Pursuing Truth When

Intro

Exposition

I. Sin separates us from God, which in turn separates us from truth. (1-8)

During the times right before the Lord sent Judah into exile, He tried several times to warn them of what was coming.

As many times as He tried, very few walked in repentance. Most continued to walk in sin and rebellion.

There is a lot here, but one primary takeaway for us is that we must own our own evil and oppression.

It is popular today to blame others and deflect responsibility.

If we want to thrive, we have to recognize that it is our sin which has separated us from God.

Our separation from God is the ultimate reason why evil and oppression are so prevalent in the world.

It isn’t about power dynamics, or chemical imbalances, or whatever. The root issue is sin which has separated us from God.

You and I have played a role in this. We are not passive victims, but active participants in the rebellion against Holy God which has absolutely ruined this world.

II. The result of being separated from God, is that we have become utterly lost and disillusioned. (9-15)

Are you happy with where the world is today?

How many of you feel hopeless sometimes when you see how messed up things are?

Do you ever deal with depression or anxiety personally?

Ever feel like you are just taking shots in the dark and hoping something will stick?

The world apart from Christ talks a big game, but has no real solutions and it has always been that way.

Every human attempt to fix oppression just seems to end in more or at least different oppression.

III. God’s solution to our lack of truth, is Himself. (15)

Most people recognize that something about our world is broken. We can see this by observing the number of solutions being offered to try and fix it.

God knows that our attempts to fix the problem ourselves can only ever feed the problem, making things worse.

In the Garden, Adam and Eve broke away from God thinking they had a solution that was better than His.

It is precisely the breaking away from God which has caused our issue, and no solution other than God Himself can set us back to a place of being balanced and right before God and others.

Imagine you are in a boat that has had a hole blown into the hull.

You can try to patch the hole temporarily which may get you by for a minute. You can pretend like there is no hole which will prove to be a mistake in the end. You could take the boat back into the dock and fill in the hole with the proper material. Which option will best set your boat up for success?

If we are going to be whole and well, the God must have His proper place back in our lives.

“We are restless until we are at rest in You.” -Augustine, Confessions

Application

If you want to be a person of truth in a world of falsehood, pursue Jesus.

If you want to know true meaning and purpose, pursue Jesus.

If you want God’s solution to your sin and the world’s brokenness, pursue Jesus.

Gospel

It all comes back to Christ. There can only be one solution to what is busted about this world.

The lack of truth has created an aimlessness in us. The restoration of truth can give us back the meaning, purpose, and direction we were created for.

John 17:17 NASB 2020

Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth.

John 1:1–5 NASB 2020

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 through Him, and apart from Him not even one thing came into being that has come into being. In Him was life, and the life was the Light of mankind. And the Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not grasp it.

John 1:14 NASB 2020

And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us; and we saw His glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

We need to know God. We must be marinated in His truth which is His Word. Christ Himself is the incarnate Word of God.

The Word has come in order to do all that is required to restore us to being the people God created us to be.

Do you want to live in the restoration power of God? Then friends, pursue Jesus with all that you have.

Challenge

I dare you to put your phones away for 30 minutes each day to pursue Christ.

Take a few minutes to ask the Holy Spirit to guide your prayer, Bible reading, and meditations on what you read.

Take 10 to 15 minutes and read a section of scripture.

Take another few minutes to journal your thoughts, especially taking note of what you sense the Holy Spirit is teaching you about who God is, what God has done for you, who you are now in relation to who God is and what God has done, and what you think God wants you to do about what He is teaching you.

Close by spending some time in worship. You could sing to Him, or just speak words of adoration to Him.