Sermon #1: The Word Made Flesh: Logos and the Nature of Reality

[Clete]

Sermon #1: Outline
The Word Made Flesh: Logos and the Nature of Reality
Text: John 1:1 to 5, 14 (NKJV)
“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 nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.”
“And the Word 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.”

Introduction
• The opening verses of John's Gospel are not merely poetic. They are explosive declarations about the nature of existence itself.
• John does not begin with Bethlehem. He begins with the beginning.
• He tells us that “in the beginning was the Word,” and this Word was not only with God, He was God.
• The term translated “Word” is the Greek word Logos, which is rich in meaning.
• Logos refers not only to speech or communication, but to reason, logic, and the ordering principle behind all things.
• Spiritual maturity begins with seeing reality as it actually is, and at the center of all reality is Logos—the Person of Christ.

I. Logos Is the Rational Foundation of All Reality
• The universe is not random or chaotic. It was made through Christ, the Logos.
• This means that reason itself is not a human invention. It is divine in origin.
• To know God is to love wisdom, understanding, and truth.
• Supporting Scriptures:

• Proverbs 3:19 — “The Lord by wisdom founded the earth.”
• Colossians 1:17 — “In Him all things consist.”
• Romans 1:20 — Creation reveals God’s invisible attributes, including His rationality.

II. Christ Is Not Just a Messenger — He Is the Message
• John 1:14 says the Logos became flesh.
• This means that ultimate reality is not only rational but personal.
• The One through whom all things were made entered creation, not merely to communicate truth, but to embody it.
• Christ is not just the reason for reality; He is the reason in reality.

III. To Walk in the Light Means to Live According to What Is True
• “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.”
• Maturity begins when we stop pretending and start submitting to what is real.
• Superstition, emotionalism, and mysticism cannot produce spiritual maturity.
• Living in the light means aligning with truth, reason, and the character of God.
• Supporting Scriptures:

• Ephesians 5:13 — “All things that are exposed are made manifest by the light.”
• John 3:21 — “He who does the truth comes to the light.”

Conclusion
• Christ is the Logos, the foundation of all that is real, rational, and good.
• Spiritual maturity is not based on feelings or formulas, but on living in light of who God actually is.
• If we are to grow, we must begin here: with the Word who was with God, who is God, and who became flesh.

 

[Clete]

The Word Made Flesh: Logos and the Nature of Reality​

Text:

John 1:1–5 & 14 (NKJV)
"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 nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it."

14 And the Word 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.

Introduction
The opening verses of John’s Gospel are not merely poetic. They are explosive declarations about the nature of existence itself. John does not begin with Bethlehem. He begins with THE beginning.
He tells us that "in the beginning was the Word," and this Word was not only with God, He was God. The term translated as "Word" here is the Greek word Logos. It is a word rich in meaning, referring not only to spoken word or message, but more deeply to reason, logic, principle, and intelligibility. To the Greek mind, Logos was the rational order behind the cosmos. To the Jewish mind, it was the expression and wisdom of God. John bridges these and tells us that this Logos is not a mere abstraction, but a Person, the Man Jesus Christ.
Verse four says, "In Him was life, and the life was the light of men." This light is not physical illumination. It is understanding. It is what we mean when we say, "a light bulb went off in my head." The light John speaks of is intellectual and moral clarity. It is revelation, comprehension and truth. More than that, John is saying that Jesus is the ultimate light bulb. He is the pinnacle and personification of Reason itself. When He shines, darkness must give way.
This changes everything. The foundation of reality is not randomness. It is not chaos. It is not an irrational or impersonal force. Reality is rooted in divine Reason. The universe was created by the Logos, and this Logos is a Person and this Person became human flesh. This means that the ultimate truth is not only personal, but also rational and relational. The Triune God is real and God is therefore rational and can thus experience real relationship between the Persons of the Trinity, and between Himself and us for we are made in His image and likeness.
Incidentally, from that premise, one can derive the fact that God is righteous and that, as such, His very being is the fountainhead of righteousness and justice – but that’s a topic for another sermon!

I. The Logos Is Eternal and Personal (John 1:1–2)

A. "In the beginning was the Word"
Before there was time, space, or matter, the Logos existed. This is not the language of mythology or mystical speculation. It is the declaration of a personal, eternal Reason at the core of all things. Christ did not come into existence; He always was. The rational mind behind the universe has no beginning and no end.

B. "The Word was with God, and the Word was God"
The Logos is both distinct from the Father and fully divine. This is not polytheism. This is the mystery of the Trinity hinted at in the Old Testament and made clear in the New. Reason is not impersonal; it is a divine Person. There are those who might object to this idea, thinking it improper to equate the living God with some abstract concept. But it should be noted that those who make such an objection never object to God being equated with the abstract concept of "Word", nor are they typically capable of offering any explanation as to what exactly it means to say, "the Word was God".

Application:
A word or two could stand to be said here about faith. There are many who think of faith as blind belief. That is believing in something either without evidence or in spite of evidence to the contrary. That is not the faith taught in Scripture. The truth cannot contradict itself and so there can be no valid evidence that is genuinely contrary to reality.

Further, if God is Reason, as John teaches, then it would be ungodly for our faith to be contrary to reason.

True, biblical faith then, is trust based on what is real. Hebrews 11:1 tells us that faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen. We are called to trust the substantive evidence; to trust what we have reason to believe is true.

Christ then, is worthy of our trust, not because He’s bigger or more powerful, (There are lots of things bigger and more powerful than we are), but because He is real and because He is rational and therefore righteous.

Psalm 89:14 Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne; Mercy and truth go before Your face.

II. The Logos Is the Source of Creation and Life (John 1:3–5)

A. "All things were made through Him"
Creation is not an accident. The universe is not the result of blind forces. It was designed, and the Designer is the Logos. The structure and intelligibility of the world points us to the reality of a rational Creator. The laws of physics, the beauty of mathematics, the predictability of nature; all these testify to the mind of God.

B. "In Him was life, and the life was the light of men"
This life is not merely biological. It includes spiritual vitality, moral clarity, and intellectual light. The light that Christ brings is the light of understanding; that moment when truth becomes clear. He is the ultimate light bulb moment, the illumination of all that is true and good.

Application:
We are not merely called to exist. We are called to live in the light of what is true. The moral law is not arbitrary. It flows from the nature of God. Since God is rational, morality is not based on preference or power, but on what is right, consistent, and proper to life. To live morally is to live rationally, and to live rationally is to live in step with the character of God.

Proverbs 11:19 As righteousness leads to life, So he who pursues evil pursues it to his own death.

III. The Logos Entered Human History (John 1:14)

A. "The Word became flesh and dwelt among us"
The eternal Logos did not remain distant. He took on humanity. This is not a symbolic gesture or a metaphorical incarnation. The invisible God became visible. The rational God became touchable. The moral God who is Righteousness itself, entered a fallen world.

B. "Full of grace and truth"
In Christ we see the perfect union of truth, love, justice, mercy, logic and grace. He did not come to crush with power but to rescue through truth. In Him we see what humanity was always meant to be, and what we can become by grace through faith.

Application:
Many people view God as a mystical, hyper-transcendent figure, unknowable and even arbitrary. The incarnation tells us otherwise. God is not only real; He is relatable. He has revealed Himself in the Person of Christ. Our faith is not a leap into the dark. It is a step into the light. It is belief based on the most reasonable foundation imaginable: the Logos made flesh.

IV. The Logos Requires a Response (John 1:10–13)

A. "He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him"
Tragically, many rejected Him. The darkness did not comprehend the light. Rejection of Christ is not a lack of information. It is a refusal to accept the truth.

B. "As many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God"
To receive Christ is to receive the truth. To believe in Him is to believe in the One through whom all things were made. Faith is not merely emotional or ceremonial. It is the most rational decision a person can make.

Application:
Spiritual maturity is not about superstition or emotionalism. It is about growing in the knowledge of the truth and aligning our lives with it. The more we understand God as He truly is, the more we trust Him, and the more we reflect His nature.

Conclusion
The foundation of the Christian faith is not mystery. It is reality. Christ is the Logos, the divine Reason, the source of life and truth. He is not only real, He is rational, and He calls us to follow Him not blindly, but knowingly.

Faith is not blind belief or positive thinking. Faith is confidence grounded in truth. To know Christ is to know the truth, and to know the truth is to be made free.

Invitation
If you have not yet trusted in Jesus Christ, the Logos made flesh, now is the time. He is not an idea or a tradition. He is the eternal Reason behind all things, the One who stepped into the world to rescue and redeem. He invites you to believe, not with blind hope, but with clear-eyed trust in the truth. Turn to Him. Believe in Him. Walk in the light of what is real.

 

[Clete]

Alright, so its been a couple of weeks since I created this sermon and when I posted it, I went ahead a read through it again. After doing so, I think I'm going to rewrite it. I like the content, I hate the flow. It's reads more like a moderately fleshed out sermon outline than an actual sermon. I think I'll switch up the format such that there are fewer section headlines so that it can flow more smoothly from point to point.

 

[Clete]

Here's a revised version of Sermon 1. Content is more or less identical but the format give it a smoother flow and feels more like a sermon...


The Word Made Flesh: Logos and the Nature of Reality
Text: John 1:1–5, 14 (NKJV)
“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 nothing was 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 did not comprehend it. … The Word 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.”

---

​

The opening verses of John’s Gospel are not merely poetic. They are deeply profound declarations about the nature of existence itself. John does not begin with Bethlehem, he begins with THE beginning. He tells us that in the beginning was the Word, and this Word was not only with God, He was God. The term translated as “Word” is the Greek word Logos. It is a rich and far-reaching term. It means more than a spoken word or a message, it refers to reason, logic, principle, and intelligibility. To the Greek mind, Logos was the rational order behind the cosmos. To the Jewish mind, it was the expression and wisdom of God. John bridges these ideas and goes further. He tells us that this Logos is not a mere abstraction but a Person - the man Jesus Christ.

Verse four says, “In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.” This light is not physical illumination. It is understanding. It is what we mean when we say, “a light bulb went off in my head.” The light John speaks of is intellectual and moral clarity. It is revelation, comprehension, and truth. More than that, Jesus is not simply a source of light, He is the light! He is the fountainhead and personification of Reason itself. When He shines, darkness must give way.

This changes everything. The foundation of reality is not randomness. It is not chaos. It is not an irrational or impersonal force. Reality is rooted in divine Reason. The universe was created by the Logos, and this Logos is a Person, and this Person became human flesh. That means the ultimate truth is not only rational but also personal and relational. The Triune God is real. He is rational. He can experience real relationship between the Persons of the Trinity and between Himself and us, for we are made in His image and likeness.

Incidentally, from that premise one can derive the fact that God is righteous, and that His very being is the fountainhead of righteousness and justice. That, however, is a topic for another sermon.

John says, “In the beginning was the Word.” Before there was anything made, the Logos existed. This is not the language of myth or mystical speculation. It is the declaration of a personal, eternal Reason at the core of all things. Christ did not come into existence; He always was. The rational mind behind the universe has no beginning and no end.

Notice also that “The Word was with God, and the Word was God.” There is a plurality there. The Logos is both distinct from God the Father and fully divine. This is not polytheism. This is the Trinity, which is hinted at in the Old Testament and made clear in the New. Reason is not impersonal. Reason is a divine Person.

There are those who might object to this idea, thinking it improper to equate the living God with what they see as an abstract concept. Yet those same objectors never seem to mind when God is called “the Word”. Nor do they typically offer any meaningful explanation as to what it means to say, “the Word was God.”

Now, bearing that thought in mind, I want to transition here and say a word or two about faith. What does it mean to have faith? There are many who think of faith as blind belief. They define it as believing without evidence, or even in spite of evidence to the contrary. That is not the faith taught in Scripture. The truth cannot contradict itself, and so there can be no valid evidence that genuinely runs contrary to reality. If God is Reason, as John teaches, then it would be ungodly for our faith to be contrary to reason.

True, biblical faith is trust based on what is real. Hebrews 11:1 tells us that, “faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen”. We are called to trust the substantive evidence, to trust what we have reason to believe is true. Christ is worthy of our trust not because He is more powerful or more impressive, but because He is real and because He is rational and therefore righteous.

Psalm 89:14 says, “Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne; mercy and truth go before Your face.”

Creation is not an accident as atheists would have us believe. The universe is not the result of blind forces. It was designed, and the Designer is the Logos. “All things were made through Him.” The structure and intelligibility of the world point us to the reality of a rational Creator. The laws of physics, the beauty of mathematics, the predictability of nature, these all testify to the mind of God.

“In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.” This life is not merely biological. It includes spiritual vitality, moral clarity, and intellectual light. The light that Christ brings is the light of understanding, that moment when truth becomes clear. He is the ultimate light bulb moment, the illumination of all that is true and good.

We are not merely called to exist. We are called to live in the light of what is true. The moral law is not arbitrary, but rather it flows from the nature of God. Since God is rational, morality is not based on preference or power, but on what is right, consistent, and proper to life. To live morally is to live rationally, and to live rationally is to live in step with the character of God.

Proverbs 11:19 says, “As righteousness leads to life, so he who pursues evil pursues it to his own death.”

The eternal Logos did not remain distant. He took on humanity. “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us.” This is not a symbolic gesture or a metaphorical incarnation. The invisible God became visible. The rational God became touchable. The moral God who is righteousness itself entered a fallen world.

In Christ we see the perfect union of truth, love, justice, mercy, logic, and grace. He did not come to crush with power. He came to rescue through truth. In Him we see what humanity was always meant to be and what we can become by grace through faith.

Many people view God as a mystical, hyper-transcendent figure, unknowable and even arbitrary. The incarnation tells us otherwise. God is not only real, He is relatable. He has revealed Himself in the Person of Christ. Our faith is not a leap into the dark. It is a step into the Light. It is belief based on the most reasonable foundation imaginable, the Logos made flesh.

John writes, “He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him.” Tragically, many rejected Him. The darkness did not comprehend the light. Rejection of Christ is not a lack of information. It is a refusal to accept the truth. Yet, “as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God.” To receive Christ is to receive the truth. To believe in Him is to believe in the One through whom all things were made. Faith is not merely emotional or ceremonial, it is the most rational decision a person can make.

Spiritual maturity then is not about superstition or emotionalism. It is about growing in the knowledge of the truth and aligning our lives with that truth. The more we understand God as He truly is, the more we trust Him, and the more we reflect His nature.

The foundation of the Christian faith is not mystery, it is reality. Christ is the Logos, the divine Reason, the source of life and truth. He is not only real, He is rational. He calls us to follow Him, not blindly, but knowingly.

If you have not yet trusted in Jesus Christ, the Logos made flesh, now is the time. He is not an idea or a tradition. He is the eternal Reason behind all things, the One who stepped into the world to rescue and redeem. He invites you to believe, not with blind hope, but with clear-eyed trust in the truth. Turn to Him. Believe in Him. Walk in the light of what is real.