The Unsaid in God's Spoken Word.
Consider the universe "in the beginning." For it to have had immediate functionality, complete complex systems within other complete complex systems had to have been brought about. However, such systems, like photosynthesis and gravity aren’t even mentioned in the days of creation, so they must necessarily be somewhere under the surface of God's creative words.
Even the New Testament gives us brief glimpses of God’s word containing numerous elements that aren’t immediately apparent. When Jesus cried out with a loud voice, "Lazarus, come out," Lazarus came out of the grave with every one of his bodily processes fully functioning (cf. John 11:43-44). Jesus didn’t have to add "Lazarus, breathe. Blood, start flowing. Brain, function again." So, the words, “come out” contained a lot of meaning under the surface of what was actually said and heard.
The creation of wine in John 2:1-10 can help us investigate the underlying creative power of God’s word as well. Jesus not only created wine, but it was "the best wine," indicating it had a mature age (John 2:10). Jesus didn’t have to add additional words such as, “wine be of perfect color, aroma, and taste.” As matter a fact, he didn’t even mention the word “wine” at all! He merely said, “Fill the jars with water” (John 2:7) and then, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the feast” (John 2:8). Pretty amazing words!
God’s word contains a lot that is unsaid and not always immediately apparent to the reader and hearer. Clearly, for this reason, we need the Holy Spirit to aid us in interpretation (1 Cor. 2:1-16).
Dr. Joseph R. Nally, Jr., D.D., M.Div. is the Theological Editor at Third Millennium Ministries (Thirdmill).