Tuesday, September 12, 2006

John 1:1

Ok. So I am starting to devote more time to bible study and meditating, so I have decided to go through the book of John at the slowest pace possible. Verse by Verse. I want to find Jesus for myself. I have gotten in a mode where I let all my 'christian' outlets tell me who Jesus is, but I haven't sat down and tried to written about the Jesus that I find in the scriptures. So here it goes....

I chose John, because he wrote this gospel to persuade people to believe in Jesus. I figure this would be the best book to go through, since the writer is only writing about Jesus in a way to tell me who he is and why I should believe in him.

John starts his book with this verse.

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

First observation is that John says that the first thing in the history of existence is the Word. I find it interesting that he doesn't say God.

Next he says that 'the Word was with God', meaning that 'the Word' was separate from God in existence.

Then finally he says that 'the Word was God', meaning that they are the same thing.

Phew! Wrap your head around that one.

So 'the Word' = God

But 'the Word' is also separate from God.

So if there is a separation somewhere, what is the separation?

The word, 'Word' is the word logos in ancient Greek (original text). The meaning of logos is really long and a lot of things really.

Here are some english words and phrases used to describe what logos means.

Reason, the mental faculty of thinking, meditating
The act of speaking, a continous speaking discouse - instruction
What is declared, a declaration
with whom as judge we stand in relation to

So here are my random thoughts after meditating on all of these definitions and words.

I feel that 'the Word' is the manifested message of God that we can comprehend through our senses. Meaning that this is the part of God that is visible in ALL of the universe. This is Truth that we find in all of the world. If you have a friend that doesn't follow Jesus, but that person may have a believe that is true and a belief that Jesus would agree with. A basic one would be that rape is wrong. That truth is 'the Word' and comes from 'the Word' and is a universal truth that all believe. Now that doesn't stop rape from happening, but something inside all of us breaks when we hear of someone who has been raped. This I believe is 'the Word' manifesting itself in creation to where all experience it, but not all acknowledge it as 'the Word'.

I also found the definitoin of 'logos' to be the line that all of line can be judged against. If we want to test if anything is true, right, perfect, lovely, we test it against 'the Word'. It is the very thing that God wants us to feel, know, and experience. 'The Word' is perfect. It contains a language that everyone in the world can understand. Things like love, giving, and hope can be understood by all no matter where they live.

So when we try to relate to people we can ALL relate because we all have 'the Word' in ourlives. Some of us begin to recognize this thing in our lives and begin to acknowledge that it is good.

In 1 John 1:1 he explains it like this. 'That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life-'




Another thought is this. You know how football players are now saying...'The U', as in The University, like their univeristy is the best or only one that matters. Well 'the Word', is like that.'The Word' is the final judge of all. The Word is the way. The Word is the truth. the Word is the life. The Word is perfect. The Word is correct. The Word is the beginning of all things. The Word is the one with the most value. The Word is God.

My head hurts I am stopping now.

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