The Logos of God

The Apostle John begins his eyewitness account of Jesus’ life with these words: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” (John 1:1)

What does it mean for Jesus to be the Logos – the Word – of God? In the Scriptures, the concept of logos denotes more of an expression of thought as opposed to the grammatical term lexis for ‘word.’ Logos is often times used in the Scriptures to describe the revealed will of God.

You and I often use phrases such as, “I give you my word,” or “you have my word on it.” We do this to express our sincerity and to give full assurance that what we said is true. Someone’s word can carry a lot of weight; it represents the character of the one giving it. For example, if a habitual liar were to tell you, “You have my word on it,” you would probably put very little, if any, faith in what he is promising. On the other hand, if someone who is a person of character, who has a history of being truthful and has proven himself time after time, says, “I give you my word,” then you know that what he says is true and can be trusted.

The author of Hebrews  writes,  “God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son.” (Hebrews 1:1-2) The author is causing us to recall the truthfulness spoken by God in times past through His spokespersons, the prophets. It is as if he is saying, “Don’t you remember God’s consistent faithfulness of standing by His word? Remember when He said, ‘My word…which goes forth from My mouth…will not return to Me empty, without accomplishing what I desire, and without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it.’ ? That God – the one whom you trust – has now spoken to us in His Son.” The God who has spoken truth relentlessly from generation to generation through the Law and the prophets, has now given us His ultimate Word, the Logos of God, who said, “I am the Truth,” the One who is the “radiance of [God’s] glory and the exact representation of His nature.” (Hebrews 1:3)

The Law said, “Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.” (Deuteronomy 8:3). And the Logos of God said, “I am the bread of life.” (John 6:48). The Law said, “The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God endures forever.” (Isaiah 40:8) And the Logos of God said, “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end,” the Living One; and I was dead, and behold I am alive forevermore.” (Revelation 22:13; 1:18)

The Law was a “mere shadow of what is to come, but the substance belongs to Christ.” (Colossians 2:17)  Or as John wrote, “The Law was given through Moses; grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ.” (John 1:17) What was just a shadow that represented God’s nature came to life in the form of a Man who became the exact representation of His nature.

We use words to communicate, but often our words fall short. God would not let our inadequate language limit Himself from communicating who He is to us. Instead of only using human words, God, who is invisible, sent Christ, His Logos, in flesh and blood, into this world to explain who the Father is (John 1:18). That is why John could rightly say that the “Word was with God, and the Word was God…And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1:1, 14), because Christ is the image of the invisible God, as Paul put it in Colossians 1:15. Jesus is God in the flesh.

What was God communicating to us in His Logos? This is where the rubber meets the road for us. The Apostle Paul wrote, “Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.” (2 Corinthians 5:18-20)

As we take communion together, let us trust in the Logos of God who suffered and died on our behalf so that we could be reconciled to God. And let us as His ambassadors, be committed to the word of reconciliation…“for from His fullness we have all received, grace upon grace.” (John 1:16)

After all, we have God’s Word on it.