The world of God is often believed to be the deliverance of the God’s Spirit. Hence, the word spoken by the God is essentially the power of the word that is spoken by the God. Thus, this word is impersonal. Hence, the discourse of the word falls evenly on all the people who hear them.
Scripture, on the other hand, discusses how it will determine the responses favorably as was argued by Paul in Roman 9:1-28 (Frame 2013, 529). Thus, to demonstrate the power of the word, scripture accompanies it all the time, rendering it powerless.
Does that mean that the power of God becomes negligible when there is no scripture to support it? Effectually, the above statement implies that the scripture always follows the power of the God. The intensity and the nature of the power depend on God’s intent.
The word of God is often compared to the omnipotence of the divine: as stated in Isaiah 55:11, “So shall my word be that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I purpose, and shall succeed in thing for which I sent it” (Frame 2013, 529).
The presence of power in the word of the God is essential as it is power that steers things in meaningful direction. The word of God towards Adam and Eve during the beginning of Genesis was more authoritative and imposed on the hearers to listen to the dictum attentively and respond appropriately.
The presence of the God is perpetuated through the word of God. In other words, the word of God implies his presence. This has been properly described by Paul in Romans 10:6-8:
But the righteousness based on faith says, “Do not say in your heart, “Who will ascend into heaven?” (that is, to bring Christ down) or “Who will descend into the abyss?” (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim). (Frame 2013, 531)
Thus, it can be stressed that the presence of Christ is through his words and the faith that we have on Him is actually the faith for His words. The Holy Spirit is also believed to be close to the word of the God. The presence of the spirit and the word is simultaneous, and one does not exist without the other.
God’s word is the essence of Christian belief. The idea of God is based on his words. The word of God is believed to be able to rule all aspects of human life. The word of God is not restricted only to evangelical activity, but rather to all aspects of the life.
Thus, our belief in God and our whole existence, our work, thought, what we eat or drink is dictated by the word of the God. Hence, the scholastic work that we do is dominated by Christian beliefs and in turn by the word of the God.
The Gospel is a tradition, but His word that is transferred through ancestors, the apostles, and churches, creates a criterion of discipleship dominated by a doctrine or behavior.
According to a prominent scholar of recent times, Karl Barth, the revelation of God cannot be preserved and exists only in a moment of crisis and leaves us with memories and expectations (Frame 2013, 565). The sovereignty of God is established through scriptures preserved in monasteries.
The scripture enunciates that God, in order to ensure the sovereignty of his revelation, established as a permanent part of the human life and not simply as a recollection. The book of the law was presented in the holiest part of the tabernacle.
The permanent law of God established the sovereignty of God over other people. It is man who tries to add word, ignore it, and/or misuse the permanence of the sign: “The grass withers, the flowers fades, but the word of our God will stand forever” (from Isa. 40:8, Frame 2013, 565).
Written prophecy by God after the time of Moses and Joshua shows that the word of God was present all throguh. The Isaiah 8:1-2 mentioend:
Then the Lord said to me, “Take a large tablet and write on ti in common characters ‘Belonging to Maher-shalal-has-baz.’ And I will get reliable witnesses, Uriah the priest and Zechairiah the son of Jeberechiah, to attest for me.” (Frame 2013, 569).
Thus, the ideas of a Christian would be different from that of people who are not Christians. Frame does not imply that Christians have to disagree with the non-Christian views (2013, 569). Thus, the knowledge of Christianity as discoursed through God is the word of human knowledge. The written word of God is related to divine revelation and not to divine experience.
The Genesis 8:20 points out that Noah built an alter on occasion of God delivering him from the flood (Frame 2013, 564). The revelation of Jesus is something that Paul had seen and then had spread the word. Thus Paul states, “So then, brothers, stand firm and hold to the traditions [paradosis] that you were taught by us, either by our spoken word or by our letter” (Frame 2013, 564).
In Christian faith, the sovereignty of God lies not only in the control of God, but also in his conventional presence. The involvement is with the presence of authority. Authority is thus described as scripting the reformed faith and gains an abstract idea of the divine control. The most important aspect is that of presence. God’s presence is confronted through every fact, through every affair and all people.
Thus, due to the presence of prevalence of the conventional lordship of God under the dominion nothing remains in neutrality or as it is. It is during this time that the comprehensiveness of God’s power is questioned and reformed by people.
The “word” is an attribute of the speech. This word when attributed to God results in his orally disseminating the message. Thus, God is a speaking person rather than an inanimate idol (Whelan 1990, 132). The word of God is not similar to God himself, but God’s word is substitutable – God accepts the word and speaks it as a dictum to all. The differences in scriptures establish little difference in the word spoken by God.
Further, there lies a difference between the unity and/or dissimilarity between God’s word and God himself. The mystery is related to that of the trinity and is reminiscent of the name or word given to the trinity i.e. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (McNeill 1959, 141).
Thus, it will not be right to equate the word with that of the second person. Thus, Jesus speaks the word but he is not the word itself. However, it must be noted that the underlying relationship that may exist between word and the holy trinity is probably beyond our understanding.
The word of God is similar to that of the divine presence. The essence of divinity is imbued in the word spoken by God. Thus, the word may be treated in second person and equate to others. The texts on theology demonstrate the relation between the attributes of divinity and the essence of God. It is believed that divine attributes are not parts of God, but rather inseparable aspects of the being.
These attributes are responsible for the holiness and the wisdom of the infinite people registered in the name of God and thus becomes an inseparable entity. The attributes represent a link to holiness and that of the infinite. The purpose, therefore, is to understand the essence of wisdom through the word of God. Thus, the word and God become inseparable.
The word of God and the essence of the God’s presence are not related to the creation of the Bible as the God’s mode of existence. Thus, it can be deduced that God will cease to retain his sovereign status without the presence of his words. The communication between the trinity and the ontological aspects of the life within the trinity assists in establishing the presence of God.
However, it must be noted that God’s words are not strewn with speeches about the God’s creatures. It is not because that would make God dependent on his subjects. Instead, God speaks of free speech, which is not necessary for the divine being.
Reference List
Frame, John M. 2013. Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Christian Belief. Pillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing.
McNeill, John T. 1959. “The Significance of the Word of God for Calvin.” Church History: Studies in Christianity and Culture 28, no. 02 (June): 131-146.
Whelan, Estelle. 1990. “Writing the Word of God: Some Early Qurān Manuscripts and Their Milieux, Part I.” Ars Orientalis 20: 113-147.