What would a logo representing God look like?
All of have seen logos in a variety of places. It might be Golden Arches at McDonald’s, or a “Swoosh” on Nike athletic ware, or even an apple with a bite out of it on Apple computers and cell phones. In each case, a logo is an identifying symbol or motto that represents something that people can identify with. What if God had a logo? What would it look like and what would it communicate that people can identify with? So, what would a logo representing God look like?
What is a logo?
To answer this question, we need to look up what the word logo means. While the word in its original Greek language (logos) has been around a long time, the use of it in English is not that old. We see references to this as follows:
logo (n.): "Simple symbol or graphic meant to represent something," 1937, probably a shortening of logogram "sign or character representing a word." (1)logogram (n.): “word-sign, sign or character representing a word,” 1840, from logo- “word” +-gram. Generically, “any symbol representing graphically a product, idea, etc.,” from 1966. The earliest use of the word (1820) is in the sense “logograph,” but OED explains this as a substitute for logograph, “which in this sense is itself a mistake for logogriph,” the old type of word-puzzle. (2)
So, in other words, a logo is a symbol or graphic meant to represent something. How does that relate to God?
How does a logo relate to God?
If you study etymology in its purest form, you learn that words have origins. In the English language, most of the words have their origins in Latin or Greek. This is because historically, many people that spoke English have ancient ancestry that were influence culturally by ancient Romans and Greeks. Many other languages have these same influences as demonstrated by Spanish, which is a “Latin” originated language, which is where the term Latino originated. I observed this practically in a college French class many years ago when students of Spanish origins were seeing how well they could communicate with Italians attending our class using their native languages.
So, if we look in the Bible, we find that when you read the New Testament, and see a verse with the English word, “word”, it comes from the Greek Word logos as follows:
John 1:1,14. “In the beginning was the Word (Logos), and the Word (Logos) was with God, and the Word (Logos) was God. 14 And the Word (Logos) was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
If we look at Strong’s Concordance, we see the following information (3):
Greek Word: λόγος
Transliteration: logos
Phonetic Pronunciation: log’-os
Root: from <G3004>
Cross Reference: TDNT – 4:69,505
Part of Speech: n mfrom <G3004> (lego); something said (including the thought); by implication a topic (subject of discourse), also reasoning (the mental faculty or motive; by extension a computation; specially (with the art. in John) the Divine Expression (i.e. Christ):- account, cause, communication, Ă— concerning, doctrine, fame, Ă— have to do, intent, matter, mouth, preaching, question, reason, + reckon, remove, say (-ing), shew, Ă— speaker, speech, talk, thing, + none of these things move me, tidings, treatise, utterance, word, work.
The Word (Logos) has the same aspects as a logo
In verse 1, the Greek Word (Logos) exists, has meaning, and represents something:
- The Word exists: “In the beginning was the Word (Logos) and the Word (Logos) was with God…” The Word (Logos) existed in the beginning and was with God.
- The Word has meaning: “…and the Word (Logos) was God.” The Word (Logos) IS GOD!!!
In verse 14, the Word (Logos) was made flesh, lived among us, and was a graphic real representation of God the Father in how He looked and what He did.
- The Word had a physical form: “And the Word (Logos) was made flesh…”
- The Word was physically present for all to see: “…and dwelt among us….”
- The Word was and represented God in everything He did: “(and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.“
What do we learn from the Word (Logos) in the Bible?
We see the following summary of the Word of God:
- It was with God from the beginning (v1)
- It WAS God (v1)
- It was made into human flesh (v14)
- It lived among people (v14)
- It showed the world the glory, grace, and truth of God! (v14)
Hopefully by now, we can see who this might be. But, just to be sure let the Word of God, our Bibles, explain it:
1 John 1:1–3. “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life; 2 (For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and shew unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us;) 3 That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ.”
1 Timothy 3:15–16. “But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth. 16 And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.”
Hebrews 5:5–10. “So also Christ glorified not himself to be made an high priest; but he that said unto him, Thou art my Son, to day have I begotten thee. 6 As he saith also in another place, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec. 7 Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared; 8 Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered; 9 And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him; 10 Called of God an high priest after the order of Melchisedec.”
We see here that, the Word of God, is Jesus. He was with God from the beginning. He was made into human flesh. He lived among people. He showed the world the glory, grace, and truth of God! For more on Bible verses that say Jesus is God, read the following articles:
Bible Verses that Say Jesus is God
Can we trust that the Bible is accurate?
If God had a logo, what would it look like?
Based on everything we learned, it is clear to see that God does have a Logo! That Logo is Jesus! He was born as a baby, grew up to be a man, and lived a perfect life as the Logos, or Word of God. We also know that although He was crucified, died and buried, He rose again to newness of life and ascended to Heaven where He sits on the right hand of the Father, waiting for the day He rescuses us from the world. For more on this check out our Got Jesus article.
The Wonderful part is that He did not leave us without a Logo. That Logo is the Holy Spirit, Who lives inside each one of us that have trusted Christ as our Savior and gives us eternal life. He also gives us the power to transform our lives into a new life while we are on this earth. As we live a new life, like a logo, we strive can represent God to others.
Finally, God left us the written Word of God, the Scriptures, which are a written record of all He said and did. As we regularly study it and hide the Word, (Logos) in our hearts, He will transform us to be more like Him and give us understandingwe of the deep things of God. If that is not an awesome personal logo to each of us, what is? To learn more about studying the Word of God, check out our “How to Study the Bible Video Course” where you can also download a free workbook:
Final thoughts
We have learned that if God has a logo and what HE looks like, we can be confident in the fact that as Christians that have trusted Christ as our Savior, He will show us many things in the world around us that remind us of Him. Let us continue to learn about Him and take in all the things around us that remind us of Him, Finally, let us be a reminder and wonderful representation to others of the love of Christ as we seek to help and serve others in His name. May God bless us in our work.
Read more about logic and the truth of the Bible in the following article:
Is there anything logical about the Bible?
References
(1) https://www.etymonline.com/word/logo#etymonline_v_12396
(2) https://www.etymonline.com/word/logogram#etymonline_v_43780
(3) James Strong, “Λόγος,” in Strong’s Talking Greek and Hebrew Dictionary (WORDsearch, 2020).
