Language Lessons with God

Softly falling water in a natural waterfall in southern Missouri

I have three sons and a daughter. My sons are teens now, but when they were small they loved to tell me about all the things young boys love to walk about. Tonka trucks, firefighters, dinosaurs, trains… My sons’ conversations were animated but brief. My sons’ conversations required very little of me . They mostly wanted me to listen animatedly, and I was happy to oblige them.

Bella is currently ten years old. None of my convseratiosn with my sons prepared me for having a daughter. Even before her second birthday, Bella’s conversation style presented itself. She used far more words than her brothers, and she expected more feedback from me. She kept up a running dialogue throughout the day. Starting when she was about two, Bella would introduce a topic and then the rest of us would have to list off what we thought of said topic. As her mom, a lot of this add libbing lists fell to me. Her topics varied , and sometimes I had difficulty coming up with things to say about ponies or “Sofia the First".” But hands down, Bella’s favorite topic was babies. So the pattern was she would start off saying “Let’s talk about babies. We love them. They’re cute.” and then I would chime in with my thoughts. Bella would provide feedback on whether or not I was performing adequately. On the days when I was tired, she would pat my shoulder and ask me to try again.

This is what it meant to be in relationship to Bella as a toddler. She invited me into conversation on her terms.

If you’ll allow me to extend the metaphor, God also invites us into His Great Conversation. He also invites us into relationship on His terms.

Jesus told us that true worshipers worship God in spirit and in truth. But we are human. The same root word as hummus. We are people of the earth. Dust and clay. How do we even begin to speak the language of an all knowing God ?

He is truth. We don’t speak truth as our native language. Lying tongues? That might just be out primary language . Self protection? That’s our dialect. Pride and Arrogance? As natural as our regional accent.

So then , to have true communion with God we have to learn the language . I submit that if the gospel of John is laying bare the Father’s heart for us, then the book of Romans might be our language lessons.

Romans 3:19-20

“ Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God.20 Therefore no one will be declared righteous in God’s sight by the works of the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of our sin.”

Romans 3 :23-25

“for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,24 and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. 25 God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement,[a] through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith. He did this to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished”—

Romans 5: 1-5, 8

“Therefore, since we have been justified through faith,we[a] have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,2 through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we[b] boast in the hopeof the glory of God. 3 Not only so, but we[c] also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.”

 8 “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

Romans 8 :1-5

8 “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, 2 because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you[a] free from the law of sin and death. 3 For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh,[b] God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering.[c] And so he condemned sin in the flesh, 4 in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.5 Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires.”

So, then, how do we communicate with God?

Romans 8 :7-9

7 “The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. 8 Those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God.9 You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ.”

We recognize our sin. We accept Jesus’ sacrifice. We begin walking with Him. We don’t push ourselves for past mistakes. We don’t live from our flesh but from our spirit.

The last step in our God Language 101 class is to recognize our belovedness. This provides the assurance of God’s love for us , and is the basis for the courage we lack, and the hope we need on our darkest days.

Romans 8: 14-17

14 “For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. 15 The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship.[a]And by him we cry, “Abba,[b] Father.” 16 The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. 17 Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.”

Finally, we remember that no matter how dark the days ahead look, ultimately we are safe.

Romans 8:37-39

37 “ No, in all these things we are more than conquerorsthrough him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,[a]neither the present nor the future, nor any powers,39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of Godthat is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”