In this episode, Sharon Otts unpacks the intricate complexity of creation, challenging the notion of randomness and emphasizing the precise order of the universe as a product of God’s deliberate spoken command. Through insightful examinations of scripture and scientific revelation, Sharon guides listeners to a deeper understanding of faith as a supernatural language imparted through God’s Word, equipping believers to speak life into existence.
Greetings, friends and new listeners, and welcome to The Sound of Faith. I’m Sharon Otts. Thank you for joining us today because we know faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. Today’s message, The Language of God, is a captivating recital of the creative power of God’s spoken Word. We are told in Hebrews 11.3 that the worlds were framed by the Word of God… And in Hebrews 1, 3, we’re told they are upheld by the word of God. In both verses, word in Greek is rhema, which is the spoken word of God. This opens up a vista of revelation from creation to the spirit of faith that believers speak in the language of God. Let’s begin this morning in the book of Hebrews, Hebrews chapter 11, and looking at verse 3. Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear. The worlds were framed by the word of God. When we were here last week, we ministered on the whole armor of God. And we got to the last part of the armor and I said to you, this is my favorite part. which is the sword of the spirit. And Ephesians 6, 17 says the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God. And then we married that with Hebrews 4, 12, that says the word of God is alive and active. And we taught extensively about how the sword of the spirit is not just the word of God, but it is what? The spoken word of God, because the Greek word there is rhema. And we learned that rhema in Greek means a spoken thing. Anything that is verbally uttered is rhema. And so that is different from logos, which is the written word of God. But we learned that when we want to get that sword out, and we learned it’s a two-edged sword, by the way, we do so by speaking the Word of God. Now, I said that in order to tell you that here in Hebrews 11, 3, where it says the worlds were framed by the Word of God, The Greek word there for word is rhema. So that tells us that God created this entire universe by the spoken word, by speaking his word. But it also tells us something interesting about God. It said it was done through faith. Isn’t that what it says? We know, we understand through faith, we understand that the worlds were framed, were created by God speaking his word. So that tells me that God has faith in his own word. God had so much faith in his own word so that he spoke the things in existence. Because what we see that God has brought into existence was not made by things that we see. Isn’t that what it said? Amen. This church was built by wood and bricks. Amen. But they already existed. Trees already existed. Clay in the ground and dirt in the ground already existed to make those bricks. Everything in this church that we see was made by something that already existed. But when God created the universe, there was nothing that existed. He did so by his spoken word. And God had so much faith in his word that he knew when he spoke it, it would appear. Amen. So he literally spoke and his words framed, framed the entire universe. You know, every day we frame our world by our words. Amen? So the word framed in Greek is kartizo, and it means to put something in its appropriate position and its precise order. The universe of which the earth is only a small part. Amen? One of the smaller planets and the universe takes in the galaxies of everything and the stars and the planets and all of this that we find hard to even comprehend. At least I do. But this universe of which earth is only a small part, it was not created by happenstance. It was not created by, you know, accident. Any more than this wristwatch that I’m wearing here was not created by happenstance. You know, I can’t take a paper bag and drop in it some springs and some metal pieces and little wheels and some hands and some a doll and put all of these pieces all take it all apart and put them in a bag and shake them up and voila. Out comes a wristwatch. Would you believe me if I told you that’s where I got this watch? Would anyone believe that? Then why in the world would we believe that the world, that the universe, with all of its precision and all of its complexity and all of its variation, that it would just, voila, accidentally or randomly came together? We would not believe this universe that’s exquisitely designed and fine-tuned for life. Fine-tuned for life on Earth. Those other planets that are up there, they’re not just up there for decoration. Their orbit and the way that they are placed in their positions has to do with how we are able to have life on Earth. Now that was so oversimplified, I realize it’s a very poor description, but you understand what I’m saying. And as we’ve said before, if the sun was moved a half a degree one way or the other, we would either be an ice ball or a fireball. And earth would not be habitable. Amen? And so this earth is complexly designed down to even one cell. No, there was a time, there was a time when scientists thought that the single cell was irreducibly simple. But now with powerful microscopes, they have seen that a cell, one cell has within it like a factory. It’s like a factory with all kinds of functions and one function depends on the other and the other on the other. So one cell is so complex with all of these functions performing their particular function without which the whole would not be able to exist. And when you consider that the human body has approximately 60 trillion cells… And think within every one of those 60 trillion cells, there’s a factory going on. And we are going to believe that that just randomly happened. No, there had to be a designer. And scientists that are, especially if they’re in microbiology and can see down on the micro level, they will act. Admit there has to be a designer. They may not be ready to go to the altar and get saved, but they have to admit there is a designer. And some have actually come out of atheism to believe in God because the science demands that there has to be a designer. Amen. Just like this watch demands someone had to design it. So God created all of these things with his rhema, with his spoken word. And the word rhema in the New Testament setting, it denotes the operative, all-powerful word of God in a command. Now, what God speaks becomes a command to create something. He created the worlds. He opened his mouth. He spoke. He commanded, and the things appeared. We know that in Genesis 1, 3, we all know this. In the beginning, God made the heavens and the earth. And we know that he said, and he said, let there be light. And there was light. But the Hebrew… does not have the word let. It doesn’t exist in Hebrew, which you, by the way, you know Genesis was written in. It simply says, God said, light be. Light be, and light was. Why do we care to make that differentiation? Because the word let implies that you need assistance. Let someone help me. Go turn on the light switch. Amen? Let means that you’re looking for assistance of some kind. But God simply opened his mouth because he had faith in his own word and said, Light be. That’s what he said. Yahi or. Light be. Va and yahi or. Light was. The creative power of God brought it into existence. It was dark and then it was light. His word flipped the light switch. Amen. Now his word, spoken word, not only framed, created the worlds, but it continues to uphold all the things that God has created by the power of his word. Go to Hebrews 1.3. We were just in 11.3. Let’s go to Hebrews 1.3. Reading. You know, to get the flow, we better start at verse 1. God, who at sundry times and in diverse manners spoke in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, speaking of the Old Testament, but in these last days, speaking of the New Testament, spoken unto us by his Son, whom he has appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds. Now, why does this make sense? Because Jesus, we’re told in John, the gospel of John, the first chapter was the word of God made flesh and dwelt amongst us. Now, we want you to pay attention to verse three, who being the brightness of his glory. Jesus being the brightness of God’s glory. And the express image of his person made exactly like him. Just like when you take an engraved thing and you engrave it. It’s exactly like that metal die cut when you engrave it. It’s exact. That’s what the word means in Greek. So he was the exact image of God. Now here’s where I want you to go. being the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power. So now we’re learning that not only did God create everything by the spoken word, but now he continues to uphold them by his spoken word. Now you got to get a supernatural thinking cap on here. Amen. The word uphold Pharaoh in Greek means to sustain, to bear up and to hold up. Here’s what I want you to understand. The sound of God’s voice, the sound of his command from when he said, let there be light. Let there be dry ground. Let there be, et cetera. The sound of his voice created that. And those things, those planets and all of the things that are in the universe are still hearing that command. It’s like that command is still going forth. They are still hearing it. So the very sound of God’s voice, that command, because of that, they continue to be where he put them. They’re not falling out of the sky wreaking havoc on the earth. Amen. The seas, if we would read a lot of Old Testament scriptures, tell us that God told the sea, you can go no further. You can go here and no further. And he shut up the door of the sea. So when the sea got that command, it obeys his voice. And it goes on and on, many other things. So it’s a supernatural thing. So it tells me that if God said it, it will come to pass if it only requires his faith in his own word. How many got that? If God said it, it’s going to come to pass if it only requires him to have faith in his own word. Now, when it comes to promises in his word to us, it also requires that we have faith. Amen. When God says something unilaterally, in other words, he says, this is what’s going to happen. Doesn’t matter what anybody else says or does. This will happen. It’s going to happen. He spoke unilaterally to Abraham and said, I have made thee a father of many nations. He told him that when he didn’t even have one kid. I have made thee. He said, it’s going to happen. You’re going to have a son. And you know what? In spite of all this other junk that you all have gotten into because you don’t believe, Sarah is going to be the mama. Amen? It’s going to happen. It was going to happen. Even though he struggled for 25 years, it was going to happen because it was a unilateral promise that God made, and he said it will happen. Amen? Amen. But we will find that almost all the promises that are given to us requires our faith. How many got that so far? Amen. And you know, don’t feel upset about that. And don’t let that put pressure on you. Because we’re told in Romans 12, 3 that God has given to every man faith. The measure of faith. So you’ve got the faith that God requires you to have. It would be very unfair for God to say, you’ve got to have faith. But I’m not going to tell you how to get faith. I’m not going to give it to you. You’re going to have to figure it out on your own. But that’s not what he said. He said that he gives to everyone the measure of faith. You could not even be saved if God didn’t give you the measure of faith. Amen. For by grace are you saved through faith and that not of yourselves. It is the gift of God. God gives you the gift of faith and he does it because he’s going to turn around and require you to exhibit it. And that’s why God can require us to exhibit it and demand that we have faith because he gave it to us. Amen. Exactly. Exactly. So we know that it says in Hebrews 11 verse six, but without faith, it is impossible to please God for he that comes to God must believe, must believe. And he’s got to believe two things that he is God. Well, you know, I could spend a couple hours telling you about my God and who he is. We could be here all day long talking about who God is. But we will just allow that you have a pretty good idea. Because he told us a lot about himself in his word. So we must believe that God is. That means he is God. He is able. And that’s good if you know that he’s able. A lot of people believe that God is able to do something. But you’ve got to have the second part as well. And he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. So you’ve not only got to believe that God is able to do it, but that he will do it for you. Oh, I saw him do it for so-and-so, but will he do it for me? I’ve read in the Bible all the things that God has done, but will he do that for you and me? So we have to believe, and that means we’ve got to be fully persuaded. And here’s what I want you to understand. When you are fully persuaded, you’re going to start acting like God. Now, please don’t think I’m telling you you are a God. Because if you’re a God and I’m a God, we are in big trouble. But you will start acting like God in this regard. You will start speaking what he said. You will have faith in God’s word. God had faith in his own word. And we’ll start having faith in God’s word. And when you have faith, you speak it. Now let’s turn to 2 Corinthians 4.13. This is one of your most important verses in the Bible regarding faith. We having the same spirit of faith, according as it is written, I believed and therefore have I spoken. We also believe and therefore speak. This gets me excited. So first of all, before I get ahead of myself, we having the same spirit of faith. The same spirit of faith as whom? Who are you talking about, Paul, we got the same spirit of faith as? Well, we’d have to see who he’s quoting. And to see that, we got to go to Psalm 116. It’s a direct quote out of the book of Psalms. Psalm 116. We’ll read from verse 1 and we’ll slide into it. I love the Lord because he has heard my voice and my supplications because he has inclined his ear unto me and therefore will I call upon him as long as I live. Somebody wrote that as a song and I love to sing that to the Lord. The sorrows of death come past me and the pains of hell got hold upon me. I found trouble and sorrow. So what’s he talking about? The sorrows of death surrounded me and the pains of hell. I want you to understand very quickly that the word hell there is Sheol in Hebrew. And it does not always mean hellfire, the place of the damned. Many times it simply means the grave. So I want you to understand that the condition that David was in at this time is he felt like death was all around him. Everywhere he looked, he saw death and he felt like the grave was trying to pull him down into the grave. That’s what I want you to see. I was full of trouble and sorrow. Verse 4. Then called I upon the name of the Lord. Oh, Lord, I beseech you, deliver my soul. Gracious is the Lord and righteous. Yea, our God is merciful. The Lord preserves the simple. I was brought low and he helped me. Amen. Return unto your rest, O my soul, for the Lord has dealt bountifully with you. I love verse 8. For you have delivered my soul from death, my eyes from tears, and my feet from falling. I will walk before the Lord in the land of the living. Verse 10. I believed. I believed. Therefore have I spoken. So we see now what he was talking about. Paul was referring back to this verse. where David had written about how he was in these severe circumstances, but he called on the Lord. How the Lord delivered him, brought his soul from death and his eyes from tears, his feet from falling. He said, I’m going to walk before the Lord in the land of the living. David said, I am not going to die. Death is all around me, but I’m not going to die. I’m going to walk in the land of the living. Amen? And David said, I believe this, therefore I speak it. In the midst of my trouble, my sorrow, my anguish, I called on God and I believed. Amen? In the midst of my tears and my fears, I believed God. And because I believed God, I spoke with my mouth. I opened up my mouth. I said, God, you’re good. God, you’re gracious. God, you’re merciful. And you will deliver me. You will help me so that I’m not going to die. But I’m going to walk in the land of the living. And by Paul quoting this psalm. Paul was saying essentially. David I have the same spirit of faith you have. And actually Paul’s faith we can expect was greater. Because he had the new birth. He had the baptism of the Holy Spirit. He had the anointing. Of God upon him and in him, Christ in me, he had the four gospels that record the life and ministry, the miracles, the death and the resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ, the son of God. So if David could believe and speak faith without all of these, then Paul said, huh? I can believe I can believe and speak. Amen? And let me tell you this. You can believe and speak. I can believe and speak because we have the same spirit of faith. Did Paul say, what did he say? And we having the same spirit? He didn’t just say, I, Paul, having the same spirit. He said, and we having the same spirit of faith. And in addition to that, we have the living word of God. We have Jesus Christ, the word of God made manifest. We have the anointing of the Holy spirit. We have the doctrine of the apostles and the miracles and the acts of the apostles. We have all of that in addition to the same spirit of faith. So we can believe and speak. Now I want you to hear the next thing I’m going to say. It is possible to speak the word of God and not believe. But it is impossible to believe and not speak. Let me say that again. It’s possible to speak the word of God, to quote scriptures and not believe. But it is impossible when you believe not to speak. Amen? I mean, they go together. If God believes and speaks, and David believed and spoke, and Paul believed and spoke, it shows us that when you believe, you’re going to speak. When you have the word of God in you, in your spirit, faith will rise up and you will speak. Amen. Amen. What an engaging word of the Lord, the language of God. God had so much faith in his own word that he literally spoke the worlds into creation, according to Hebrews 11, 3. And all these millennia later, every one of them remain exactly where he put them by that same spoken word. Hebrews 1, 3 says they are upheld by his spoken word. The Greek word rhema has had much attention in Christian teaching, but some have been disappointed. They spoke what they thought was faith, but did not see the desired results. Everyone who has received the spirit of faith will believe and will speak. Paul said in 2 Corinthians 4.13, I believe and therefore I have spoken. It is possible to speak the word of God and not believe, but it is impossible to believe and not speak. This is the law of faith. When it believes God’s word, it speaks. And God’s word is alive and active, creative and powerful. When God says something, it will come to pass if it only requires his faith in his own word. But when it comes to his promises in his word to us, it requires that we also have faith in his word. God requires that we also believe faith is the supernatural language of God that he imparts to us through his word. Within the seed of his word is his faith, and his faith speaks. When we have it, we also speak. And we profess, Paul said in Hebrews, we say the same thing that God said in his word. The Language of God can be ordered on CD for a love gift of $10 or more for the radio ministry. Request SK214. Mail to Sound of Faith, P.O. Box 1744, Baltimore, Maryland, 21203. Or go online to soundoffaith.org to order on CD or MP3s. But to order by mail, send your minimum love gift of $10 to P.O. Box 1744, Baltimore, Maryland, 21203. Request SK214. If you’re able to, please tuck in an extra love gift to help us to continue Sound of Faith Ministries during these unprecedented difficult times of COVID-19 and the unrest in our nation. We would really appreciate your support. We are now live streaming Sunday mornings at 11 o’clock on YouTube. Go to Sound of Faith Ministries. Till next time, this is Sharon Knott saying, Maranatha.
