Kingdom dynamics

A trustworthy logos

Abreham G

Here is a trustworthy saying (logos):

If we died with him,

we will also live with him;

if we endure,

we will also reign with him.

(2 Tim 2:11-12a)

What a powerful saying! The logos is trustworthy as a statement of great biblical truth. In a nutshell it is salvation history outlined in a concise and easy to memorize form.

The Scriptures teach that God brought everything into being through his logos. The world (this creation) is proof of the trustworthiness of God's logos. Imagine the miracle of procreation. God made it possible because he birthed it by his logos. He said “be fruitful and increase in number” (Gen 1:28). We have not ceased to multiply since then. The same God had previously said “let there be light” (Gen 1:3). Hence there was light and there is light. Everything we have come to know or will come to know is the outcome of the creative work of God's logos. The biblical teaching of creation is established on this maxim. If the old creation had come to being and is sustained by the logos of God, the new creation into which we are ushered through the gospel, is also the work of God's logos.

What then is this trustworthy logos? It is the wisdom of living in God's new creation. It involves dying and rising. If dying is the path to new life, then we should not be afraid of death! The question lies in who we are dying with. Not all dead or dying people are going to rise to new life. It is those who die with Christ are assured of living with him. We died with Christ so that we might live with him. Or else what is the significance of our baptism?

We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life (Rom 6:4).

One area of interest is how this truth informs our community worship experience. Most Bible commentators believe that this section is poetic or hymnal in structure. Thus, the suggestion is that it may be one of the hymns the early church sung or a confessional baptizees proclaimed during baptisms. Whatever the case, the truth communicated serves as the foundation of new life in Christ. Indeed it is the foundation, the very essence of new creation, the glory and fullness of which we are yet to experience. And I look forward to the day when our communal worship brings us closer to re-living this truth. This was the confession of our predecessors. If we are serious enough like Paul, to worship God as our predecessors did, we will do well if we proclaim what they proclaimed. After all we are one body, one flock, one CHURCH.

Shalom