Truth

John 3:1–21 ESV

Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.” Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” Nicodemus said to him, “How can these things be?” Jesus answered him, “Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand these things? Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know, and bear witness to what we have seen, but you do not receive our testimony. If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things? No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.”

In this Chapter Nicodemus, a Pharasee, came to Jesus to find out how to enter the Kingdom of God. And Jesus presents him with the concept of being born again. Putting your faith in the completed work of Jesus on the cross. in the same way that the Israelites were saved in through believing God’s word and looking at the brass serpent, we are saved by believing in the Risen Son of Jesus.

Last week we talked about Faith. About how it is what we build our lives on. How when we put our faith in Jesus it gives us a sure foundation. But as Sean talked about in this video belief by itself isn’t enough we have to have our lives built on the truth.

Misconception: I am the source of truth in my own life

2 Timothy 4:3–4 ESV

For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.

People today only want to hear the truths that affirm the things they want to do. And the reality is there are plenty of people who will do just that. So called Christian Pastors and influencers explaining away why this is ok and that is ok. People want to believe that as long as they are sincer in thier beleif then that is all that matters. Love is love, Drink all you want, Sleep with anyone, As long as no one is getting hurt it don’t matter.

People want to define truth, because it gives them power, and it removes guilt or shame. As long as it can be justified it must be good. Or even if its legal then it must not be immoral. People have always wanted to be gods of our own lives.

Genesis 3:4–6 ESV

But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate.

Look at Satan’s temptaions (lies) You won’t die… God is lying to you… For if you do this then your eyes will be opened and you will be like God… God is trying to keep good things from you. But you can be like him, on his level, deciding what is good and evil for yourself.

Humanity is still trying to be god. Apart from Jesus… We are still trying to tell ourselves what is true and what isn’t true. We still think God is trying to keep good things from us. We still fail to live up to God’s design for our lives. We are still slaves to our sin.

Illumination: As we conform our lifes to the truth of God’s Word, we will experiance the freedom of God’s design in our lifes.

The Reality is that Jesus is the Truth. As God his very nature is truth. So the things that he reveals as truth are therefore true.

John 14:6 ESV

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

Our job is to conform to his Truth rather than trying to bend the truth to our will and desires. We don’t have the right or athority to try and manipulate reality to our wills. We simply accept God for what he is and what he says, then follow what he gives us to do.

John 8:31–32 ESV

So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

People in general don’t have a problem believing that there is more than just what we see. That’s why the stories of aliens, other dimensions, and multiverses are so popular in our culture. They want there to be something out there bigger than themselves. They want to find purpose beyond simply going to work and filling thier time between sleeps. The problem is they don’t want to be told what to do. They want a higher power to be out there, but one that defines truth upsets them, because they still want to be god of thier own lives. So they immediatly reject the truth as recorded in scripture, and carry on in thier own mediocraty. Slaves to thier own passions and desires.

God has more in store for you than mediocraty. He desires the best for your heart, life and soul. Freedom to experiance Real. Real peace, Real, Joy, Real fulfilment in life. But that only comes when we accept his truth and follow it.

Responce

Lies sound good. They get wrapped up in sweetness and false promises. Those promises sound tempting. We think that giving into sin will give pleasure. But all it does is leave us empty. According to God’s word there are consequences to not standing upon God’s truth. How have you determined truth in your own life? Was it based on evidence, science, or feelings? Is it based in people’s opinions or God’s word? Do the beliefs you hold match the reality? Do you hold to truth?