The Word is God In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. (John 1:1-3 ESV) The Apostle John opens his gospel with a very bold statement about Jesus in today’s devotional Bible verse. John refers to Jesus as the word or the Greek word is logos. Logos was a common term in Greek philosophy: Heraclitus referred to the logos as the principle that controlled the universe. The Stoics said it was the soul of the world. Marcus Aurelius called it the generative principle in nature. To the Jewish readers the word or logos was the power and authority of God. The flow of these first few verses are pretty clear. The word or logos was with God and is God. He did not progressively achieve God status. He is, always was, and always will be God. He is creator, sustainer, and key to life. Everything John writes goes back to this central idea: Jesus is 100% God. The reason John nails this idea in these first few verses is because he knows that his readers are importing ideas about God that will skew what they read- whether they’ve been influenced by the Greek philosophy of their day or the teaching of the Jewish scribes. That is still true of us today whether we come from a church background or not. As we read the scriptures, as we try to figure out what it means to follow Jesus, as we become a part of this thing called church, we all bring with us preconceived notions of who God is and what He’s about. Maybe your view is based on what a pastor, Bible study teacher, or even parent told you about God. Maybe your view is rooted in some type of universalist spirituality. Maybe you interpret God through the experiences of the past both positive and negative- and it’s difficult for you not to view God through the emotional, mental, and spiritual baggage of your life journey. The scripture here is giving all of us who desire to follow Jesus a vital challenge: rather than allowing what we think we know about God to define how we view Jesus, let us allow what we learn about Jesus to define and redefine how we view God. If you want to know who God is and what He’s about… if you want to know what God’s purposes, His priorities, His desires, His heart, His mind, then look at Jesus. How does believing Jesus is God impact your view of Jesus and the significance of His birth? How does Jesus challenge some of your preconceived notions regarding God’s desires, purposes, and priorities?
Posted on: Fri, 09 May 2014 12:27:39 +0000
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