Sam McVay teaches about the big picture. The Trinity is constantly communicating and we are invited into the conversation! The Son is the Word, and in these last days He has spoken to us through Him!
Word & words in the Triune God
"Commune-cation the root of reality"
I would like to begin with a THEOLOGY of hearing God.
Meaning, I believe that this issue of "hearing God" is rooted in WHO God is and WHAT God does.
Let's start by remembering that our God is community. He is 3 in 1.
And these 3, who are 1, are talking and listening to one another.
Another way to say this is:
We talk to God because God talks to God.
- Davidic insight into the Father-Son interaction: Psalm 2:8
- Trinitarian interaction at Baptism: Matthew 3
- Prayer before (John 12) and during (Matthew 27) crucifixion
-Son speaking intimately to Father: John 17
What was God doing from all eternity?
John 17:24 (ESV)
24 Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world.
We can accurately assume that this love exchange involved a communion filled with communication. What I like to call, "The eternal past Trinitarian I love you".
God has been lovingly talking to God for all eternity past.
In fact this is such an essential/core reality of Who God is that the second person in the Godhead is called: Word.
John 1:1 (ESV)
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
Some have said that John got this -Logos was Theos, from an existing Greek idea so as to relate God to the readers of the time. But actually this is a concept and reality rooted in the Old Testament.
The phrase "the word of the Lord came to me" or "the Word of the Lord appeared to him" is very common in the Old Testament. And it contained not only "information" from God to man but also the manifestation of Presence.
Genesis 15:1-6 (NIV)
1 After this, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward.”
2 But Abram said, “Sovereign Lord, what can you give me since I remain childless and the one who will inherit my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?”
3 And Abram said, “You have given me no children; so a servant in my household will be my heir.”
4 Then the word of the Lord came to him: “This man will not be your heir, but a son who is your own flesh and blood will be your heir.”
5 He took him outside and said, “Look up at the sky and count the stars—if indeed you can count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.”
6 Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness.
The Word of the Lord came as vision or seeable person.
And also as hearable information.
So God is both Word and speaks words.
And He is thus because that is who He is in Himself.
Hebrews 1:1-3 (ESV)
1 Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets,
2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world.
3 He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,
Hebrews 11:3 (ESV)
3 By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible.
So, in conclusion, the call for the covenant people to hear their Shepherd (John 10), or be a prophesying family (Joel 2 & Acts 2), or to be a House of Prayer (Matthew 21:13) is just a call to enter into the Trinitarian conversation and divine design.