of language was from the beginning. God brought the animals before Adam, and “whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name” (Gen. 2:19). On the day the Lord breathed into Adam’s nostrils the breath of life, Adam communicated and conversed via the medium of language.
We are beings created by an Almighty God who Himself possesses the attribute of language. He did not create language for us. Language was already with God in eternity, and in His wisdom, He has bestowed it upon mankind. At a minimum, knowledge of this profound fact should turn our attention to the concept of language as an object of study. Yet, there is more to consider.
To the beautiful, bountiful created universe, God added the written word—language—as His chosen method of revealing Himself to humanity. Our timeless God, over a span of 1500 years, revealed Himself and His plan to patriarchs, kings, princes, sheep-herders, prophets, fishermen, and apostles through language. In His providentially preserved Word, God reveals to us His nature, His ways, His wonders, and His plans that He put into place before He created the earth (Eph. 1:4). For the rest of our physical lives, we will be studying the preserved language of God.
Not only do we need an understanding of language to comprehend the Bible, but we also have been given language as our primary tool to communicate with God Himself. Each time we concentrate our thoughts in prayer and praise to God—each time we utter a thanksgiving or ask a blessing—we use the medium of words to reveal our innermost thoughts and desires to the Creator.
“For faith comes through hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Rom. 10:17). God has set language as the primary tool of each believer, to be used to tell others the good news of salvation in Christ. In His wisdom, God chose the medium of words for the “. . . casting down of strongholds, casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God” (2 Cor. 10:5).
While an unbridled tongue is a tool of Satan, “set on fire by hell” (Jas. 3:6), one who guards his tongue and governs it by God’s will accomplishes much good. When properly used, language is not a weapon of warfare that is “of the flesh. . .” (2 Cor. 10:4), but we already knew that. Language is of Deity.
In the end, God will judge humanity with the same medium He used to create all things. God’s Son, the Incarnate Word (John 1:1), and the words spoken by Him, will judge. “The words that I have spoken will judge him on the last day” (John 12:48). To that standard of judgement, God adds one more dimension. He adds our own words as judgement: “For by your words, you will be justified; and by your words, you will be condemned” (Matt. 12:37). As each person gives an account of the words that he has spoken, God judges every individual’s stewardship of the gift of language.
Education toward mastery of language demands commitment of time, resources, and effort. Graduating to proficient use of language in both written and spoken form entails tedium and practice. Thus, wise stewards of time may question the necessity. What benefit can this study and dedication of time bestow? In what way can a knowledge of “direct objects” versus “indirect objects” enrich life? Is it necessary to know what an infinitive does? Why does it matter if the endings are for accusative or ablative case? So the questions go. Let us consider.
Because they did not believe in any resurrection of the dead, the Sadducees’ question centered on what might happen in an hypothetical afterlife. Jesus answered them, saying, “Have you never read?” Consider the following:
Have you not read that which was spoken unto you by God, saying, “I AM the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” Therefore, God is not the God of the dead, but of the living (Matt. 22:31-32).
Based on the tense of a verb (God said “I am,” not “I was”), Jesus showed the patriarchs enjoyed continued existence beyond the grave, thus proving that there is a resurrection and condemning the Sadducees for not recognizing this truth. On the tense of a verb, he held them responsible.
If something so sublime as the resurrection from the dead hangs on the tense of a verb, then the study of language is a worthwhile endeavor for every believer. If we hope that our children will one day attain spiritual maturity, having the Word of God written on their hearts and in their minds, then we should not shrink back from doing our part to ensure they are “handling aright the Word of God” (2 Tim. 2:15).
Now I commend you to God, and to the Word of His grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified (Acts 20:32).
