Discerning the Logos, Part Two

Manna, Water, and Fire

The Logos is not a powerful word. No. It is a Word-filled power. This concept is difficult to fully understand, so difficult that some translations incorrectly render Hebrews 1:3 as the power of His word.

The spoken Logos of God is the Word that demonstrates power at work in our world�"that power is not scripture, not the church, not our nation, not even our family.

The Logos is the Word-full power of the Eternal Spring flowing in us, beside us, and for us. The Logos is that which sustains us and that which enlightens us. All is upheld by the Logos alone. All deflates like a balloon if the Logos is removed.

The Logos is both the “brightness of (God’s) glory)” and “the express image of (God’s) person (Hebrews 1:3). The image of the Father is anointed with the Holy Spirit, God’s glory. Jesus, while a Person in His own right, also displayed God’s Trinity. Each Person of the Godhead is unique and distinct while also being unified.

To understand the Logos, the Christ, we must trek in the desert to become familiar with the Trinity. Where did the Trinity appear in the desert trek? The Manna from heaven, the Water from the rock, and the cloud of Fire that guided them. The Manna to taste and see that God is good, the Water to refresh and purify, and the Fire to guide us through the night.

The Logos appears to us in different manifestations�"

• Manna instead of mammon.

• Eternal Spring instead of muddy water.

• Fire instead of cold.

What do these three tell us? The Logos as Manna nourishes and sustains; the Logos as the Eternal Spring is pure and satisfying; the Logos as Fire gives warmth and light.

The thing is that we often want the Promised Land without the trek in the desert. To not trek in the desert means we will forego the Manna, the Eternal Spring, and the Fire. To become God’s people, we must experience the Logos in all of His manifestations as we trek to the Promised Land. The trek has two purposes�"to show us that God is trustworthy, and that we must be trusting.

We become pure and holy only when we invest our time and energy to experience God’s provisions. For our souls to beautify in the brightness of His glory takes time. A friend of mine threw away her sourdough starter because her first loaf of bread was not as beautiful as the artesian loaves she had seen. Sourdough starter needs time and attention. Our bodies, too, as we work the dough to experience its rising. Before the beauty manifests, the bread still nourishes and beckons by its heavenly smell.

But some of us avoid failure at all costs and stop short of our goal. We settle for less or we fritter away our time in mindless activity instead of investing ourselves in the search.

If we wish to find the Logos�"the Way, the Truth, and the Life�"we must sell all to buy the field. What are we looking for? The “seed.” For a pearl to form, the seed, a grain of sand, must be present. The oyster focuses on the “seed,” and over time, the pearl grows. The “seed” is the Logos in this illustration and the oyster is us. The pearl grows inside if we give the “seed” our time and attention.

Last week, we saw that recognizing the seed is our first step. Giving time and attention to allow the growth within us is the second step. This is to familiarize ourselves with the Logos.

Peter recognized the Logos and realized that Jesus was God and left all to follow Him. His Walk with Jesus convinced Peter that Jesus was “the Christ, the Son of the living God (Matthew 16:16).” But we know this was not enough to deliver Peter from the temptations he would soon face. What had he yet failed to do?

Join me next week to find out.