THE WORD SPOKE LOUD AND CLEAR

“The Word became a human being and lived here with us. We saw His true glory, the glory of the only Son of the Father. From Him the complete gifts of undeserved grace and truth have come down to us.”  (John 1:14 CEV)

"As nurses commonly do with infants, God is wont in a measure to 'lisp' when speaking to us," said John Calvin.  In the Old Testament especially, God "lisped."  Speaking in a language that could be understood, God gradually edged His people toward a different way.  He took the side of the oppressed and promised a Suffering Servant who would redeem not as the perpetrator but as the victim of violence.  For a time He allowed behavior that He disapproved of, "because your hearts were hard."  Meanwhile, albeit sometimes in zigzag fashion, the long vectors of history pointed steadily toward His Son, Jesus, the final revelation of God in human form.  In Jesus, God no longer lisped; the Word spoke loud and clear. 

-- Philip Yancey in “The Bible Jesus Read”

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