Deep down, we all long to be described with words that are good, and unique; words that are not use very frequently. And if the word is not applied directly to us, we would like it when it is used to described what we do, or what we have. James 1:16-18 is like that. It uses unique words, words that are not used in any other part of the New Testament… but they are not applied to us! James uses them to described God, how He is. James says God is
- Father
- Creator
- Unchangeable
And then, he switches his focus, and says things about us: by God’s will (the same God he just described), He has made us alive, and holy unto Him.
Isn’t that amazing?!
Alex, I am loving the Questions to Consider. It really changed my experience today in church and helped me to focus better. Thanks! I had a question about this blog. You mentioned in the sermon that the words used to describe God, in this chapter were unique. However, I know there are other places in the bible that describe God as being our Father, Creator and Unchangeable. Were you saying that the were uniqe words in the original language? If so, how is the words Jemes used different than other words that were used that translate the same into English/Spanish?
Thanks for the encouragement, Tammy. You are right, there other places where these titles / attributes have been used to describe our Lord. You are also right, pointing to the uniqueness of these words in the original language, and not in the translations we use. What James did was to use some prefixes to make a strong word, even stronger. For instance, there is a word that is correctly translated variation, and it is used in other places, besides this chapter. To this word, James adds the prefix ‘para’. This, together with the negative before the word, implies that James idea is that there in not even a *hint* of change in God. He wants us to know that even when God created the heavenly bodies, which go to certain seasons / changes, God is not like that.
The other unique word is the one translated change. For us, maybe variation and change are the same thing. But we need to ask, why to say it twice, then? It is because James, as a good Jew, knows that presenting the same idea more than once, using slightly different words is a way to make a strong point, a way to give it some emphasis.
I believe he is doing that because he is about to give us great, great news: Because He wanted it, God has given us life and He will never change His mind about it.
I hope this helps :{]
Blessings!
-AlexV