Jesus Is the Logos: Why the Identity of Christ Changes Everything
There are few questions more important than this:
Who is Jesus?
Not simply:
What did He teach?
Was He a good man?
Was He a prophet?
Was He inspirational?
But fundamentally:
Who is He?
Because your answer to that question shapes everything:
your worship,
your salvation,
your eternity,
your understanding of God,
and ultimately your entire life.
For Christians, this is not a small theological debate.
This is the foundation we build our lives upon.
We stand for this truth.
Sacrifice for this truth.
Preach this truth.
Build our existence upon this truth.
Jesus can ultimately only be one of three things:
A Madman — He believed He was God, but wasn’t.
A Con Man — He knew He wasn’t God, but deceived people anyway.
Exactly Who He Said He Is — God revealed in flesh.
The Gospel of John opens with one of the most profound statements ever written about Jesus Christ.
“In the Beginning Was the Word”
John 1:1–3 (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.”
John introduces Jesus with an unusual title:
“The Word.”
The Greek word used here is Logos.
What Does “Logos” Mean?
The word Logos carries deep meaning. It can refer to:
expression,
communication,
reason,
wisdom,
revelation,
or the explanation behind something.
Even before the time of Christ, Greek philosophers used this word.
Around 500 years before Jesus, the philosopher Heraclitus believed that although the universe appeared chaotic and constantly changing, there had to be some hidden principle holding everything together.
He called that principle the Logos.
The Logos was understood to be:
the rational order behind reality,
the explanation for existence,
the organising principle of the universe.
This idea still appears in many words we use today:
Theology
Theos = God
Logos = study/discoursePsychology
Psyche = soul/mind
Logos = studyBiology
Bios = life
Logos = studyZoology
Zōon = living creature
Logos = study
John takes this loaded philosophical and theological word and applies it directly to Jesus.
Why?
Because John is telling us something staggering:
Jesus is the explanation behind everything.
He is not merely part of creation.
He is the reason creation exists.
Jesus Existed Before Creation
John intentionally echoes Genesis:
“In the beginning…”
This is not accidental.
John is pointing all the way back to Genesis 1 and saying:
Before creation existed…
Before time existed…
Before the universe existed…
Jesus already was.
John does not say:
“In the beginning the Word came into existence.”
He says:
“In the beginning was the Word.”
The language speaks of continuous existence.
Jesus did not begin in Bethlehem.
He existed eternally before creation itself.
Revelation 21:6 (NKJV)
“And He said to me, ‘It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts.’”
Jesus stands outside of time itself.
“The Word Was With God”
John continues:
“And the Word was with God…”
The Greek word translated “with” is pros.
This means far more than simply being beside someone.
It carries the idea of:
intimacy,
closeness,
face-to-face relationship,
eternal communion.
John is showing us that Jesus is distinct from the Father, yet eternally united with Him.
Christianity does not teach that Jesus is the Father.
Rather:
the Father is God,
the Son is God,
the Holy Spirit is God,
yet there is one God.
“The Word Was God”
Then John makes one of the clearest declarations in all of Scripture:
“And the Word was God.”
Notice what John does not say.
He does not say:
“The Word was a god.”
In the original Greek structure, the emphasis is placed on the divine nature of Christ.
Literally, the sentence carries the force of:
“And God was the Word.”
John is communicating two truths simultaneously:
Jesus is distinct from the Father.
Jesus fully shares the divine nature of God.
This perfectly aligns with:
Hebrews 1:3 (NKJV)
“Who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power…”
Jesus is the exact expression of God’s nature.
Jesus Is Not a Created Being
Some claim Jesus was merely a created spiritual being or “a god.”
But Scripture leaves no room for that interpretation.
Isaiah 43:10 (NKJV)
“‘You are My witnesses,’ says the Lord,
‘And My servant whom I have chosen,
That you may know and believe Me,
And understand that I am He.
Before Me there was no God formed,
Nor shall there be after Me.’”
Deuteronomy 6:4 (NKJV)
“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one!”
Then John adds:
John 1:3 (NKJV)
“All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.”
This is crucial.
Jesus is placed on the Creator side, not the created side.
Everything that was made came through Him.
That means Jesus Himself cannot be part of creation.
Why This Matters So Much
This doctrine has always been attacked.
Why?
Because if the identity of Christ collapses, Christianity collapses with it.
If Jesus is not truly God:
salvation loses its power,
worship becomes idolatry,
the cross becomes insufficient,
and the Gospel becomes empty morality.
This is why throughout history people have tried to redefine Jesus:
“He was just a prophet.”
“He was simply a teacher.”
“He was only a moral example.”
But the Bible presents Him as infinitely more.
Scriptures That Reveal the Deity of Christ
Jesus Existed Before Abraham
John 8:58 (NKJV)
“Jesus said to them, ‘Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM.’”
Jesus uses the divine name revealed in Exodus.
Thomas Worshipped Jesus
John 20:28–29 (NKJV)
“And Thomas answered and said to Him, ‘My Lord and my God!’
Jesus said to him, ‘Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.’”
Jesus receives worship instead of correcting Thomas.
Jesus Shared Glory With the Father Before Creation
John 17:5 (NKJV)
“And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was.”
Yet God also says:
Isaiah 42:8 (NKJV)
“I am the Lord, that is My name;
And My glory I will not give to another,
Nor My praise to carved images.”
Jesus shares eternal glory with the Father because He shares the divine nature.
Full Deity Dwells in Christ
Colossians 2:9 (NKJV)
“For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.”
Not partially.
Not symbolically.
Fully.
More Than Information — We Need Revelation
The truth about Jesus cannot remain merely intellectual.
You can know theology and still not truly know Christ.
Jesus asked His disciples a powerful question:
Matthew 16:15–17 (NKJV)
“He said to them, ‘But who do you say that I am?’
Simon Peter answered and said, ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.’
Jesus answered and said to him, ‘Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.’”
This truth must move from the mind to the heart.
Christianity is not merely information transfer.
It is revelation.
Our prayer should become:
“Lord, reveal Your Son to me.”
Why This Is So Powerful
The beauty of the Gospel is not merely that God sent help.
It is that God Himself came.
Humanity could not reach God.
So God came to humanity.
Jesus entered our suffering.
Our weakness.
Our grief.
Our temptation.
Hebrews 4:15–16 (NKJV)
“For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.
Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”
Because Jesus became man, we can now approach God boldly.
We Are Now Family
What Christ accomplished goes even deeper.
John 15:15 (NKJV)
“No longer do I call you servants… but I have called you friends…”
Galatians 4:6–7 (NKJV)
“And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, ‘Abba, Father!’
Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.”
Because of Jesus:
we are adopted,
forgiven,
brought near,
made sons and daughters,
welcomed into the family of God.
Final Thoughts
Jesus is not merely:
a teacher,
a prophet,
a philosopher,
or a moral example.
Jesus is:
eternal,
Creator,
Saviour,
God in flesh,
the Logos.
The question is not simply:
“Who do others say Jesus is?”
The real question is:
“Who do you say that He is?”
And the answer to that question changes everything.