What You Say Can Change the World

And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being. (Genesis 2:7).

God created the world by words (Hebrews 11:3). Man was created in the image of God, to be like God on the earth (Genesis 1:26-28). When God formed man from the dust of the ground, the job was not yet complete until He puffed the breath of life into his nostrils. Then man became a “living being.” An ancient Jewish commentary says that man became a “speaking spirit.”

We were created with the ability to speak words. It is part of our likeness with God. Words are powerful and creative. They call things into being. The first assignment God gave Adam was to name the animals.

Out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the air, and brought them to Adam to see what he would call them. And whatever Adam called each living creature, that was its name. (Genesis 2:19)

This was not some little clerical job God gave Adam to keep him occupied. Adam was not assigning variables for the purpose of cataloging. By naming the animals, Adam was calling forth something in each of them. He was giving them destiny. Whatever Adam decided to call each one, that was its name, and destiny. By the use of words, Adam was giving shape to certain aspects of creation while God observed.

Our words have the capacity to create and shape things in the natural realm. In the book of Job, one of his friends says something very interesting. Though it was misapplied to Job's situation, it is nevertheless very true:

You will have your delight in the Almighty,
And lift up your face to God.
You will make your prayer to Him,
He will hear you,
And you will pay your vows.
You will also declare a thing,
And it will be established for you.

(Job 22:26-8)

“You will also declare a thing and it will be established for you.” Adam declared the names of the animals and established their destinies. Though that ability was marred and misdirected when Adam and Eve sinned against God, it still remained. And now, through faith in Jesus Christ, we are reconciled to our Almighty God and Father, and the capacity of our words can be restored to their proper function. Our words can bring the natural world back into divine order. Jesus showed His disciples how:

Have faith in God. For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, “Be removed and be cast into the sea,” and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says. (Mark 11:22-23)

When connected with faith, what we say becomes very powerful. They can move mountains and change the world.