John’s “Beginning”

SUN., SEPT. 3, 1995, 5:54 AM
FARM, STUDY

The service yesterday in memory of Chris was “a good one”. She was there, and she was pleased with who was there and what was said. Your small omission was unfortunate, but minor. You used My Teaching well.

This morning you plan to start your class off with John’s “Beginning…” “in the beginning there was the Word…” and you do need some help from Me. Yes, o son, you do perceive it correctly. This is a very appropriate start for the Christian Scriptures. I, as Jesus, was and am The Word, was and am the Christ. We were a Triune God from the beginning, before creation. For Me, for Us, there is no time, no space, nothing before I Am. Yes, that is mystery.

The two Gospels that give you the composite Christmas story are, of course, more popular and familiar. That story seems to say that I was a “single God” Who then, in a moment in time, with the help of Me, the Holy Spirit, created a Jewish baby who grew up to become the Christ. It’s a good story, and it’s much more appropriate as the basis of a holiday/festival than this non-dramatic “in the beginning was the Word.” No stable, no shepherds, no wisemen… just, “I’ve always been here”.

And you know Me well enough by now to appreciate My assertion that truth can be found in stories that don’t seem consistent, by your way of thinking. Fundamentally, I can’t be limited, and I won’t be limited to one way of perceiving and thinking. And then I’ll say that the basic Truth is here in John. In the beginning I already “was”, We “were”. For the many years of the Old Testament story, I was present in spirit only, but present. That’s too mystical for many practical Christians. But then I allowed such development, didn’t I!?

I, as Holy Spirit, had John, the Gospel writer, acknowledge John, who became the Baptist, as being sent from Me to herald My coming… and then it was simply stated, “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us”. How? It doesn’t matter. When? It doesn’t matter. Where? This is identified by people and places, not in any systematic way… because the Truth is that, in addition to the stories of My birth and My death, as Jesus, I, as Triune God have always been, and have been in this Earth since its creation… and with humans since their creation.

Despite its physical nature the Earth is a spiritual realm, one of My favorites. Just as you have several “favorite places” here on the Farm, so I have favorite realms, and even favorite places here in the Earth. My Spirit permeates this earth and its people, and your culture has had to “work hard” to downplay that truth. I have allowed, even encouraged, a diversity of spiritual paths, and even as the Christian path is My favorite I am not limited to it.

For then comes this bold assertion, in Luke’s Gospel, “the Kingdom of God is within you.” How’s that for a mystical truth?! Despite all of the organization and “trappings” of religion, My Kingdom… and I… is/am within you… within each of you. And then I allow lots of competition to that realization.

Paul’s conversion story is a good example. Paul, or Saul, was a religious zealot, one of My “best”. The Kingdom was within him, but he was too busy being religious (as are many Christians this very day). So I “made a move on him”, took away his sight, and spoke directly, from outside but also from inside. I needed churches, and I needed a religious servant, but I had to touch his spirit, with Mine, first.