The Original Word (Part 2)

In the previous installment, we were introduced to God as the Word who communicates what we otherwise would never know. This segment invites you to consider how this Word made flesh can impact your life.

Making Sense of Our Story

As we saw previously, Logos is a loaded term. It was used in ancient Greek philosophy to refer to the mind or intelligence behind the order and structure of the universe. It resembles the Hebrew concept of wisdom, God’s companion and co-worker in the task of creation.

Sixteen centuries ago, the great theologian Athanasius stated: 

“The Logos is the logic of the universe.” 

He meant that in Christ we find the explanation, the reason, the rationale behind everything. 

History is not merely a confusing assortment of chaotic incidents or an unending cycle of pointless events. Rather, there is a Logos—a logic to it all. History is not meaningless. It has a beginning, a middle, and an end. It is going somewhere.

John is saying, 

“I have something important to say, so listen closely: The secret of the universe? This may sound audacious—but I know what it is. Or, more accurately, I know who it is.”

The apostle has inside information. If we are to make sense of our story, we must listen to what He says. The truth about our world is found in the Logos. Our unfolding drama originates in Him and will come to a glorious conclusion through Him. 

The key to reality, the secret to the universe, is not found in some abstract principle, but in the divine person made known to us through the incarnation of Jesus of Nazareth. 

Christ declared, 

“The reason I was born and came into the world is to testify to the truth” (John 18:37).       

Paul asserted, 

“For it is in him, and in him alone, that men will find all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (Colossians 2:3).

Scripture affirms that the Logos is:          

          •  The reality behind the cosmos,

          •  The explanation of the world,

          •  The logic of the universe,

          •  The secret to everything.          

Where Everything Begins

The Logos is the starting point of all things. If we are to understand God’s Story, it is here we must begin—with Jesus Christ. If you start in the wrong place, you end up in the wrong place. In the beginning was the Word. Not the Bible, not a doctrine, not a theological system—but the Word made flesh. 

If we start anywhere else, we will get things wrong. We must begin with Jesus. He precedes Genesis. He precedes everything. He is the Alpha and Omega. Christ needs to be our interpretive key.

The apostle Paul dares to say all things “hold together” in Christ (Colossians 1:17). Outside of Him, everything—even our best theories—falls apart.

Athanasius asserted, 

“The only system of thought into which Jesus Christ will fit is the one in which He is the starting point.” 

Failure to understand this is like inserting a button into the wrong buttonhole when putting on a shirt. When you begin in the wrong place, things simply don’t “fit” properly.

E. Stanley Jones writes: 

“The Gospel begins with Jesus, the Incarnate. If you don’t begin with Jesus, you don’t begin—you don’t begin with anything except roads with dead ends. We know little or nothing about God, and what we know is wrong, unless we begin with Jesus. If you do not see God in the face of Jesus, you see something other than God—and different.”                              

Theologian Michael Horton cautions, 

“Don’t start with the question of the existence of some vague deity, start with the particular God who showed up in our world, the one we have access to in history.”

We don’t simply believe in God. We believe in this God.

Our starting point is the Lord Jesus Christ—the Incarnate Word.

He is Not Silent

Many people visualize Almighty God reigning on a distant throne, inaccessible, aloof, and indifferent to the concerns of mere mortals. Therefore, we should not expect to hear from Him.

Such a view is false.

God is neither remote nor wordless.

“For God does speak—now one way, now another—though no one perceives it” (Job 33:14).

“In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways” (Hebrews 1:1).

He is never speechless, never at a loss for words. He takes the initiative to disclose Himself. His very name is “The Word.”

Words are wonderful things. They do much more than communicate—they create fellowship. Sharing intimate thoughts and feelings transports us beyond a mere exchange of information; it creates connection. It builds relationship. It takes us into the mystery of communion.

Logos involves communication that enables people to be in relationship with one another. It is wonderful that God would seek to inform or to enlighten us—but that’s just the beginning! 

The phrase “in the beginning was the Logos” implies that the Author of the universe chooses to relate to and be in conversation with human beings. He seeks to bring us into something that staggers the imagination—He desires fellowship.

This could turn into an exciting story!

God Speaks Again

When the Word spoke at the beginning of history, creation sprang into existence. Heaven and earth, oceans and rivers, trees and flowers, fowl and fish, animals and humans. Everything that was made came to be through God’s spoken Word.

But somewhere along the way, things went off the rails. Our world came to ruin, and stood in desperate need of repair. This “repairing” required God to speak once more—and no one but the Logos was up to the task.

So the Word speaks again. This time the Word becomes flesh and He “immigrates” into His creation in the person of Jesus. And when He speaks, redemptive things happen—healing and forgiveness, light and life, goodness and grace, hope and mercy. At His word, salvation comes.

The Creator becomes the Redeemer. At His life-giving word, what is crooked is made straight, what is fallen is raised up, what is damaged is made whole. His stated purpose in coming to a world under the reign of death was to bring life—life in abundance (Jn. 10:10).          

The Creator Who Looks Like A Carpenter          

Almost no one in Israel suspected that the God of glory and Jesus of Nazareth were the same person. The man from Galilee worked with wood, attended weddings, befriended outcasts, hugged children, told parables, and dined with sinners. He looked like a normal Galilean.   

But there is more than meets the eye.          

          • Eternity has intruded into time.

          • The Creator has entered His creation.

          • Infinity has been squeezed into humanity.

          • The Lord of heaven has come to earth.

          • The Light shines in the darkness.          

According to John’s record, the Script Writer of the cosmic drama came among us incognito. Nothing more staggering has ever happened. 

C. S. Lewis states: 

“If the thing happened, it was the central event in the history of the Earth—the very thing that the whole story has been about.”

He came to our planet to salvage the story, and when he finishes writing the last chapter, everything will be made new. The earth will be flooded with the glory of God as the waters cover the sea.

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FORWARD TO the next post by Jurgen Schulz

BACK TO The Original Word (Part 1)

Bio: Jurgen Schulz is a Canadian missionary from Victoria, B.C., who, along with his wife Wendy, has served in Bolivia for over forty years. He is currently an instructor at the Seminario Bíblico Evangélico in the Andean city of La Paz, Bolivia. 

You can read more about the ministries of Jurgen and Wendy at this link on the MSC website.

This excerpt is from Jurgen’s book, What Story Have We Fallen Into?, which you can purchase at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Indigo, and other stores.

Photo credit: Nolan Nasser, used by permission.