Added Introduction to Gospel of John

[HKHaugan]

Gospel of John---Introduction

John 4 Shedding the Old, Receiving the New

“Knowing Christ and Making Him Known” is the mission of All Souls. The core meaning here is wrapped up in the word 'know.' The usual secular meaning is limited to intellectual knowledge. However, to know as a disciple of Jesus is much broader. It has a threefold dimension. It involves the whole person---mind, heart and spirit---the image of God in us.

First, to know Christ involves the mind. That is, knowing about Him makes up what we believe about Him. Scripture retrains the mind to shape our belief. But there's far more.

Second, to know Him involves the heart. What happens in our heart is that we begin to process what the mind takes in from Scripture. That builds trust in Him. As we trust Him our heart grows to be more like His heart. We begin to feel like He feels and feel the hearts of others, their joys and pains. As we trust Him our spirit desires to let Him direct our lives.

Third, to know Christ involves our spirit. This is where we begin to step out in faith. Our new born spirit wants to serve Him and is motivated by the Holy Spirit to act in faith. Our spirit begins to discern the forces about us that work for and against knowing Him. It is in the Spirit that our spirit gains direction as we move in the midst of those unseen forces.

Jesus demonstrates this threefold experience in John 4 when He talks to the Samaritan woman.
The mind---vs.10
The heart---vs.13-14
The spirit---vs.16-18

Jesus summarizes these dimensions in vs.21-26 and then in vs.27-42 gets the disciples to look forward and offering the new freedom of the heart as seen in the actions of those who received the witness of the woman at the well.

In vs.43-54 Jesus heals an official's son and shows how belief in Jesus starts with the mind and what it believes. Then the heart is engaged to trust and the spirit engaged to step out in faith.

Now we can return to the beginning of John and begin with how He starts with our mind and opens the door for us to see how he concludes His Gospel, that through belief in Jesus we have eternal life which starts the moment we believe (20:31).