Sermon Tone Analysis

The Logos

Now we want to look at the logos and see if the logos doctrine is something that is supportive of the doctrine of the Trinity.

We have gone ahead and talked about how the Bible shows that there is only one God and that there is no God created before or after him.

And then we see created beings being called God biblically.

And we explained that the reason that created beings are allowed to be called gods is because when the Bible speaks of there only being one God is in actuality speaking of how many gods there are.

Who is really God and how many are there who are really God and the answer is there is only one and that is the father per 1 Corinthians 8:6.

Because otherwise would have to deny all the verses where the Bible calls created beings God's.

Even when God appointed Moses as a God to other humans in Exodus 7:1.

We have come to understand that there is only one real God there are many other gods but they're not the real God and there has never been any created God who was real as the one true God who is God the father.

So, in that we have a balance we are not going to the extreme in saying that nothing else in the Bible is called God in the kingdom of God because that would be false.

We also acknowledging that some of the servants of God are also called gods including angels and humans but we are not going to go to the extreme of adding them to the concept of who God is but a technically that they are gods in some way but not violating the understanding that there is only one real God.

And then after this we built upon looking at Scripture that shows a plurality of conversation between beings were doing powerfully divine things like creation for example.

And we acknowledge that this begs the question why if there is only one real God would there be a “we” alluded to “us” alluded to in Genesis 1:26 and Genesis 3:22 and other places.

And so because there is no biblical reason to say that there are multiple personalities in the one God although that could be an answer that idea is not hinted at in the Bible.

So, we decide that only one of the plurality in conversation can be God and the other is one in likeness like the real God and is participating in the creation of all things.

Because we want to maintain the oneness of God the solution is not to add to our idea of who God is at personalities but understand that God is being assisted or is allowing someone to assist in his operation of creation.

The safest route to go is not to add to the one God another personality but someone who is existing with him and is created first.

After this we began to examine the biblical mentioning of the angel of the Lord.

And really the messenger of the Lord because that's all Angel really means.

And we began to examine this messenger of God who was appearing and then saying that he was God also in various places in the Old Testament.

And Trinitarian's want to say this as proof that the multiplicity in God is being revealed here.

But as we continue to scrutinize and see the culture in which the Jewish understanding of the logos in the messenger and also Justin Martyr and his understandings of the logos and even John the apostle's understanding of who the Logos is we get an enlightening idea that the doctrine of the Trinity's idea of a tri-unity or a multiplicity in a divinity is not what's being spoken out.

We realized that the reason the Bible shows a messenger and then God and then the messenger again is because the Bible is showing us that it is an agent for God but is not God.

And that this being is in the role of mediator a go-between of two different parties.

And that it's not actually showing that this being is also God but showing that this being is not God but is only an agent of God.

Therefore, revealing that there is no Trinity being described here.

That there is no allusion or inference of the Trinity here actually a separation and that the Bible goes to great lengths to show that this messenger is not God but is an image or representation of God to the world.

We also understand that no one has ever seen God and therefore anyone who has seen someone that's called God for sure did not see the Almighty father but his servant his messenger his son.

And also, the ramifications of why Jesus is able to be seen and how that in many other details disqualify him for being the one true God.

But also, how it's allowed for him to be called God.

Now we're going to look at the concept of the word of the Lord.

This is a very complex topic that reaches back into the Jewish understanding of the logos and the stoic understanding of wisdom, the apostolic idea of the logos, and the biblical representation of the logos.

So, the first thing we want to look at is some verses concerning the logos in the Old Testament.

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Psalm 33:4 NASB95

For the word of the LORD is upright,

And all His work is done in faithfulness.

Here we see that the Logos is being characterized with a personality it speaks of the word being upright and that his work is done faithfully or in faithfulness.

When we see these characterizations we have to understand that it's not talking about literal words or ever was.

This is obviously Jesus and it is describing how upright and how faithful Jesus is.

Always must also understand is that these characteristics are characteristics of someone who is not God but is a servant of God.

To be faithful and to operate in faithfulness means that you are being genuine and honest and obedient and always available to the one who is directing.

And we know from the character of Jesus that he says he's not going to do anything without the father instructing him first.

So, we see how in the Old Testament when we see the word of the Lord that it's talking about a person and that person is Jesus.

Now before we go on I'd like to show you a couple of verses where it talks about Jesus in the Old Testament and being the one who is representing God and revealing God to the world but is not necessarily the only true God himself.

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Genesis 15:1 NASB95

After these things the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision, saying,

“Do not fear, Abram,

I am a shield to you;

Your reward shall be very great.”

Here we see that the word of the Lord came to Abraham now we could see this as God sent a word to Abraham but that's not the structure of the sentence.

If we look deeply at the way in which the sentence is structured is saying that someone called the Word of God or the word of the Lord came to Abraham.

We must look at the unusual way in which the Bible is describing things.

And hopefully you will learn to see that sometimes when the word of the Lord is called out is not talking about some word flying towards an individual but as Jesus being called the word of the Lord coming to someone and then saying something.

Because you can see how the word of the Lord comes and then the word itself says something.

And this shows you that it's not actually sound coming to Abraham and then saying something it's a person being called the word of the Lord then saying something.

There are many other examples of this there are probably too many to talk about here.

But this should give you a clue on how to see that.

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ANF01.

The Apostolic Fathers with Justin Martyr and Irenaeus ANF01.

The Apostolic Fathers with Justin Martyr and Irenaeus

But so much is written for the sake of proving that Jesus the Christ is

the Son of God and His Apostle, being of old the Word, and appearing

sometimes in the form of fire, and sometimes in the likeness of angels;

but now, by the will of God, having become man for the human race, He

endured all the sufferings which the devils instigated the senseless

Jews to inflict upon Him; who, though they have it expressly affirmed

in the writings of Moses, "And the angel of God spake to Moses in a

flame of fire in a bush, and said, I am that I am, the God of Abraham,

and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob," yet maintain that He who

said this was the Father and Creator of the universe.

Now here we see the infamous Justin Martyr explaining who the word of the Lord is and that it was the word of the Lord who appeared to Moses and not the Almighty.

Know what we must understand is that Justin is teaching the same thing that Arians teach that Jesus is in the Old Testament that these are instances of Jesus being described.

But are also not teaching that the creator of all the maker of all the father of all the all mighty uncreated being is not who their seeing.

But that Jesus can be called God but is a messenger here it's generally translated as Angel and apostle and on and on.

Then you could say that you think Justin is teaching trinitarianism and that Justin is giving the point of view of trinitarianism.

But that is further truth than many Trinitarian's would like to admit.

Because not only does Jesus appear as the word and the logos and the messenger and the apostle or prophet of God in the Old Testament to Justin but Justin calls Jesus another God.

So numerically Justin is saying that Jesus is not the same God that the father is but that Jesus is another God another divinity but because we know that there's only one true God one real God he is saying of Jesus that Jesus is not the only true God.

Which goes along with what Jesus confessed about himself and the father in John 17:3 in that verse Jesus says that the father is the only true God.

Explicit confession that Jesus himself is not part of the true God that someone else is.

So Jesus, Justin and Arianism are consistent in their description of who this logos messenger is and that's a servant of God the son of God but not God Almighty.

We have to wonder as Trinitarian and you would have to wonder why does the Bible say that this logo is a messenger and an apostle or representative of God but it just does not call Jesus or the word Almighty.

Why doesn't it just a God appeared there why does it have to say a messenger was there instead at some point.

And this goes back to the same explanation that we got from the messenger of the Lord that the Bible shows that the word of the Lord and the messenger of the Lord are separate beings who are being used by God to represent him are not separate to each other they are the same being but they're not one with the father and not one with the true God they can be called God in our God in a certain sense but they are not the true God.

Because as we are pretty discussed there is only one true God but there are other beings who are called God in the kingdom of God and Jesus and Moses are one of them.

So, as we're going in this concept we are starting to realize that just because the Logos is in the Old Testament and just because it's Jesus and just because she is representing God in all of the theophany it does not mean that Jesus is part of the tri-unity.

Because even the church that Justin represents between the time of 110 a D to 165 A.D. understands that Jesus is another God which is contrary to the concepts in the doctrine of the Trinity.

But I think what happened at the time of the Council of Nicaea when the concept of Jesus being God Almighty came to be developed is a direct result of the church itself drifting away from Jewish influence on the understanding of the Scriptures.

The well-studied Arians during the fourth century were the ones who are most respected Like Eusebius of Caesarea whom the Trinitarian's painstakingly tried to Make him out to be the Trinitarian even though he opposed saying that Jesus was a part of God.

These very respected scholars maintained the Jewish understanding that the word of the Lord was created like Philo that understood the the oldest of God's creations the son of God and the image of.

This was the Jewish understanding of the time of Christ.

And this is what was being lost by the Nicene Council who had come to a point of anti-Jewish sentiment.

In trying to evolve into some other theology that distance itself from Jewish theology.

What resulted was the pagan influenced multiplicity in the substance of God.

So were to look at another Scripture talking about the word or the wisdom of God and look at the Jewish viewpoint that was being lost by the Nicene Council.

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Proverbs 8:22–31 NASB95

“The LORD possessed me at the beginning of His way,

Before His works of old.

“From everlasting I was established,

From the beginning, from the earliest times of the earth.