I.　The Bible first reveals God, and second it reveals God's word; thus, in the Bible we first have God, and then we have God's speaking, the word that proceeds out of His mouth—Gen. 1:3; Heb. 1:1-2a; Matt. 4:4:

A.　The center of reality in the universe is God, and the expression of God is the word; all the elements of God are in His word—Gen. 1:1, 3; John 1:1.

B.　If God had not spoken anything, it would have been impossible for the universe to come into existence; our existence depends on God's speaking—Heb. 11:3; 2 Pet. 3:5; Psa. 33:6, 9; Gen. 1:26.

C.　Our being saved and our receiving the eternal life are altogether dependent on God's speaking—1 Pet. 1:23, 25; John 5:24.

D.　God has revealed Himself in His speaking; God is the revealed God because He has revealed Himself by speaking—Heb. 1:1-2a.

E.　The Word of God is God Himself, for God and the Word are one; whenever we come to the Bible as the Word of God, we should come to God—John 1:1; 5:39-40; 2 Tim. 3:16.

II.　In the Godhead Christ is the Word—John 1:1:

A.　Christ as the Word defines, explains, and expresses God; hence, Christ, as the Word, is the definition, explanation, and expression of God—v. 18.

B.　This Word is actually God Himself, not God hidden, concealed, and mysterious but God defined, explained, and expressed—vv. 1, 14, 18.

C.　The fact that the Word is the entire God means that the Word is for the speaking of the Triune God; the Word became incarnate as a man, and that man, Jesus Christ, was God's Word, God's speaking—vv. 1, 14; 6:63.

D.　When Christ, the Word of God, was on earth speaking for God and teaching people, He did not speak from Himself; His teaching was not His own but was according to what the Father had taught Him—7:16; 8:28b; 12:49-50.

III.　In His New Testament economy, the speaking God speaks in the Son—Heb. 1:1-2a:

A.　Today God does not speak to us in many portions or in many ways—God speaks to us in one person, the Son; God is now speaking in the Son, who is the Word of God—v. 2a; John 1:1, 14, 18.

B.　The speaking Son, who is the Word of God and the speaking of God, is the Spirit— 6:63; 1 Cor. 15:45b; 2 Cor. 3:17a:

1.　Whenever the Son speaks, He is the speaking Spirit—Rev. 2:1, 7a.

2.　God speaks in the Son, the Son as the speaking Spirit speaks to the churches, and ultimately the Spirit speaks with the church—22:17.

C.　The Son upholds and bears all things by the word of His power; when He speaks, everything is in order—Heb. 1:3.

D.　Today the Son of God is no longer merely an individual; He is a corporate, universal man, the Body of Christ; for this reason, all the members of the Body can speak the word of God—1 Cor. 12:12; Eph. 5:30:

1.　God today continues to speak in His Son, who has been enlarged to become a corporate man, the Body of Christ—1 Cor. 12:12; Eph. 2:15; John 17:20.

2.　We are all members of the Body of Christ, God's Son; thus, when we speak, God is speaking in the Son—1 Cor. 12:12, 27; 2 Cor. 4:13; 5:20.

3.　As the firstborn Son of God being the Word of God is God's oracle for the speaking and dispensing of God to carry out His eternal economy, so the many sons of God being members of the Word of God are God's oracle speaking and dispensing God for the spreading of God and the increase of Christ—John 1:1; Rom. 8:29; Heb. 2:10:

a.　The firstborn Son is the oracle of God, and we are the many sons; this means that all the sons are God's oracle so that God may have a spread and that Christ may have an increase—Acts 8:4; John 3:30, 34.

b.　Our speaking for God is for the fruit-bearing of God's multiplication and spreading—15:5.

IV.　The speaking God desires that man speak for Him—Gen. 1:26:

A.　God created man in His image so that man would express Him by speaking for Him—v. 26; 2:19-20:

1.　When God created man, the first marvelous thing was that He created a spirit within man, and the second was that man was given the ability to speak— vv. 7, 19-20.

2.　God created man in His image, and the most important aspect of God's image is that God speaks—1:26-27:

a.　Since God is a speaking God, when He created man in His image, He created man with the ability to speak—1 Cor. 2:13; 1 Thes. 2:2, 4.

b.　God created us not only to be like Him in having love, light, holiness, and righteousness but also in being able to speak—Gen. 1:26-27.

c.　Man's ability to speak is a manifestation of his likeness to God—v. 26a.

3.　God wants man to speak His word for His expression; God desires that we express Him mainly through our speaking for Him—2 Pet. 2:5; 1 Cor. 12:3.

B.　God created man to represent Him by speaking for Him—Gen. 1:26, 28:

1.　The most important requirement of a representative is that he must be able to speak; we can represent God because we are able to speak as God speaks— 2 Cor. 5:19-20.

2.　A representative should speak the words of the one he represents; as God's representatives, we represent God by speaking His words—John 7:16-18; 12:49-50; Acts 4:29, 31; 13:44, 48-49; 1 Thes. 2:13.

C.　In order to speak for God, we need to have the full knowledge of the word of God, knowing the major items related to the word of God—1 Tim. 1:4; John 1:1; 6:63; Eph. 6:18; Psa. 119:105; Matt. 4:4; 13:3; 1 Pet. 1:23; Deut. 32:2; Heb. 4:12; Jer. 23:29.