Jill Ball
- Jun 16, 2021

Words of Life

The words I have spoken to you—they are full of the Spirit and life.

Jesus' words are powerful and transformative. They can change us and the course of our lives. But is also true that all Christians can speak words of life, which are also powerful and transformative.

The Creative Word of God

The whole universe was created by the word of God.

He said and it was. His very word is creative.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning.

Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.

In him was life John 1 v 1- 4a

C S Lewis describes The Lion, Aslan, in the act of creation in the fantasy world of Narnia:

THE Lion was pacing to and fro about that empty land and singing his new song. It was softer and more lilting than the song by which he had called up the stars and the sun; a gentle, rippling music. And as he walked and sang the valley grew green with grass. It spread out from the Lion like a pool. It ran up the sides of the little hills like a wave. In a few minutes it was creeping up the lower slopes of the distant mountains, making that young world every moment softer. . C S Lewis

And explosion of light over water represents the moment God said 'Let there be Light.'

Stained Glass window design by Jill

Powerful Words

We understand that God's word is powerful,

but don't realise that our words have power in them too.

I was talking with my daughter over a year ago about how I would love to be able to write. She said that of course I could. That was the spark that started this blog. She is a professional writer for social media and is much more skilled than I am, so I especially valued her opinion.

I can still hear my own mother's words, which are not always so encouraging.

Can you?

Little children are like sponges before they learn the capacity to question what their parents tell them. One of my friends would tell her kids that the ice-cream van was just playing nice music for the children. I'm not sure what they said when they found out the truth. But some parents are much more careless with their words:

He's just like his father.

She'll never make anything of herself.

Why are you always breaking things?

Boys will be boys!

These are powerful words that are very destructive to the fragile psyche.

Sticks and stones will hurt my bones,

but words will never hurt me.

This old adage is a lie!

Hate mail, racist abuse, and online bullying are powerful, devilish weapons.

Equally our encouraging words can build up and be creative.

Words of Eternal Life

Imagine words of truth that reveal the hearts of men and the world as heaven sees it; words that encourage the oppressed but confront the oppressor and the hypocrite; words that heal our diseases and release us from demons; words of forgiveness that can set us free; words that show us a different way of living with eternity in mind.

We don't need to imagine this, just to read the gospels!

Jesus taught through his words and his actions. He lived out these words, showing us this different way of life. He, himself, was the Word of God. His whole life was God speaking to us. And His words have the power to transform our lives.

The words I have spoken to you—they are full of the Spirit and life.

John 6 v 63b

When the crowds deserted Jesus, Peter had already recognised this.

Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. John 6 v 68

To be fair to the people, Jesus' teaching was difficult to understand. He was saying that he was the Bread of Life and that people should eat his flesh and drink his blood.

I'm not a fan of vampires and horror movies. I might have been put off.

But Our Lord didn't explain himself. We are so used to explanations, preaching and teaching that the radical nature of many of the sayings of Jesus is lost on us. We have maybe become too familiar with it. We don't see how radical he was and still is. That is why I have written this new series.

Radical Christianity

Church is often seen as part of the establishment and that Christians like traditions and the status quo - conservative, with a small 'c'. Bishops and Archbishops are part of the government in Britain. For too long church leaders have upheld corrupt and corrupting leaders, but Christ Jesus was different.

Jesus was alternative, counter-cultural, radical.

He offended the religious leaders of the day by calling them a brood of vipers and whitewashed tombs, full of dead men's bones. He hated hypocrisy with a passion.

Yet Jesus always welcomed the outcast, the vulnerable, the widow, the children and the sinner who knew that they needed help. These he showed compassion and forgiveness.

His teaching is revolutionary and yet he didn't promote a violent or political revolution.

The Pharisees laid a trap for him, asking if they should pay taxes to Caesar:

But Jesus, knowing their evil intent, said, “You hypocrites, why are you trying to trap me? Show me the coin used for paying the tax.” They brought him a denarius, and he asked them, “Whose image is this? And whose inscription?” “Caesar’s,” they replied. Then he said to them,

“So give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.”

Matthew 22 v 18 - 21

His Kingdom was not of this world.

In the Kingdom of Heaven so many things that we see in our world are turned upside down. The people we think are important, significant and blessed probably aren't. Only the things that will last are truly significant. Popularity, fame, appearances and riches are all fleeting.