«　WEEK 5　DAY 2　»

　　Gen. 1:26 And God said, Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of heaven and over the cattle and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.

　　Acts 4:31 …They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak the word of God with boldness.

　　When the Word comes, it also brings power. The Word brings light, life, and power. When we preach the living Word, the power is there. This power is not the instant power; it is the constant power. It is not the mushrooming power; it is the growing power… What we are doing in our labor is like sowing a little carnation seed… Gradually a green sprout appears. Eventually, it blossoms, produces seed, and a second reproduction occurs. This is the power of life.

　　We like to see the Word being sown and grown in the church field. Year after year it will grow and reproduce… Nothing will last so prevailingly as what is in the churches. It will be prevailing, and it will endure forever because the power here is nothing other than life. This life comes from the Word. The Word brings in life, and life remains and reproduces… I… have the complete assurance that the Lord’s recovery in this country [will] still go on because it is not a movement of man’s doing. It is a move of the divine life growing. The seed has been sown here, the Word has come, and life is here… Where the Word is, there is power in life. (Life-study of Hebrews, pp. 25-26)

　　Since God is a speaking God, when He created man in His image, He created man with the ability to speak just like Himself. Not only do we have [God’s] image in love, light, holiness, and righteousness, but we also represent Him and have His image in our ability to speak. According to Genesis 1:26, God created us not only that we might have His image but even more that we might rule for Him.

　　He created us that we might represent Him. The most important requirement of a representative is that he must be able to speak. If today someone sends a representative to us, yet this representative, being dumb, is not able to talk, then in the end no agreement can be reached since there is no possibility of having any discussion… Today we can represent God because we can speak… We can speak because we are like God.

　　God created man with two outstanding features: one is that He created a spirit within man, and the other is that He created a speaking organ for man. We need to know what kinds of words God wanted man to speak when He created man with the ability to speak. Did He want man merely to speak the words of man? God created man to represent Him. A representative should speak the words of the one he represents. As God’s representatives, we represent God; therefore, we must speak God’s words. We have to speak for God and speak forth God; this God is the word.

　　After being regenerated in our spirit, we the saved ones are the children of God. As such, when we open our mouth, it ought to be God speaking; we speak whatever God speaks. Since we all have been begotten of God, within us we ought to have the “God” tone; whatever we speak, we speak about God. In America there are people of different colors… Among these races, the Asian people are difficult to distinguish outwardly… How then does one tell the difference? It is by listening to their speech. Once they begin to talk, we know then that this one is Chinese and that one is Korean… We speak the words of the one of whom we were born. Since we were born of God, naturally we speak God’s words. Since God’s word is God Himself, when we speak God’s word, we speak God. (CWWL, 1985, vol. 5, “Speaking for God,” pp. 203-207)

　　Further Reading: CWWL, 1985, vol. 5, “Speaking for God,” chs. 3-4