Reasoning for Life -- 1. Before There Was Any Thing

“Where did I come from?” 

Do you remember asking this question as a child?  The answer may have been, “From mommy.” We may have been surprised at her answer.  Maybe it satisfied us, at least for a while.   But later, we learned that mommy had been asking bigger questions of her own.  She was asking questions like, “Where in the world did humans come from?” and “Is there a Creator who makes Himself known and seeks a relationship with me?”

Born to Ask Big Questions
As humans, we are prone to ask big questions because we are unique among all the creatures.  When a squirrel finds a fallen acorn, he or she may “wonder” where it came from.  But the animal’s curiosity is satisfied when it glances upward and sees an oak tree branch bearing more acorns waiting to be eaten or stored for winter.  As far as we know, squirrels have no curiosity about oak trees and forests beyond the fact that they provide food and shelter.  Nor do squirrels know they are residents of a planet that orbits the Sun within our solar system which is only a small part of the Milky Way and the starry universe beyond.

But we humans are curious creatures.  We ask big questions because God created us to think rationally and abstractly--and to seek answers.  As a result, we have gained a wealth of knowledge about the natural world that spans all the way from the subatomic particle to the a distance of light years into outer space. 

Answers from the Creator
Thankfully, God offers us answers to our most fundamental questions.  According to Psalm 19 and Romans 1, God speaks to us through the natural revelation of His created world, and though the special revelation found in His Word, the Bible.

God’s creation speaks a wordless but universal “language” about His wisdom and creative power (e.g. Psalm 19: 1-4).  On the other hand, God’s revelation in the written languages of the Bible speaks clearly about our personal relationship and moral responsibilities to God (e.g. Psalm 19: 7-14).  Together, these two major revelations answer the fundamental questions each of us are bound to ask:
 
Reality:   What is true?
Identity:  Who am I?
Morality:  What is good and evil?
Justification:  What is my purpose and destiny?

Without definite answers to these fundamental questions of human life, our view of the world around us, our worldview, remains undeveloped or stunted.  We are worse off than the squirrel who at least thinks and acts according its purposes.  Sadly, millions of children and adults, whether they realize it or not, are seeking answers to these basic “worldview questions.”  Because they either do not know or do not respect the objective truth claims in God’s Word, many people deny that we can know truth, or distinguish “good” from “evil.”  Instead, they surrender to subjective claims based on personal opinion that are often contrary to reality.   

As noted earlier, we humans are created to be curious.  God has equipped us well intellectually to discover and invent.  According to Genesis 1-2, God gave these abilities so that humans could exercise dominion over His creation as submissive stewards for His glory, not for prideful human purposes.

As an early exercise of human dominion and stewardship, God gave Adam, the first man, the ability to investigate His creation.  Then, God asked Adam to name the creatures according to his growing understanding of their interrelationships (Genesis 2: 19-20).  Adam’s naming assignment prepared him to receive God’s gift of woman as his complement and helpmate (v. 21-25).  But now, as Adam and Eve’s descendants, we still grapple with the question, “Where did I come from?”  And, “Who was there at the Beginning?”

WHO Was Before the Beginning?
God not only created us to be curious about our origins, but He also aims to satisfy our curiosity by providing some answers in His Word.  Two major books of the Bible help us answer our questions about “the Beginning.”

Surprisingly, the first verse of the Bible does not give us the earliest account of “the Beginning.”  It states, In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth (Genesis 1: 1).  Here, we learn what happened “at the Beginning” of creation.  However, the New Testament Gospel of John takes us back even further!  The author, John the Apostle, opens with these words, In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God (John 1: 1).  John is telling us that “the Word” which “was God” was already present before the Beginning of creation!  Verse 2 follows with additional information, stating that “He (the Word) was in the beginning with God.

Who is the Word who was already with God before creation?  John answers us in John 1: 14: The Word became flesh and dwelt among us… referring to the incarnation of God in the Person of Jesus Christ.  Not only was Jesus Christ, the Living Word of God present before creation (John 1: 1), but He was the Agent through which God created the universe as Genesis 1: 1 has stated.  That Jesus Christ is Creator is affirmed in Colossians 1: 16 (emphasis added):  For by Him (Jesus Christ) all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities— all things have been created through Him (Jesus Christ) and for Him.  And John adds, …and without Him (Jesus Christ) was not any thing made that was made.”

WHAT Was There Before the Beginning?
Take a moment and ask yourself, “What did things look like “before the Beginning?”  You may already have realized that before the Beginning, there were no things to imagine!  So, what was there?  Was there an infinite space with darkness throughout?  Or blazing light throughout?  Or, did three-dimensional space itself even exist?  Questions remain.  But the Bible assures us that One Person was there “before the Beginning.”  It was “the Word,” Jesus Christ (John 1: 1).

Why, we might ask, wasn’t the Apostle John more straightforward in how he began his Gospel?  Why didn’t he begin by stating what he later made obvious?  Something like this: “In the beginning was Jesus Christ…”?  The answer is twofold:  First, John wrote under the inspiration of God’s Spirit just as Moses did in authoring Genesis and the next five books of the Old Testament.  What we read are the words God wanted John to use.

Second, theologians tell us that John’s readers in the first century and even now consist of both Jews and non-Jews.  So, John begins with words that attract the interest of both sectors of his readership.  In the beginning… would be familiar to the Jews who knew these opening words of Genesis.  Meanwhile, In the beginning was the Word… conveyed special meaning to his Greek readers who, instead of seeing our modern English, “the Word,” they would see the word “logos” which had special meaning in Greek logic and wisdom literature.

Logos:  Reasoning for Life
Much has been published on the intended meaning of logos.  To the Greek philosophers, logos meant what we now refer to as logic.  Heraclitus (535-475 BC) defined logos as the cosmic principle, ordering force, or current that underlies and sustains the universe.  As Matthew Boffey wrote, “The world exhibits order because it reflects the nature of the logos that structures it.” 

C.L. Johnstone wrote in Listening to the Logos (2009), “The logos is to the world as nomos (“the law”) is to the city.”  Both represent the underlying basis that “gives an account” for the observed order.  It follows that reasoning leads to the truth when consistent with the logos which gives an account for the order of the universe—i.e. reasoning ought to be “logical.” In this context, the Word, the logos, may be translated “reasoning for Life” or “Reason for living.”¹

If logos represents the communication or revelation of God’s truth, it makes sense that speech should be the mode by which truth is conveyed.  The writer of the Book of Hebrews opens his epistle with a powerful message that complements the opening of John’s Gospel.  This Scripture also highlights the “spoken word” as the manner by which the truth is conveyed (emphasis added):  On many past occasions and in many different ways, God spoke to our fathers through the prophets. But in these last days He has spoken to us by His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, and through whom He made the universe.  The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of His nature, upholding all things by His powerful word (Hebrews 1: 1-3a).

Notice the emphasis on God “speaking.”  Just as God “spoke creation into being” as recorded in Genesis 1, so He has spoken His special revelation through the word of the prophets recorded in the inspired (“God-breathed”) Scriptures, and ultimately through “the Word,” the logos, Jesus Christ….  God still pursues us with His Gospel message of love, repentance, and redemption, spoken through the character, Word and work of God the Son who is the Word of God.  Some would teach that Christ the Word or logos of God, is to the Triune Godhead what speech is to thought.²  The question is, who will respond to the Word, the “reasoning for Life?”

Believe, Choose Life!
We began by comparing the inborn curiosity of humans with that of animals like the squirrel.  Children will soon express curiosity to know their “Beginning.”  On the other hand, squirrels are born with curiosity to know where food and shelter can be found.  Both humankind and squirrel-kind live and learn to function within the natural order of creation.   If this claim is true, then when we each think back on our own early development, it ought to be clear how fundamental it was for us to receive proper nutrition and the mental and emotional stimulation necessary for our development as a person.  And, because of our inborn curiosity about the world around us, we needed one or more adults to help us learn how to answer the question, “Where did I come from?”  If we had been left to fend for ourselves for food and for learning, our subjective understanding of the world around us would have left us groping in the darkness and stunted in our pursuit of truth.

Thankfully, many of us have been nurtured to understand “our beginning.” We learned that the Word of God, the logos, was there at “the Beginning” … and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made (John 1: 1b-3).  Yet we also know that many children and adults around the world have not heard of God’s love and pursuit of them.  That fact ought to compel us who know Christ, the logos, the “reason for living” to recommit to our role as witnesses of God’s love and grace.  And we should also remember that the Living Word, the logos, who transformed our lives and now lives within us, has the power to awaken saving faith within the souls of our fellow humans who were created with the ability to respond to God’s passionate love when our witness of God’s Word, the logos (spoken to us) is spoken through us and lived out in front of them.

Just as the effulgence of the morning sun pierces the predawn darkness day after day with its rays of light, so God has never lessened His passionate pursuit of His creation including mankind as His image bearers.  We close with our paraphrase of John 1: 1-3, as follows:

Your Turn. Your Thoughts?

Maybe you have a question or wish to correct a perceived error in what you have just read—please feel free to use “Comment” link below.   Or maybe you have not thought much about how the world originated, where you came from, your identity, what is true and what is not, what is good and what is evil, or what is your purpose and destiny.  If you would like to explore answers to these questions from a biblical worldview, we recommend that you obtain a copy of the booklet, Ultimate Questions, by John Blanchard (Click HERE to order; or click HERE for access to a text-only version.).  The author answers “big questions” like those we have stated above and explains clearly how you can surrender your life to Christ, gain peace with God through His Life, and begin to see the world and your life from God's perspective through His Holy Spirit dwelling in you.   If you have additional questions or comments, we’d love to hear from you.  Just post a “Comment” below or e-mail me at silviusj@gmail.edu
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¹ The origin of this definition of the logos is not clear but we want to acknowledge our hearing and understanding of it though our fellowship with several brothers in Christ at West Hill Baptist Church.
²  This interpretation of the logos is based on Lewis Sperry Chafer’s commentary on the logos contained in his 8-volume Systematic Theology on the subject of Christology as shared with us by our brother in Christ, Doug Cotterman.
³ Hebrews 1: 3