This is Part One of the three part series on the supernatural power of the believer’s words.
Many of us speak as if our words don’t matter…as if they go out like bubbles and then evaporate into the atmosphere. We write off hurtful words we have spoken with the rationalization that “we didn’t really mean what we said” or claim that we were “just kidding”. But scripture says our words are very significant…even having the power of life or death. To understand the importance of our words, we need to remember who we are. We are those who have been made in the image of God and those who have been made his children through Christ. We are those who have also been delegated the authority of Christ.
The idea of being made in the image of God is a bit mind-boggling. Theologians have debated exactly what that means for millennia. Whatever it means to be made in God’s image, it certainly means that we have enough characteristics in common with the Creator to communicate with him, to give and receive love from him, for his Spirit to take up residence within us, for deity to put on flesh and live among us as a man, to think as the Father thinks, and to be called his children and his friends …not his pets.
The Psalmist declared, “What is man that you are mindful of him…you made him just a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor” (Ps.8:4-5). Of all creation, including powerful and majestic angels, only man is said to be madein God’s image. Scripture implies that we have even greater standing in heaven than majestic and glorious angels. Although we were made a little lower than the heavenly beings, Paul reveals that those of us who are in Christ will actually sit in judgment over angels (I Cor. 6:3). The writer of Hebrews tells us that the angels were created to minister to those who will inherit salvation (Heb.1:14). In Luke’s genealogy, tracing the fleshly lineage of Christ back to Adam, Adam himself is described as “the son of God” (Lk.3:38). Luke is not saying that Adam was deity, in the sense that Jesus is God, but that the Father had given Adam the positional standing of a son just as we too have been made sons and daughters of God.
The implications of being made in God’s image are significant. He has made us to be eternal beings just as he is. God has no beginning and no end. We do have a beginning but no end. The question is not whether we will live forever, but only where we will live forever. God by nature has free will, therefore, we have free will. Since the spoken words of God have power and authority to create something out of nothing and since we are made in his image, we must consider the possibility that our spoken words also have power and authority to bring things into being…both good and bad.
God, by nature, reigns over all things. It is also man’s nature to reign since we are made in the image of the King and were made to reign at the outset. When we are willing to reign in submission to the Great King, our impulse to reign is blessed. When we want to reign without being submitted to the Great King, disaster is waiting in the wings. All men still carry the image of God to some degree, even though it has been twisted by sin and rebellion. The words of all men still carry some level of authority and creative power. The words of those who are in Christ, however, carry much more authority and creative power as we represent the King. Because of that, we have a great responsibility to govern our words.
If our words have power and authority, then shooting off our mouth may be the same as shooting a loaded gun into a crowd and then being surprised that someone got hurt. Jesus declared that on the day of judgment, we will have to give account for every careless word. Obviously. God takes our words seriously as if each one has a consequence. We live in a culture so saturated with words that we tend to discount them, but the spiritual realm appears to hang on every word we speak. Because we are sons and daughters of the King and are seated with him in heavenly realms, what if our words mobilize the spiritual realm to fulfill what we have spoken either as a blessing or a curse over others and ourselves? Think about the assignments you have been issuing with your words. Have your words been accomplishing the work of God or the work of the enemy? This is an uncomfortable question but an important one. Pray about it. Ask others if you tend to be a dispenser of blessing or negativity to those around you. Determine to make changes in your speech patterns if that is needed. As believers, we all need to heed our mothers admonition to watch our mouths.
Part 2 will be posted next Tuesday, July 17.
