In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God (John 1:1).
The Word.
In the Greek language, Logos.
Greek philosophy believed in the order of the universe. Everything was in its proper place. Everything moved in precision and purpose.
The universe in its entirety is “well-made”: from the regular movement of the planets down to the tiniest organisms. We can therefore say that the structure of the universe is not merely “divine” and perfect of itself, but also “rational,” consonant with what the Greeks termed the Logos, which exactly describes this admirable order of things. (Philosopher Luc Ferry, A Brief History of Thought)
The Logos was the “soul of the universe,” the “all-pervasive mind” that controlled and guided all things.
Almost like “The Force” in Star Wars.
Powerful. Rational. Universal.
But not personal.
The Greeks could look up into the skies or down at the earth and see the incredible order of the universe.
Everything operates like clockwork.
Right now, as I type, we are standing on the side of a sphere rotating at ~1000 miles per hour, orbiting around the sun at ~67,000 miles per hour, hurtling through space at ~500,000 miles per hour.
Can you really fathom that?
Are you in control of that?
Looking deeper into the atomic level of our universe, we find that the vast majority of our world is empty space.
Solid matter, the floor upon which we stand and the foundation that bears the weight of a skyscraper, is actually empty space. If we could scale the center of an atom, the nucleus, up to four inches, the surrounding electron cloud would extend to four miles away and essentially all the breach between would be marvelously empty. The solidity of iron is actually 99.9999999999999 percent startingly vacuous space made to feel solid by ethereal fields of force having no material reality at all. Hollywood would have rejected such a script out of hand and yet it is the proven reality. But don’t knock your head against that space. Force fields can feel very solid. (Physicist Gerald Schroeder, The Hidden Face of God)
Stop and think about it.
The chair you are sitting on, the floor you are supported by, the body you are residing in are mostly empty space held together by a powerful, ethereal energy that physicists cannot fully explain or understand.
There is a Universal Power and Mind holding everything together, including you, right now.
The Greeks called this incredible, all-controlling force “the Logos.”
Now re-read John 1.
In the beginning was the Logos, and the Logos was with God, and the Logos was God.
Okay, the Greeks could mesh with that. In their minds, the Logos was divine, even if it wasn’t personal.
He was in the beginning with God.
Now the Greeks would start to object. “Wait a second, the Logos is a ‘He,’ a personal pronoun?”
All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.
“Okay, everything owes its existence to the Logos but why are you still calling it by a personal pronoun?”
In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.
“Yes, I know the Logos gives life and light but what kind of Logos are you talking about?”
And the Logos became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.
“WHAT?!”
At this point, the Greek reading John’s words would be shocked, dismayed, upset.
“How can the Logos take on flesh?”
“Who is this Logos?”
John would say, “Glad that you asked.” And invite the questioner to continue reading his gospel account.
The Logos is Jesus.
The One holding the universe together right now…the One holding you together right now…is Jesus Christ.
He is eternal. He is in eternal fellowship with God the Father. He is equal with God.
He is the Creator, the Sustainer, the Life Giver, the Light Bearer.
He is the baby born in Bethlehem.
This changes everything.
There is a God. He is personal. He is powerful. And He has spoken…through His Word.
And His message to us is full of grace and truth.
“You are broken.”
“You are loved.”
“I can make you whole.”
