The Shot Heard 'Round the World

[HKHaugan]

When a rifle is fired there is a kick against your shoulder, a loud noise and a bullet launched. When John wrote “In the beginning was the Word, the Word was with God and the Word was God” he fired a rifle shot into the heart of every invented thought and religious system of his time. He fired it to jar the individual reading it, make a loud noise in the culture and to penetrate the heart of every person. What he wrote was a challenge to every world authority. Group pressure, economic condition, social class, intellectual prowess, physical power and inner security were and are resolved in a personal relationship with the one spiritual and personal God who came in the flesh, Jesus the Christ.

No wonder John was sentenced to be isolated from the world on the island of Patmos. John was inspired by God the Holy Spirit to free the souls of mankind from the fear and intimidation of every social, political, intellectual and religious prison into which sin had driven them. When individuals find spiritual freedom they learn to think, they gain a sense of confidence and they share it with others. The more we are aware of the presence of Jesus the more we are aware of who we are and who and what we can become in Him. Thus the more confident we are in Him the more confident we are in ourselves.

This is what He demonstrated in His life. He grew in wisdom and stature with God and man as Scripture says and this is what He intended for each of us, to grow in wisdom and stature with Him and one another (note the Cross here, He is the vertical beam and in Him we are the horizontal beam, which is why He tells us to take up our cross, to trust Him).

There are three things the Holy Spirit made clear through John. First, Jesus is God the Son through whom all Creation came to exist. Second, Jesus is the spiritual definition of humanity. Third, faith in Jesus is how we live as spiritual images of God in human form. Belief in these three principles returns us each personally and eternally to His Father, our real Father.

John meant for us to really probe the Word, to savor its depth and to apply what the Spirit reveals. Why? Unlike the other Gospels which emphasize the divine humanity of Jesus, John emphasizes Jesus’ spirituality. All of the events recorded by John are the spiritual shape of His attitude which is to be our attitude. Therefore, to fully grasp John’s intention we need to read his first five verses before we go into each chapter. That will keep us in the spiritual context he set for us.

As we continue in John’s first chapter hold the door open for what Jesus is saying to you personally. Then share it with someone else. That’s how they did it in the first century.