Way, Truth, and Life

Have you ever been in a position where you thought you knew where you were going… only to find out you have no idea how to get there?

Maybe you forgot the name of the street. Maybe you forgot what part of town your destination was in. Maybe you got the numbers of the address switched around. Nevertheless… you found yourself at a loss. You didn’t know which way to go.

Today, we have these nifty little cell phones in our pockets that can help us in this kind of need.

We don’t need the address… all we need is the name of the place.

Say the name, and your phone can typically get you there! GPS is truly a helpful tool and resource when it comes to finding our way to a certain place.

But what if that place… is a place not of this world? Could Siri get you there? Could Google maps plot the course?

Jesus was talking to His disciples in John 14 and He is speaking of going to a place that would be prepared for His followers. He is speaking about heaven. He is talking specifically about His Father’s house.

And then He drops this line in verse 4.

John 14:4 NIV

4 You know the way to the place where I am going.”

Jesus tells His disciples that they know the “way” to the place He was talking about. Thomas speaks up and asks a question:

How can we know the way if we don’t know where you are going?

Jesus had given these guys the destination… but it wasn’t reachable by conventional means. Just for fun, I asked Siri “how do I get to heaven?” and her reply was simple: “Interesting question.” Siri has NO IDEA.

Heaven is not a place you can find on the map. It is not a place you can accidently run into on a road trip. Heaven is a place that is reachable through a way unlike any other way. And Jesus makes this clear in the next “I am” statement He makes in John.

John 14:6–7 NIV

6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7 If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”

Heaven is a place that people want to go to.

Our culture is very familiar with the existence of heaven… there even seems to be a general understanding of life after death.

The problem is… the world does not understand how to get there. God has provided for us a very specific way back to Him… and His name is Jesus Christ.

You can speak a name of a place in your phone and the GPS can get you there… But if you desire to make it to heaven… you must call on the name of Jesus as Lord and Savior!

Tonight I want to quickly break down Jesus’ I Am statement in John 14 before we move to a time of prayer.

Jesus is who Scripture says He is. He truly is the Lamb of God who came to take away the sins of this world!

John 14:6 gives us three realities that can only be found in Jesus.

The reality of the way.

The reality of the truth.

The reality of the life.

The three things Jesus lists are not fictional nor are they unreachable. They are something we can experience only in Jesus.

Jesus the WAY

First off, what did Jesus mean when He told the disciples that He was the way?

Simply put… Jesus is the ONLY way back to the Father.

When sin entered this world, our fellowship with God was severed. Sin created a gap between creator and creation. This was NOT how God the Father intended for things to be.

The sin gap is something you and I cannot overcome on our own.

We can not work hard enough, earn enough, prove ourselves enough, be good enough, or even be religious enough.

We do not have the ability to overcome sin on our own! That is why God made clear in Genesis 3 that although we had no way back to Him, God would make a way back to Him!

Have you ever faced an unexpected challenge… maybe at work or with some project at home, where you had to change course?

You run into a snag… and if you’re like me… you do what you can to make a way to get it done.

When working on cars, I almost treat it like a contest… between me and whatever is broken.

And when I run into an issue… I have been know to say, “There is no way this bolt or this part is going to beat me.” I find a way to make it happen!

I’m not really competing against the part… so much as I am trying to overcome the challenge. I WANT TO WIN. I want to reach the objective.

But when it comes to making it to heaven… there is no amount of work or creative work around that can get me there. As hard as I might try, I CANNOT overcome that challenge on my own.

This is NOT because there is anything wrong with God or heaven… it is because there is everything wrong with me! SIN is an obstacle that none of us can beat on our own.

And so long as sin is in the picture… heaven will remain out of reach. With sin in the picture, our fellowship with God will remain broken.

And then… there was Jesus. The Son of God came to this earth to provide us a way back to the Father.

The way… was through His blood. BECAUSE Jesus was without sin… His blood was the ONLY source worthy to cover ALL our sins.

And… His blood was given freely so that we could be set free.

There is NO OTHER WAY to the Father except through Jesus.

The idea of pluralism that has taken hold is nothing but an idea… there is no truth in that. There is only one way to the Father and His name is Jesus.

Jesus the TRUTH

Secondly, Jesus makes clear that He is THE truth.

And this is significant. He is not A truth to be considered… He is THE truth that brings freedom.

This world is looking for truth… or so many claim to be. But is this world really looking for truth?

Yes… I believe everyone is looking for whatever will make them whole again. I believe they are searching for fulfillment and satisfaction.

However, when it comes to truth, I fear people aren’t really looking for truth, but rather they are looking for whatever will align with how they feel or how they want to live.

Truth is NOT a matter of perspective. Truth is NOT something that aligns to us… it is something me must come into alignment with.

If a person wants to know and find the truth… then that person must find and know Jesus.

There is NO OTHER source of truth that can set your soul free like Jesus.

As we are living in the information age… it can be difficult sometimes to know what is true and what is not.

It really can be hard to decipher between fact and fiction!

That is why the truth found in Jesus is so incredible. It doesn’t matter what age we live in, Jesus’ truth is the truth for ALL ages!

His truth has stood throughout all of time. His commands lead us to life and away from sin.

His truth guides us from that which would bind us. His truth is not a matter of debate, it is not up for argument, it is not something we can redefine.

A person can reject it, a person can choose not to believe in it… but that does not make His truth any less true.

Consider this… there are signs up and down highway 36 that tell you the speed limit is 65 mph. That is the law… that is the truth. Your car can go faster than that… but just because it can doesn’t mean it should!

You can choose to deny the truth and break the speed limit… but that means you will face the consequence if an officer of the law happens to catch you.

What’s worse is… you place yourself in greater danger going faster speeds should your tire go flat, you hit an obstacle, etc. You also place other motorists at risk.

When it comes to how we live life, we can choose to follow Jesus’ truth or we can choose to go our own way.

But freedom is found ONLY in Christ.

John 8:31–32 NIV

31 To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. 32 Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

Jesus the LIFE

Jesus came that we might have life to the full. Jesus came to deliver us from a position of certain death, into a new reality of eternal life.

True and lasting spiritual life is available only through His life, His death, and His resurrection.

With Easter now only a couple of weeks away, I hope we never forget what the Lord truly did for us.

Jesus’ laid down His life… and took on our death. He took on the full weight of our sins willingly and paid for them with His blood.

When we give our lives to Jesus… we lay down our death and take on His life.

This is ONLY POSSIBLE because of what Jesus did for us. He took our place… took on our death and brought us new life!

And the cool thing is… He not only took on our death… He defeated that death when He walked out of the grave!

Death could not hold Him! Jesus is victorious over sin, death, and the grave! And this victory is something that we can experience when we give ourselves over to Jesus!

In Christ, we are delivered from that which brought us death. We are set free from sin and its consequence.

In Christ, we are promised life more abundantly - the very thing Jesus came to give to those who would believe in Him.

This kind of life cannot be found in any other source outside of Jesus. Jesus IS the only source of this life because He IS the life we have been longing for!

This We Know

These points are truths that we know and live by. This message may seem like a bit of review for the home team on a Sunday night.

However, I hope this message does more than remind us of who Christ is… I hope it encourages a higher since of urgency to share Christ with others.

BECAUSE He is the way… BECAUSE He is the truth… BECAUSE He is the life… we, the body of Christ, should be doing all we can to share this truth and reality with others.

There is NO other way back to the Father.

There is NO other truth that can set you free.

There is NO other life that spans eternity.

If we REALLY believe this… then what is it that stops us from sharing this with a world that is dying in their sin?

We KNOW the way. We KNOW the truth. We KNOW the life. We have the privilege to know Jesus. And we live in a world that will perish outside of knowing Christ.

So I want to lead us to a prayer focus tonight with three different aspects:

Prayer Point One: BECAUSE Jesus is the way, truth, and life… God, help me to be fully committed in my WALK with Jesus.

Prayer Point Two: BECAUSE Jesus is the way, truth, and life… God, help me to be fully committed in my WITNESS for Jesus.

Prayer Point Three: BECAUSE Jesus is the way, truth and life… God, help me to be fully EMPOWERED through Your Holy Spirit.