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The Logos The Firstborn of Every Creature Who is the image of the
invisible God, the firstborn of every creature. Carl Hagensick Jesus is “the firstborn from the dead” (Colossians 1:18) after whom all who have died will be raised to life. He died once for all, and therefore is to be preeminent among all: the faithful church of the present Gospel age, and the whole rest of the world in the thousand-year kingdom of Christ. As the original creation of Jehovah, Jesus is “the firstborn of every creature” and at his resurrection he became “the firstborn from the dead.” It is in the first of these senses that he is referred to by the evangelist: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God [Greek: ho theos, the God], and the Word was God [theos without the article ho]” (John 1:1). The usage of the definite article in this verse is significant. William Barclay, an eminent Scottish scholar, makes this observation: “Finally John says that the word was God. This is a difficult saying to understand, and it is difficult because Greek, in which John wrote, had a different way of expressing things from the way it is done in English. When Greek uses a noun it almost always uses the definite article with it. The Greek for God is theos (2316) and the definite article is ho (3588). When the Greek speaks about God, it does not simply say theos (2316), it says ho theos (3588, 2316). Now when Greek does not use the definite article with a noun, that noun becomes much more like an adjective. John did not say that the Word was ho theos (3588, 2316); that would have been to say that the word was identical with God. He said that the word was theos (2316)—without the definite article—which means that the word was, we might say, of the very same character and quality and essence and being as God. When John said the word was God, he was not saying that Jesus was identical with God; he was saying that Jesus was so perfectly the same as God in mind, in heart, in being that in him we perfectly see what God is like.” Similarly, the Jewish philosopher Philo (20 B.C. to 50 A.D.), in his De Somnis, describes the Word as being “the revelator of God, symbolized in Scriptures as being the angel of Jehovah.” The early Christian, Origen, frequently defines the Logos [Word] as an intermediary between God and the creature. The Greek word logos as applied to Christ appears only in the first verse of both the Gospel of John and John’s first epistle, and in Revelation 19:13.1 It is in this role as representative of Jehovah that we see the Logos in the Old Testament. This is the function of God’s word as described in Isaiah 55:11, “So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.” The Logos in Creation “By the word of the LORD were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth” (Psalm 33:6). The account of the work of the creative days begins in Genesis: “And God said, Let there be light: and there was light” (Genesis 1:3). The moving force is in the phrase “and God said.” These words appear nine times in the creation narrative. The commentator John Gill observes: “Perhaps the divine Person speaking here is the Logos or Word of God, which was in the beginning with God, and was God, and who himself is the light that lightens every creature.” Throughout the creative account in Genesis, the word translated “God” is the Hebrew elohim, a plural word. In the Hebrew there are two uses of the plural: the plural of number and the plural of intensity, also known as the plural of majesty. While there is some debate as to which is meant in the opening chapter of Genesis, the use of the plural pronoun in Genesis 1:26 suggests that the plural of number is intended. This strongly implies what is implicitly stated by Paul: “For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: and he is before all things, and by him all things consist” (Colossians 1:16,17; cf. John 1:3). The Wisdom of God In a related concept, Christ is called “the wisdom of God”: “But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God. … But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption” (1 Corinthians 1:24,30). Luke writes, “Therefore also said the wisdom of God, I will send them prophets and apostles, and some of them they shall slay and persecute” (Luke 11:49). It is on the basis of texts such as these that many identify wisdom, as depicted in the eighth chapter of Proverbs, as a personification of Christ as the Logos. In Proverbs we find a detailed description of the Logos in his creative work: “The LORD possessed me in the beginning of his way, before his works of old. I was set up from everlasting, from the beginning, or ever the earth was. When there were no depths, I was brought forth; when there were no fountains abounding with water. Before the mountains were settled, before the hills was I brought forth: while as yet he had not made the earth, nor the fields, nor the highest part of the dust of the world. When he prepared the heavens, I was there: when he set a compass upon the face of the depth: when he established the clouds above: when he strengthened the fountains of the deep: when he gave to the sea his decree, that the waters should not pass his commandment: when he appointed the foundations of the earth: then I was by him, as one brought up with him: and I was daily his delight, rejoicing always before him; rejoicing in the habitable part of his earth; and my delights were with the sons of men.”—Proverbs 8:22-31 Professor Strong defines the Hebrew word qanah (#7069), translated “possessed” in the King James, as meaning “to erect, i.e., create” and is translated either “created” or “made” in a number of places. These verses describe his origin as the first creation of Jehovah; in fact, his only direct creation for all else was made by the son of God, the Logos. The Hebrew word amown (Strong’s 525), translated “one brought up [with him]” in Proverbs 8:30 is defined by Brown, Driver and Riggs as being a skilled or master workman. This aptly demonstrates the relationship between the Father and the Son in the creative process: that of a master workman carrying out the plans of the Divine Architect. In the same verse we see that he was “by him,” a position reiterated in John 1:1 where he is said to be “with God.” The Angel of Jehovah Another role of the Logos in Old Testament times was as an angelic messenger for Jehovah. In these instances we particularly see him as the Father’s representative. Some expositors link the expression “the word of the LORD” in Genesis 15:1,4 with the Logos (“Word”) of John 1:1. This is suggestive of the thought that the message of the Abrahamic promise may have been delivered by Jesus in his role as the Logos, or representative, of Jehovah. Other similar occurrences imply this same relationship of the Father with the Son. In Genesis 18:1 when Jehovah appears to Abraham, he is called adonai in verse 3 and it is widely assumed to be the Logos. In Exodus 3:1-14 when God says to Moses that his name is “I AM THAT I AM” it is stated expressly in the second verse that the speaker is the “angel of the LORD,” the angel merely being representative of Jehovah. Of Genesis 3:8 where we read of “the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden” to speak with Adam and Eve, Pastor Russell writes: “We suppose that it refers to our Lord Jesus in his pre-human condition. The Logos was a god. The Logos, Word, Voice of God, communicated with man as the representative of God” (What Pastor Russell Said, p. 361). John Gill (1697-1771) wrote that “the voice of the Son of God, the eternal Word, is here meant.” When an angel appeared to Manoah announcing the birth of his son Samson, he is asked his name. He answered: “Wherefore askest thou after my name, seeing it is wonderful?” (Judges 13:18, ASV). The name “wonderful” is ascribed prophetically to Christ in Isaiah 9:6. Michael Another Old Testament role for the Logos is as the archangel Michael, a name appearing three times at the end of the prophetic book of Daniel when Daniel inquires as to when the Israelites would be restored to the position God desired for them. In Daniel 10:21 he is referred to as Daniel’s “prince.”2 In Daniel 12:1 he is called “the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people.” Daniel’s people were the Israelites. Thus we see the Logos is the guardian angel Michael watching over the interests of Israel. From Daniel 10:13 we notice that he is called “one of the chief princes,” implying that more than one angel bears this title. Because he was called the great prince in Daniel 12:1, it appears that of all who bear that title, he is the greatest of them. Jewish tradition lists seven with that appellative: Michael, Gabriel, Uriel, Raphael, Raguel, Sariel, and Lucifer. The Bible names only Michael, Gabriel, and Lucifer. This shows a noteworthy contrast. Of Lucifer it is written: “Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created. Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire.”—Ezekiel 28:13,14 Lucifer was charged with protecting the original pair in Eden’s garden, but he usurped power over them through deception. Michael, the Logos, charged with the guardianship of the nation of Israel, yielded his own life on their behalf and on behalf of the entire human race as well. Comparing the words “great prince” in Daniel 12:1 with “chief ruler” in 1 Chronicles 5:2 suggests that Michael is the same as Jesus, the descendent of Judah: “For Judah prevailed above his brethren, and of him came the chief ruler; but the birthright was Joseph’s” (1 Chronicles 5:2). The Messenger of the Covenant The Logos is last mentioned in the Old Testament in Malachi 3:1, “Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the LORD of hosts.” Two messengers are mentioned. The first is John the Baptist who prepared the way for Jesus Christ by boldly preaching a message of repentance and by identifying the Messiah as “there standeth one among you, whom ye know not”; and by pointing to Jesus and saying, “Behold, the Lamb of God” (John 1:26,29,36). When Jesus was only eight days old he was blessed with Isaiah’s prophecy: “I the LORD have called thee in righteousness … and will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles” (Isaiah 42:6; Luke 2:32). As Jehovah’s messenger at his first advent, Jesus announced the replacement of the Jewish Law Covenant with a covenant of grace through the gospel. At his second advent, he continues this mission by re-establishing a new law covenant instituted under a better mediator, thus providing better results through establishing an educational program, a highway that leads to holiness (Isaiah 35:8), resulting in perfecting all humanity so they can be justly held accountable for their obedience to God’s perfect law. This text again stresses the subordination of the Son to the Father, because, as the messenger of Jehovah and his covenant, he claimed no greater honor than to be the Father’s agent and representative, roles well defined by the title Logos. How grand it will be when this messenger completes, as mediator, the covenant that he proclaimed! 1. The “Word” in 1 John 5:7 was not added to the Greek text until the Reformation, and so does not qualify. Just as the original reading of John 1:18 says, “No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him” (NASB) there is an implication that John 1:1 is talking about two distinct beings. However, they are in complete harmony. 2. The Hebrew word sar implies especially a military prince, whether on the defensive or the offensive. |