The Divine and Human Dimensions of Preaching

The beauty of team sports is that each member of the team contributes a valuable and necessary element to accomplishing the task at hand. The same could be said of teamwork in business, ministry, or parenting. Preaching is yet another activity that brings different players and components together to achieve a common objective. Preaching is not a one dimensional practice. Rather, it is a multidimensional activity, as both divine and human elements come together. How is this possible? How can perfect divinity blend with broken humanity in a cooperative exercise? The notion seems unlikely at best and impossible at worst. However, this is not the first time divine and human elements have come together to accomplish the sovereign purposes of God. This divine and human paradox will be examined along with the individual dimensions of preaching.


The divine and human partnership is one that occurs on several occasions in the Scriptures. A primary example is the dual authorship of the Scriptures themselves. In a cornerstone passage for dual authorship, the apostle Peter notes: “no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation” (1 Peter 1:20, ESV). On the contrary, “men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit” (1 Peter 1:21, ESV). This is a beautiful illustration of the divine and human partnership. Like a ship that is carried along the sea by the wind, the human writers of Scripture (the Old Testament in this context) were carried along by God the Holy Spirit. In his commentary on 2 Peter from the Tyndale New Testament Commentaries, Michael Green affirms the divine and human partnership behind dual authorship:

The prophets raised their sails, so to speak (they were obedient and receptive), and the Holy Spirit filled them and carried their craft along in the direction he wished. Men spoke: God spoke. Any proper doctrine of Scripture will not neglect either part of this truth.

Another example of the divine and human partnership is the incarnation of Jesus Christ. John remarks in his gospel that “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1:14). As the eternally existent God, Jesus Christ added the human nature to his divine nature: one in person, two in nature. Jesus modeled the divine and human partnership by becoming the God-man. The apostle Paul affirms this union of natures, noting that Jesus took on “the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men” (Philippians 2:7, ESV). How is this possible? How could Jesus take on the nature of man and remain fully and perfectly God? The books of Hebrews asserts Jesus as “one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin” (Hebrews 4:15, ESV).


Having examined the validity of the divine and human partnership, how is it played out in the exercise of preaching? Beginning with the divine, it is essential to remember the paramount importance of God’s role in preaching. In his book Folly, Grace, and Power, John Koessler reminds preachers that the “most important aspects of the sermon are out of our hands.” The demonstration of power that comes through preaching, which leads to salvation, is a work of God the Holy Spirit.


Paul spoke of this exclusively divine power in his letter to the Corinthian church. Regarding his own preaching, he notes: “my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God” (1 Corinthians 2:4-5, ESV). The true power of preaching, both in Paul’s day and today, is a responsibility that is fulfilled by God the Holy Spirit.


Only one chapter later, Paul offers additional perspective on the divine dimension of preaching. By means of illustration, he reminds the Corinthians that he “planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth.” (1 Corinthians 3:6-7, ESV) This is a wonderful passage that points to both the divine and human dimensions of preaching. However, it is also a good dose of perspective and humility for preachers, as Paul features God as the ultimate agent of change and growth. As the word of God is preached, God himself is speaking and working in a way that is unique to his character.


The other critical dimension of preaching is the human dimension. Preaching requires a preacher. In a lecture delivered before the Divinity School of Yale College in 1877, Phillips Brooks defines preaching as “the communication of truth to man by man.” The element of truth in Brooks’ definition is certainly a divine truth. However, that truth is delivered by man. In Paul’s illustration of growth from his letter to the Corinthians, there was still someone that planted and someone that watered. These functions of preaching are fulfilled by man.


Paul speaks elsewhere about the human dimension of preaching. In a series of rhetorical questions to the Roman church, Paul writes:

How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” (Romans 10:14-15, ESV)

It is obvious that Paul valued preachers during his ministry. He understood the gospel as “the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes”; but he also understood that the gospel must be proclaimed by a preacher (Romans 1:16, ESV).


A final point regarding the human dimension of preaching touches on the present and retained frailty of the preacher. Although the word and work of God in preaching are infallible, the preacher is not. Koessler notes, “God speaks in preaching, but through fallible human instruments whose words retain their fallible character once they have been spoken.” The continuing frailty and weakness of man, while it may appear as a negative, is really a great blessing. Regarding the ministry of the gospel, Paul told the Corinthians: “we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us” (2 Corinthians 4:7, ESV). Human weakness is an opportunity to feature the power of God. Paul writes later in this letter that God’s power is “made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9, ESV). This is true in life and in preaching.


The exercise of preaching is an exercise in teamwork. It is a unique partnership that blends the divine and human dimensions. Like any good team, each member contributes a unique and necessary component to the process. Preaching is both a work of God and a work of man.