Dearest cousin,

Words are the way we pass down history over generations. Words are the way we pass around His story to our contemporaries. Not all Words were created equal. Some words gain more meaning when they find themselves next to other specific words. All that said, any coherent, meaningful thought requires at the very least two types of words: a subject and a verb. Hence, one of God’s many endearing titles is “the Great I am“—that is, the oldest subject-verb in existence, the OG Grammar Goodness.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

John 1:1 ESV

Something that is never is without a beginning. Put a bit differently, something that is is never without a beginning. In the beginning of a story, subjects verb. In other words, nouns—persons, places, things, concepts, ideas, abstractions, these “things” can get weird, man—nouns take actions or “do things.” But they don’t really do things; they do acts—hence, the “Acts of the Apostles,” rather than the “Things the Apostles did.” All throughout history, then, subjects, in essence and in practice, verb.

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

Genesis 1:1 ESV

I am that I am always was. The Word was with Him. God then created. Because He is, we are. Because it all is, we do acts. Because we are not Him, we fell. When we fell, we fell hard. He forsook. He set apart a chosen people. He delivered them from bondage. They wandered. He dictated. They transcribed. They continued in rebellion, despite admonition from His prophets. We all waited. We all wondered. He then pierced the veil. He lived. He died. He was resurrected. He called. He redeemed. We now share this good news. One day, we can share in his glory.

When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished,” and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

John 19:30 ESV

The final three words spoken by Jesus (Yeshua) completed the circle of redemptive history. Supposing you can believe in the historical fact of His resurrection, your debts have been paid by the only one who could pay them. The seed of the woman, after all, crushed the head of the serpent. It is, indeed, finished. It’s not that subjects stop verbing, however. We now have a freshly prioritized verb: we share.

¹⁸ And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. ¹⁹ Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Matthew 28:18-20 ESV

Because man cannot live on bread alone, you can consider this the beginning of a ceaselessly echoing imperative from the mouth of a fellow humble servant of the living God: Keep Your Book Open!