The Power of Personal Pronouns

“I will walk among you and will be your God, and you shall be my people. I am the Lord your God…” ~Leviticus 26:12-13

There’s a lot of talk today about pronouns. Are they fluid? Are there more pronouns than traditionally understood? Can you choose your pronouns? These important questions require firm answers, but that is a conversation for another time. What we are concerned about is how God uses pronouns. As the Author of language and the self-revealing God who speaks, we ought to be aware of the pronouns He uses, especially as they relate to our fellowship with Him.

The Bible is bookended with two dramatic statements regarding God’s dealings with His people, and the pronouns He uses are incredibly important to our understanding of the relationship we have with Him. In Genesis 17:7, God says to Abraham, “I will establish my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you.” In this statement the Lord makes clear that His relationship to us is personal. He doesn’t simply say, “I am God.” Rather, He transforms what could be a mere indicative into a deeply personal reality through the pronouns He uses. He refers to personal parties in fellowship with one another (the covenant is “between me and you”), and He includes the possessive adjective “your” in His reference to offspring. God is God to us, personally, and He is God to our children. Far from being impersonal (e.g., “I am God”), He relates to us personally, and He calls us by name (John 10:3).

At the other end of the Bible, we read about the last thing that will happen before the end of history as we know it: “And behold, I am coming soon” (Revelation 22:7). Jesus does not say, “The end is coming soon,” or “The end will come,” but “I am coming soon.” How personal! How comforting! Christ Himself is coming soon, and not without purpose. In John 14:3 Jesus says, “If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.” The personal pronouns in these passages are tremendously helpful. We have a personal Savior who is coming personally (Acts 1:11) to take us personally to be with Him forever!

I wonder if you think of your relationship with God in terms of personal pronouns. It’s easy to think of God as wholly transcendent (totally separate from all creation), forgetting that He is a personal God who relates to us personally and makes promises to us and to our children. Perhaps it would be good to close with a sentence that makes use of the many personal pronouns found in Scripture. Meditate today on the reality of your relationship with God in these terms: Because you are Mine and I am yours, I will always be God to you and to your children, and one day I will come to take you to be with Me forever.

Rev. Kyle Lockhart, Associate Pastor