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Observations from today’s readings and today’s S-WOD, Wednesday, 28 October 20:
Note: Here is a link to a short video overview of Lamentations: https://youtu.be/p8GDFPdaQZQ
Note: Here is a link to a short video overview of John chapters 1-12: https://youtu.be/G-2e9mMf7E8
John 1:1-5 — “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 anything made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”
Jesus said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6) Today, John begins his epistle by stating that Jesus is the Word. Below are some comments on the significance of that statement:
“One of the most intriguing titles for Jesus is found in a passage that theologians have studied for millennia and have yet barely scratched the surface of its meaning. The title of which we are speaking is ‘Logos,’ and it is found in John 1:1–18.
As is common in English translations, the Greek term logos in today’s passage is translated as ‘Word.’ This is perhaps the simplest meaning of logos, and we find its presence in several English words. For example, we have the disciplines of biology (a word about living things) and theology (a word about God). In ancient Greek, however, logos had far richer connotations than just ‘word.’ Ancient Greek philosophers, in particular, had special uses for the term logos.
Philosophy is concerned with addressing the ultimate questions of reality, and the ancient Greeks who pursued this discipline were always searching for ultimate truth, the final reality that lies behind everything visible and invisible. As the Greek philosophers considered the questions of truth, ethics, aesthetics, metaphysics, and more, they began to use the word logos to describe the ultimate reality they were all pursuing. This logos was an organizing principle, that which gives life and meaning to the universe. Consequently, the ancient Greeks thought of the logos as an impersonal force, as bare rationality that cannot love or interact with the world.
John the Apostle had to speak the language of his day when he wrote his gospel, so it is not surprising that he used the term logos. Yet the Apostle did not simply copy the word as it was used in Greek philosophy, but he transformed it, investing it with biblical content. His logos is personal and can be received or rejected by human beings (vv. 11–12). This was scandalous enough for Greek minds, but what was even worse, from their perspective, was that John said the logos could become incarnate as a human being (v. 14).
The logos is God Himself, more specifically, the Son of God, the second person of the Trinity, who shares fully in the one divine essence. He is the One who was there ‘in the beginning,’ before all things (1:1; see Gen. 1:1). The logos — the organizing entity behind all things — is the personal Creator who loves His people.
The idea that God is personal is a radical one indeed. Ultimate reality in Hinduism and Buddhism is impersonal. Islam and Judaism know something of a personal God due to the influence of the Bible on Muhammad and the rabbis, but the God presented in these religions is not consistently personal. Our God is personal, and we can have a true relationship with Him because He came to us in the person of Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Ligonier Ministries online)
This Logos loved you so much that, despite your sin, though you didn’t even ask for It or want it, He died for you that you would have eternal life and the fullness of joy (Romans 5:8; Colossians 2:14; Romans 6:23; 1 Peter 2:24; Romans 8:1; Isaiah 53:5; John 17:3). How does this truth change your outlook, how you respond to people and circumstances, and how you live your life?
- Romans 6:6 — We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin.
- Romans 12:1 — I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.
- Romans 6:8 — Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him.
- 1 John 3:1 — See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are.
- 2 Corinthians 5:14 — For the love of Christ controls us….
- 2 Corinthians 5:17 — Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.
- Luke 9:23 — And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.
- Philippians 4:13 — I can do all things through him who strengthens me.
- 1 Peter 1:13 — Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
- James 4:7 — Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
- 2 Corinthians 4:16-18 — So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.
“Cross” Fit S-WOD (Spiritual Workout of the Day) – 28 October 20: Today, meditate on your personal relationship with the Word and rejoice.
Defenders Bible Reading Plan 