The Source of Truth
John 14:6
John 14:6 is frequently used in sermons, signs and brochures. We wonder if it is really understood. Most often it is cited to affirm that Jesus Christ is the only way a person can be reconciled with God. We agree this verse does teach this. Without Jesus, there is simply no hope for mankind. But is that the main focus on what Jesus was saying?
"1 "Let not your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me.
2 "In My Father's house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you.
3 "And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.
4 "And you know the way where I am going."
5 Thomas said to Him, "Lord, we do not know where You are going, how do we know the way?"
6 Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but through Me.
7 "If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; from now on you know Him, and have seen Him."
8 Philip said to Him, "Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us."
9 Jesus said to him, "Have I been so long with you, and yet you have not come to know Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; how do you say, "Show us the Father"?"
John 14:1-9, NASB.
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"Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but through Me." John 14:6
We need to look at the context as well as the words.
Jesus is the Way.
We find that Jesus is clearly discussing the way a person can find union with God. There is no doubt that a person can find God the Father through Jesus Christ. We must go beyond this. He is the exclusive way. We might fear there are not many roads, but why? If there is one wellmarked road, is this not sufficient.
Jesus is the Truth.
He is the full revelation of God. The word 'truth' is used 22 times in the Gospel of John. If we know the Son, we also know the Father. This thought seems to tie back to John 1:1-3.
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being by Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being."
Just as Truth is the very principle of God, so is Jesus Christ. Jesus was/is the Word (logos) of God. He never was created but always existed. Instead we see all things were made through Him. Everything is totally dependent upon Him. So just as truth is the backbone of creation, so is Christ. Without Him, one is simply living outside of God's revelation.
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Our sinful world is much like a virus threatening to occupy God's kingdom. The world has different operating rules. It tries to usurp God's creation because it has nothing of its own.
We do not hear people saying that a virus should have equal footing with their regular genetic code. People want to get rid of the virus invasion and allow their body to normally function. We might look at all of the human race as invaded and occupied and only by being freed and restored by Christ can we be restored. The sinsick and wayward thoughts of man are not normal. They are twisted and perverted.
Jesus is the Truth. He fully reveals the Lord's way and wonderfully enables us to be restored to it. Other religions are simply man's way of justifying their twisted lives. Only Christ leads back to God the Father. Let us not be ashamed of the Truth. Only here will we find the glorious path to true freedom.
Jesus is the Life.
He also is the Life. If we continue to use the illustration of the virus, we see that the virus lives off of what is already existent. Its path is destruction: occupy and destroy. We might live seventy years before our bodies give in to its full destructive path. But this is totally different than Life. This Life was shown in Christ who healed the sick, cast out demons and rose men from the dead. The Life is the main operating energy source.
So again, we ask, "What would we do without Christ?" We would perish. We already are perishing. Our time is limited before what was given to us at birth is wiped out. The evil operating principle of destruction is fast gaining its killing hand upon our lives. Medicines merely hold back the destructive process. We need life!
Summary
We might ask what this truth has to do with living godly lives. We need to be embrace the truth with much more confidence. We cannot think that others apart from Christ have a solution. We dare not stand around doing nothing when people are perishing. The truth is worth living and dying for. We have one life, and we must quickly eradicate every compromise of this truth. Each compromise is a twisting of the truth so that it is no longer truth. In order to be men of the Truth, we need to allow Jesus Christ fully reign in our lives. This is when the Spirit of Truth has full reign in our lives and in our sinaffected bodies.
"That is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not behold Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you, and will be in you." (John 14:17)
"When the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, that is the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, He will bear witness of Me." (John 15:26)
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