The Logos Series

The Logos…

Love Never Dies, prt. 2

Wildwind Community Church

David Flowers

April 11, 2010

Good morning. What a fantastic service we had last week, huh? It was wonderful to be here with all of you last week to celebrate Easter in what turned out to be one of my favorite Easter services ever – at Wildwind or anyplace else. We had 177 people in attendance, contributions of over $4000, our first-ever choir up front singing – just a really, really great time together.

Our text for last week, as we talked about the resurrection of Christ, was John chapter 20. Today we are starting back in John chapter 1, and will work straight through the gospel of John, one chapter per week, until we get to the end. As we do this, you are going to get to see something extraordinary. You are going to see not only Jesus, but the cosmic Christ. Does that sound weird to you? Or New Age? Or cultish? Just throwing the word “cosmic” into anything makes it sound – well, cosmic, dude. It lends an other-worldly sense to whatever you are talking about. And in this case, that’s good. Because if Jesus truly was the Son of God, which he was, if Jesus was truly God himself, which he was, then Jesus must in fact be “cosmic.” That is to say, he must be beyond time and space. But enough from me, let’s look at the text. Listen carefully to these words. Without them, the Christian faith as we know it would not exist.

John 1:1-18 (NIV)

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

2 He was with God in the beginning.

3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.

4 In him was life, and that life was the light of men.

5 The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.

6 There came a man who was sent from God; his name was John.

7 He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all men might believe.

8 He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light.

9 The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world.

10 He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him.

11 He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him.

12 Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God--

13 children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God.

14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

15 John testifies concerning him. He cries out, saying, "This was he of whom I said, 'He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.'"

16 From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another.

17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

18 No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father's side, has made him known.

This is one of most theologically loaded, and exquisite, passages in the Bible. It says far more than we have time to deal with today. If you are interested in further exploration of this passage, I invite you to read the New Testament book of Colossians, a book written by the Apostle Paul, that takes this and expands on it, going into great detail about the mystery of the cosmic Christ.

Now I want you to notice something to begin with. Nowhere in these first 18 verses of John is the word Jesus mentioned. In fact, the word Jesus is not mentioned until verse 29. There is a reason for this. John is not writing primarily about Jesus. If John were writing primarily about Jesus, he would have started right off talking about Jesus. But instead he starts off talking about what? The Word of God – the cosmic Christ – the one who was with God, and was and is God – the one who participated with God in the act of creation – the one from whom all things come. John is writing about Jesus, the cosmic Christ.

It is no accident that in this passage the Apostle John says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” John wrote in Greek, and the Greek word John used with is translated into English as the word “Word,” is “Logos.” Let’s talk about the Logos, because John’s use of the word “Logos” to describe the cosmic Christ is key to what he is trying to communicate.