During the Christmas season, it is not unusual to hear these words read: “And the word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory … (John 1:14)

Jesus is clearly God’s special revelation to the world. He is the great apologetic, the defense of our faith, the rock we build our lives on.

When my oldest son was around twelve years old, he asked me why I believed in God. I told him that there are many compelling reasons to believe, but for me, the primary reason is Jesus, the word made flesh. I explained, true faith must have a foundation, and Jesus is that foundation. In fact, he is the cornerstone.

Tim Keller gives some additional insight into this verse in John 1:14.

The early Greek philosophers lived during the same time period as a number of the Old Testament prophets. The Greek philosophers of the time developed a concept called the logos. It is where we get the English word logic. In Greek, the word logos literally means “the word;” but it has a secondary meaning, “the reason for life.” The Greeks believed when one finds his logos, his reason for life, he would become complete and whole. He would then be able to reach his full potential as a person.

The problem is that the Greeks could never agree on what comprised the logos. They could never construct a unified belief on the reason of life. Rather than being “the word,” logos became nothing more than “just another word.”

This is why, Tim Keller says, that the apostle John, in his opening words in the gospel of John, drops a bombshell on the world:

In the beginning was the Logos,
And the Logos was with God,
And the Logos was God.
He was with God in the beginning.
All things came into being through him
And apart from Him nothing came into being
That has come into being.
Life was in Him,
And that life was the light of men.
That light shines in the darkness,
Yet the darkness did not overcome it (John 1:1-5, author paraphrase).

God is revealing to us that in the beginning was the logos, the reason for life; and the reason for life was God, and the reason for life became a human being and dwelt among us. What John says is that the logos, the reason for life, was not and is not a philosophical principle, as the Greeks believed, but the logos is in fact a person, Jesus Christ.

When we enter into a relationship with Him and truly get to know Him and serve Him, we become complete and whole. We find a higher purpose for which to live. It is in Jesus Christ, indeed that we discover our reason for life.