March 15th, 2020 - The Way, The Truth, and The Life
Notes
Transcript
If you’ve been with us the past several weeks, you know that as we get closer and closer to the crucifixion...
Jesus is no doubt making the disciples a bit nervous...
He has been saying things that they...
Don’t understand
Eluding to the his own death
Telling them that He is leaving and they can’t FOLLOW HIM...
No doubt…they are probably confused…and possibly quite terrified (all at the same time)...
Last week - we saw the LACK of TRUST from Peter - on display...
Jesus had told the disciples that He was going to be leaving them and that they could not follow him...
BUT that they WOULD FOLLOW Him afterward...
Well - as you know - Peter didn’t LIKE THAT too much!
He says to Jesus - “What do you MEAN? I will DIE for you!!”
and Jesus responded...
38 Jesus answered, “Will you lay down your life for me? Truly, truly, I say to you, the rooster will not crow till you have denied me three times.
Peter BELIEVING that he would die for Jesus at EVERY TURN...
And yet...
Jesus laying out for Peter the REALITY of that belief...
THAT Peter would ACTUALLY DENY Jesus before the night was thru...
And so we PULLED from this - that OUR Lack of Trust in Jesus - is actually GREATER than we THINK it is!
· And so we contemplated – hopefully – where we’re at in this life of faith…
· But as we’ve seen – Jesus has been causing those closest to Him – to scratch their heads…
· And no doubt it was causing some anxiety amongst them.
· And so in typical Jesus fashion…this week, He’s going to try to REASSURE the disciples, and therefore us as well..
· That we should FEAR NOT…and find COMFORT in the fact that He is who He says He is…
1 “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me.
2 In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?
3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.
4 And you know the way to where I am going.”
5 Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can 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 except through me.
7 If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do 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 with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?
10 Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his works.
11 Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else believe on account of the works themselves.
12 “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father.
13 Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
14 If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.
· So – a pretty popular section of Scripture –
· We’ll focus in today on v6
6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
· What I’d like to do today is to CONTRAST
the WAY of the World
the TRUTH of the World
and the LIFE of the World –
with Jesus as the Way, the Truth, and the Life…
So let’s get started:
SLIDE: The Way of the World: In Light of Jesus As The Way
The Way of the World
The Way of the World
And so in terms of “the WAY of the world”....i think this pretty much sums it up...
SLIDE: Coexist
This here is RELATIVISM at it’s highest...
That - it’s all RELATIVE...
What’s TRUE for you can be TRUE for you...
and what’s TRUE for me can be TRUE for me...
And so really the WAY of the world is - ANY WAY is the right way...
· And what’s at the heart of this idea…?
· We’ve seen it over and over again – PRIDE is at the heart of Relativism!
· It’s a refusal to SUBMIT to authority…
· I’ll do what’s RIGHT for ME – you do what’s right FOR YOU…
· In other words – I WILL NOT submit to you or anybody…and I won’t ask you to do likewise!
The Ancient Greek Philosopher - Protagorus:
“Man is the measure of all things”
And it’s this idea that just FLIES IN THE FACE of Christianity....and the message of Christ.
· When Jesus says – I am THE WAY…He’s declaring He’s THE ONLY WAY – to God.
Again, mankind didn’t understand – Thomas explains that they don’t KNOW THE WAY to where Jesus was going…
5 Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?”
· What’s Thomas thinking about?
· GEOGRAPHY… (the physical)
· We don’t know the DIRECTIONS…we need the DIRECTIONS…
And Jesus responds…
John 14:6
{I am} THE WAY…
· Jesus uses the definite article here – THE…I am THE way…
· Jesus makes Himself exclusive…
· He is THE ONLY way to God…
So according to the world – ANY Way is the right way…to God
According to Jesus – He is the ONLY WAY to God…
· But that’s not the only contrast we see…
6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
SLIDE: The Truth of the World: In Light of Jesus as The Truth
The Truth of the World
The Truth of the World
· The TRUTH of the world
takes many shapes
can have a variety of tones
a mixture of different forms of expression…
· But I think it all comes back to ONE REALITY
= BONDAGE
· See – the truth of this world – REGARDLESS of the topic, or the occasion, or the circumstance…
WILL – without a DOUBT – leave you in BONDAGE
Bondage to what?
DEATH
· *Who has heard of the Coronavirus?
How has the WORLD responded to the Coronavirus?
· What have we seen so far? Panic?
· WHY?
· Because by-n-large – People don’t want to - - DIE
· And we’re seeing their FEAR of DEATH on display…
· NOW – will this virus kill you if you get it – looks like it won’t…
· Which makes the response that we HAVE SEEN - HIGHLIGHT even MORE how much people FEAR death…
· Is it good to contemplate death?
YES…
2 It is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting, for this is the end of all mankind, and the living will lay it to heart.
· So it’s GOOD to contemplate death….BUT what’s the world’s response to this virus…?
· They’re looking for DETOURS around it…
· They don’t want to THINK about it… They’d rather NOT think about death…as a way to AVOID it!
How does the world AVOID death?
· Exercise
· Organics
· Juicing
· Cardio
· Vitamins
· Diet
· Me time
· Balanced life
All of these things – when held up as IDOLS in our lives – VOID of Christ – Actually KEEP us in bondage to death!
*Does anyone in here know anyone who JUICED their way out of the grave?
· Of course not…! We laugh – but yet – DO WE pursue these things as – Ultimate in our lives?
· This is one of the TRUTHS of the world!
Other truths?
§ Self-Esteem
§ Best life now
§ Prosperity
§ Money
§ Family
§ Even CHURCH!
Any of these things can KEEP you in bondage to DEATH – IF it holds the place of GOD in your life!
But what about Jesus Christ – as – The TRUTH?
31 So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples,
32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
· Receiving and believing Jesus Christ as – THE TRUTH – will set you free!
· Free from what??
· Free from bondage to SIN and Death!!
· And we see this “FREEING” type language all over scripture!
22 For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.
4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us,
5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—
· This “MAKING ALIVE” by God – is Jesus Christ – SETTING US FREE from sin and death!!
· Verse – we WERE dead – but God made us ALIVE – by His grace! Through FAITH
· Jesus Christ as – THE TRUTH – brings LIFE…ETERNAL LIFE….which leads to our final point…
SLIDE: The Life of the World: In Light of Jesus as The Life
The Life of the World
The Life of the World
· If we were to poll the world and ask – What is the purpose of LIFE?
· OR if you were to ask google….You’d get this response:
SLIDE: Purpose of Life
The true purpose of life is about recognizing your own gifts and using them to contribute to the world—whether those gifts are playing beautiful music for others to enjoy, helping friends solve problems, or simply bringing more joy into the lives of those around you.
· Recognize your own gifts and use them to contribute to the world
· That’s it!
That’s LIFE – to the world!
Make the most of what you’ve got…!
And even for those in the world who believe there MAY BE some higher power....MAYBE...
EVEN THEY would look at this and say - YEAH I”M IN!!
I’m in because IF there IS a HIGHER POWER - and I can give this a shot…it will AT LEAST earn me some points with him...
So LIFE to the world is - a FLIP of the coin!
And NOT EVEN that - NOWADAYS - it’s a - subjective flip of the coin!
**Flip Coin… HEADS - well DEFINE heads - because MY heads is different than YOUR heads!
“You stay in YOUR lane…I’ll stay in MINE”
But - Jesus Christ says - {HE} is THE LIFE!
Jesus Christ says -
SLIDE: Life Isn’t Up for Debate
Life Isn’t Up For Debate!
Here’s why...
4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us,
5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—
Before being MADE ALIVE with Christ…we . were. DEAD
The unbeliever - walking amongst us...
Sitting across from us at the restaurant...
Sitting next to us at the sporting event...
walking past us at work...
They are - DEAD…spiritually dead.
• When Jesus says - I am...THE Life...
• JESUS is saying - I am the ONLY Life...
• He's saying - Life is ONLY found IN ME!
11 And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.
12 Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.
• So the Testimony of God - is that Eternal LIFE is found IN Jesus Christ...
So what does HAVING LIFE hinge on?
• I mean - what if you DO NOT believe that?
• What if you are sitting here now, and you DO NOT believe that?
• Well, the verse prior to these tells us...
10 Whoever believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself. Whoever does not believe God has made him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has borne concerning his Son.
• So - if you do NOT believe that eternal life is found IN Jesus Christ...
• then you are accusing GOD of being a liar...
• BECAUSE God has said - Eternal life is IN Jesus Christ...
• So think - of every UNBELIEVER out in the world right now...
• At this very moment, their existence looks at God and says - You are a LIAR!
Because THEY believe they have LIFE...
If you -
Just walk up to an unbeliever and say - Did you know that you’re dead!??
What kind of look would you get?
They’d LAUGH you off...
But that’s what the WORLD does…when it comes to God...
They don’t need Him - They don’t WANT him...
And BECAUSE of that - destruction and DEATH will be their end.
And that’s why we PRESS ON…to TAKE the name of Christ to the WORLD...
SUMMARY...
So what have we seen?
The Way of the World
The Way of the World
The way of the world - To God - - is RELATIVISM
Jesus - destroys that notion! -
The Bible tells us - ONLY through Jesus can we GET to God...
Through:
Understanding ourselves before God - SIN
Understanding what Jesus did - His work on the cross
Understanding what the cross ACCOMPLISHED…in conquering SIN and DEATH!
That JESUS is THE WAY...
The Truth of the World
The Truth of the World
We’ve seen that the truth of the world - HAS NO PLACE for - God
The truth of the world - says - GOD?!! - - No Thanks!!
But the Bible tells us - Jesus IS - The Truth!
God IS - the Truth...
Which means - The world LACKS - REJECTS - what? - TRUTH!!
The world REJECTS Truth - in REJECTING Jesus!
Jesus IS - the Truth!
The Life of the World
The Life of the World
We’ve seen that the LIFE of the world is actually - in reality - DEATH
We know according to scripture that APART from Christ, man is - DEAD… walking dead....
And so the LIFE of the world - is DEATH
But LIFE - is found IN JESUS...
Jesus IS LIFE...
Life is ONLY found in Christ…and so as we leave here today -
Yes, the world PANICS over a virus…not wanting to DIE...
What it doesn’t understand is - it’s already dead...
Will our message be to the world - Jesus Christ is THE WAY, THE TRUTH, and THE LIFE...
And that NO ONE can get to God apart from Him...
Let’s pray!