The Way
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The Way 06-03-2018
Intro - Welcome
Last we talked about the truth
If you will remember that Truth is a person not a lofty idea we can sit around and talk about
Rather Truth is a person and His name is Jesus Christ
Last week we looked at the truth and how encouraging it is for a believer in Jesus
The truth Jesus set us free from the sin you and I were entangled with the sin you and I were slaves to, we are free indeed
This week I wanted us to use that same verse and look at Jesus as the way
Before we do that I want us to understand something from the beginning
Jesus was and is always the only Way
I do not believe that there was every another Way and I do not believe that there is any other way to God but through Jesus and to think so or to believe so is wrong
15 And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, And you shall bruise him on the heel.”
God is laying out the curse to the serpent for his part in the first sin, and in doing so I believe he lays out His plan
He proceeds to tell the serpent that there will be constant stiff between my people and your people, however I will win and It will be through my son
See plainly God is already saying that Jesus is the way
Maybe you knew that and maybe you already believed that but I wanted us to be sure that Jesus died on the cross was not something that God or Jesus came up with after creation, or because they were surprised or shocked by our behavior
Jesus was always going to be the way and will always be the Way
So lets get to this mornings text
1 “Do not let 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 “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.
Jesus is talking with his disciples during the last supper on the night he is going to be betrayed
Jesus goes on to explain to them that he is going to be betrayed, can you image how awkward that would be during the dinner
Jesus also explains that he is going to be arrested and crucified
I mean they are in town because they are doing the good jewish thing celebrating the pass over and Jesus starts to bring up some awkward stuff
which brings us to the beginning of
they have an understanding of God and would have had some sort of trust in God, Jesus though makes it real in front of their eyes, that when He says trust in the God also trust in Him,
Jesus is referring to the fact that God and Jesus are one and the same, that Jesus was there before time, Jesus was there in the garden discussing how things should look and so on
How many of us know in our mind that God will take care of everything but still for some reason struggle to trust that Jesus is at work, much of what we talked about last week
Then he drops the bomb on them, not only will he be arrested and crucified and betrayed by someone at the table, but He is leaving them
Jesus goes on to explain to the disciples that he is leaving them for a very special assignment, to prepare rooms for them in Gods house
So maybe not so much of the bomb because he does say that he will prepare a room for them and when he is finished he will come back and pick them up
Then Thomas’s questions how do they know the way and how do they know where Jesus is going
at some point I have to envision God just shaking his head saying don't you get it
Then Jesus shares with them that He is the way, that He is the truth and that He is the life
Let me explain this
Last week we explained that Jesus himself is truth, it is not an idea that we talk about rather a person we can know personally
you and I can know truth
When Thomas asks where Jesus is going
Thomas was expecting a physically place that he could go and visit
you and I expect God who is not of this world to be defined by the things of this world
Like Thomas I believe that you and I would hear that Jesus is leaving and begin to worry and then begin to plan visits, but if we do not know where He is going then how would we get there
What Jesus says to Thomas
I am the only way to where I am going
I am the way to where I am going
Jesus was saying I am going to the cross to die so you can come to God
I will take you sin and nail it to the cross with him so you can come with me
Jesus was saying that I am the roadway the pathway to get to Me God
6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.
Jesus is the only way that you and I will ever get to Heaven
Some people believe that it is by works that we get into heaven that is for some way my good deeds out weigh by bad I am golden and can spend eternity in heaven
that is absolutely false
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; 9 not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.
You good deeds and my good deeds are filthy wages the bible says
From before day one Jesus was the only way you and I were every going to have a personal relationship with Jesus
The way was through Bethlehem when Mary a virgin gave birth to Gods son Jesus made a pit stop in Jerusalem by way of a grave, when Jesus took your sin and my sin to the cross and died
Jesus is the way to God, precisely because he is the truth of God (cf. notes on 1:14) and the life of God (cf. notes on 1:4; 3:15; 11:25).
14 And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.
Jesus as truth
4 In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men.
Jesus as life
Because he is both truth and life that is what makes Jesus the way not a way
Only because he is the truth and the life can Jesus be the way for others to come to God, the way for his disciples to attain the many dwelling-places in the Father’s house
6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.
blood was shed, in the way to God blood had to be shed and Jesus shed his blood for you so that you may have life
Closing
I want to ask the musicians to come forward
as they begin to play we will move into a time of invitation
the invitation is simple as always, if you are here and do not know Jesus as your personal lord and savior I would invite you to the front and we will have people down front to talk with you
if you have another decision to make maybe it is to join this local this local church this would be the time to come forward
maybe you have struggled with Jesus as the way and you have made Jesus more of a way instead of the only way and you need to spend sometime in prayer the altar is open