I never ceased to be amazed by the wonders of modern technology, not least because of the various ways in which we can keep in touch with other. I was more than a little impressed way back in the mid-90s when I was able to use a mobile telephone and talk to my wife from a hotel in the newly liberated city of Vukovar, but that seems like the Dark Ages now. Things have continue to develop in the most amazing ways to the extent that just a couple of years ago, I was able to minister to a dying friend in Texas because of the wonders of Skype. And only this week, I was able to chat with my six-year-old grandson as he wallowed in a swimming pool close to his home in Kuala Lumpur.

But amazing as these technological advances are, they simply pale into insignificance when compared to the wonder of speech itself. I am grateful to Tom Wolfe for reminding me of this truth. Wolfe’s new book, The Kingdom of Speech was published by Jonathon Cape last week and his thesis is simple: speech is unique, and as such separates us from animals. We are still unable to explain its origin, he wrote in the Sunday Times and he argues: “Speech is not one of man’s several attributes speech it is the attribute of all attributes! Speech is 95 per cent plus of what lifts man above animal!”

I was intrigued by Wolf’s assertion because I believe human beings are unique because they are made in the image of the God we find described in the Bible. And if that picture of God is true, then we can definitely say that He is a communicating God, a God who speaks - so much so that Jesus can be described as the Word of God.

Anglican scholar Tom Wright summed it up neatly when he wrote: “The creator God, though utterly transcendent over and different from the world which he has made remains present and active within that world and one of the ways in which this is so is through his living and active word.”

Wright is absolutely correct. God is not part of this world. He did not have a beginning because He was there before the beginning of the universe. And yet, even though is utterly different to everything He has made, He is at work among us, and one of the key ways in which he is at work is through the things he says to us.

Christians then, believe the Bible is more than a record of what he has said to us. It is a key way through which He still wants to speak to us. And if you want a succinct summary of what He has said you might put it this way: God loves us passionately and He intends to set us free from everything that mars and warps His world. And He wants us to share in its future glory. And we will - if we do what He says.

Rob James is a Baptist Pastor broadcaster and writer who currently operates as a church and media consultant for the Evangelical Alliance Wales. He is available for preaching and teaching throughout Wales and can be contacted at [email protected]