Everyone came running, and they were bewildered to hear their own languages being spoken by the believers…They were completely amazed. “How can this be?” they exclaimed.  Acts 2:6b-7a

 

Do you enjoy sitting at airports, people watching?

Spend a few moments in an international terminal of an airport and you’ll be convinced of the diversity of humanity. Listen and you’ll hear a multitude of languages being spoken—some melodic, some guttural, others with lots of clicking consonants. There are over 7,000 living languages today and God speaks every one of them with enthusiasm and creativity!

When Jesus, the Son of God, was born, his birth had been foretold to the Jewish people by many prophets. But God also announced His Son’s birth to others in different languages. Distant people groups who read the night sky and studied the language of the stars, heard God speak clearly, telling them a great king had been born (Matthew 2:1-2).

Again, when God gave His people His Holy Spirit, He made known that the Good News about Jesus is for everyone. The Bible book of Acts tells the story: “And everyone present was filled with the Holy Spirit and began speaking in other languages, as the Holy Spirit gave them this ability. At that time there were devout Jews from every nation living in Jerusalem. When they heard the loud noise, everyone came running, and they were bewildered to hear their own languages being spoken by the believers…They stood there amazed and perplexed. ‘What can this mean?’ they asked each other” (Acts 2:4-5,12).

Here’s what it meant: God wants the invitation to know and worship Jesus to be given to all people, in every language! God, the Originator of language, wants every person to hear the message that He has come near to us to rescue and restore all of us.

Whatever your language, God wants to speak to you of His love.