Series 2 - Lesson 6 - Annotation 1
What is the Word of God, or the Logos?
1. The Word of God is Divine Mind in action. It is God in His capacity as creative power. God, Spirit, Being, I AM, the original Cause, said "Let there be ..." (Gen. 1:3), thus speaking Himself into expression. God, Divine Mind, from Himself creatively produced or brought forth that which He is. The Word of God is the expression of God's idea of Himself; it is simultaneously the idea and the expression of the idea. It is the rational thought which in its perfection (for God is perfect) is a creative idea. That is, it contains or has inherent in itself the ability to produce from itself. Spirit knows itself: God is, I AM eternally Being.
In his Gospel, John used the phrase "Word of God" for the "Logos," and through this medium we reach the understanding of God's perfection incarnated in the man Jesus. "The Word became flesh, and dwelt among us" (John 1:14), Jesus manifested God's creative power in all its fullness.
The word Logos in the original writings means all the inherent qualities inherent and active in Being (God); the creative power, the ability to reproduce out of itself that which it is. The Logos is the Word, the thought-word, the creative idea, the total of all the God qualities (ideas, principles, or laws of God). The Logos is the rational principle of the universe; it is both reason and speech. In man, the Word is called: I AM, Jehovah God, Lord God, Christ, spiritual man, image of God, composite idea, only begotten, Son of God, Seed of God. Thus the Word, as spiritual man, belongs to the second phase of the Holy Trinity.
Perhaps an important function to remember about the Word is that mentioned by Charles Fillmore in Talks on Truth 68:
"To produce works, there must be a working power. This is exactly what the Word is — the working power of God."
The office or function of the Word of God (Logos) in man is to build states of consciousness; to reveal to man's human consciousness the inner workings of his spirit, soul, and body; to reveal to man the powers and possibilities of his own being; to light the way; to give man understanding and inspiration.
The relation of the Word of God (Logos) to man as a human being is that of Father of his human consciousness. It is that in man which will enable him to produce or bring forth all that has been infolded within him (Involution). It is the plan, the purpose, the image, the choice, the will and intention of God for man as a human being that will enable him to unfold (evolution) and to manifest or show forth the "likeness" of God. It provider the power that we use as our formative power of thought, in our thinking, feeling, speaking, and acting. It also provides the power that we use to form the substance of God into things, circumstances, events, and conditions in our everyday life.
"With the early Fathers of the Greek Church the divine Logos had a peculiar significance which only those who had delved into the innermost of existence could comprehend.
"Philo made the divine Logos the embodiment of all divine powers and ideas. He distinguished between the Logos Inherent in God, corresponding to reason in man, and the Logos emanating from God, corresponding to the spoken word that reveals the thought. The former contains the ideal world; the latter is the first-begotten Son of God, the image of God" (Teach Us to Pray 167).
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Preceding Entry: Explain how one overcomes wrong beliefs of "the world," "the flesh," and "the devil" as mentioned in the temptation of Jesus recorded in Matt. 4:1-11. (Also recorded in Mark 1:12,13 and Luke 4:1-13).
Following Entry: How was the universe created?
