The Word of His Power (Part 1 of 3)

What if everything you said came to pass? Is it possible that what you say has an effect on your life? If everything you said came to pass, would you be more careful about what you say? Would you choose your words more carefully? Are you constricted, limited and defined by the words you speak? Are you "hung by the tongue"?
What are "words"? Are they "things"? Do they have power or are they just warm air blown through vocal chords and released into the wind never to be heard again? In this 3 part series, we will examine what the bible says about the "words" we speak. In Part 1, we will take a look at where words originated and what effect they have when spoken by God. Part 2 will examine how Jesus, who as God in the flesh, used words to affect people and His surroundings when He walked the earth. Finally, in Part 3, we will see what importance words have for the disciples and other humans and what the bible tells us regarding the words we speak.


As we see from John 1:1, words, or more specifically, "the Word" existed before man did.
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John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
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Not only did it pre-exist man but it appears it was very close to, and important to God. Let's examine the original Greek and see what the word, "Word", really means.

In Strong's Lexicon -
Strongs G3056 – logos “Word” or “logos” pronounced - log'-os

Stems from G3004; something said (including the thought); by implication a topic (subject of discourse), also reasoning (the mental faculty) or motive; by extension a computation

Strongs G3004 lego pronounced - leg'-o

A primary verb; properly to “lay” forth, that is, (figuratively) relate in words [usually of systematic or set discourse]

Let's also entreat Barnes Commentary – the phrase “Was the Word” - Greek, “was the λόγος Logos.” This name is given to him who afterward became “flesh,” or was incarnate (John 1:14) - that is, to the Messiah.
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John 1:14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
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Whatever is meant by, "was the Word", therefore, is applicable to the Lord Jesus Christ. There have been many opinions about the reason why this name was given to the Son of God. The opinion which seems most plausible may be expressed as follows:

1. A “word” is that by which we communicate our will; by which we convey our thoughts; or by which we issue commands; the medium of communication with others.
2. The Son of God may be called “the Word,” because he is the medium by which God promulgates His will and issues His commandments. See Heb 1:1-3.
3. This term was in use before the time of John.
(a) It was used in the Aramaic translation of the Old Testament, as, “e. g.,” Isa 45:12; “I have made the earth, and created man upon it.” In the Aramaic it is, “I, ‘by my word,’ have made,” etc. Isa 48:13; “mine hand also hath laid the foundation of the earth.” In the Aramaic, “‘By my word’ I have founded the earth.” And so in many other places.
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Isa 45:12 I have made the earth, and created man upon it: I, even my hands, have stretched out the heavens, and all their host have I commanded.Isa 48:13 Mine hand also hath laid the foundation of the earth, and my right hand hath spanned the heavens: when I call unto them, they stand up together.
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So we see that God laid forth or set a discourse through the logos, His Son, Jesus Christ by whom all things were made. Jesus was the Word, and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. It is the Word that makes things happen, sets things in motion or sets a discourse.
When the world was created, (or re-created as we all know) how did God do it?

God spoke it into existence -
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Gen 1:3 And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.Gen 1:6 And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.Gen 1:9 And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so.Gen 1:24-25 And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so. And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good.Gen 1:26-28 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. (27) So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. (28) And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.
Psa 33:6 By the word of the LORD were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth.
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When God wanted to do something, He said it first. He said it, then He did it. The power to do was in the Word. God speaks of non-existent things as if they already existed, the end from the beginning.
Isa 48:3 I have declared the former things from the beginning; and they went forth out of my mouth, and I shewed them; I did them suddenly, and they came to pass.

God knows the future because He has spoken the future.

In Part 2 of, The Word of His Power, we'll examine how Jesus did things when he was in the flesh and walked this earth.
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The Word of His Power - Part 1
The Word of His Power - Part 2
The Word of His Power - Part 3
The Word of His Power - Proverbs & Psalms supplement