Grammar 101
“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth…. and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters, And God said…” (Gen.1.2)
“In the beginning was the Word…..” (John 1:1)
As an 8th Grade English teacher for 40 years, I have come to the conclusion that God was never meant to be a noun, only a verb. Since the “beginning” he has proclaimed so! In Genesis he is “hovering” and “says”, all action verbs. He “speaks” creation into existence, then “In the beginning was the Word.” We thinks of Acts as a noun, a name of a book in the Bible, but the book is named after what God “does” in birthing and forming his church. It is a book of “act”-ions! Sounds like God is a linking verb.
Moses discovers this truth when he asks God for His name, to which he answers, “I AM who I AM”, a linking verb; yes, still a verb. Linking verbs link, so you have to have something after the linking verb to name or discribe something before it!
We want a concrete God, a concrete Church, a tangible faith, something we can see and touch, but faith is the absence of physical sight and touch but still believing. The Church is a “living, vibrant” collections of “beings” (little I AM’s); and God is a Spirit, not tangible nor visual. God is a Verb, not a concrete Noun, so should be His Church.
A Linking Verb can have either a Predicate Adjective or a Predicate Nominative (Noun) after it. A Predicate Adjective “describes its subject”; a Predicate Nominative “renames its subject”. To find out who God is, the nature of God, look at what is after his name, after the "I AM"! He may use adjectives to describe Himself, like “I AM holy, righteous, merciful, grace, truth”, etc., or he may use a noun like, “I am the King of Kings, the Savior of the World, Eternal Light and Glory, the Alpha & Omego”, etc.
Jesus asked his disciples, “Who do you say that I AM?” They answered some say that you are a Prophet, John the Baptist, or Elijah, but Jesus throws the question back into our laps. Who do you, who are reading this, say that I AM? If you have trouble coming up with an answer, then research who God IS for he reveals Himself throughout the Bible. He reveals His nature, His names, and His actions. He reveals….. aka a verb!
So why do we want to make him a noun? So He’s tangible, something we can physically see or touch? He’s a verb, a God of “action”, a God that “links”. Only what he did on the Cross “linked” fallen man back with His God. If the Church is to be an extension, a reflection, or an ambassador of God, then it has to be like a verb, full of action, linking mankind with his creator. It needs to be living and active, not an object, a noun.
God is a Verb!