“Being Transformed by the Resurrection, The Way, the Truth, and the Life” – I AM series
John 13:31-14:6, John 11:17-27
February 23, 2003
Purpose: Jesus is the one and only way to the Father. He is the source of all transformation. He offers those who are spiritually dead the very way, truth, and life of God.
Our victory is in him and in him alone.
Introduction –
Illus. - Bubba and the potato field
An old man lived alone in Idaho. He wanted to spade his potato garden, but it was backbreaking work, and his son, Bubba, who used to help him, was in prison.
The old man mentioned it in a letter he sent to his son by saying, “I’m not sure exactly what to do. I’m just getting too old to be digging up a garden plot. It looks like I won’t be able to plant that garden this year after all.”
A few days later, he received a short letter from his son, “Dad, For heaven’s sake, don’t dig up that garden that’s where I buried the bodies!”
At 4 a.m. the next morning, a crew of police officers, and the FBI arrived to find the bodies. After digging for hours, they gave up and apologized to the old man and left.
That same day the old man received another letter from his son.
“Dear Dad, under these circumstances, that’s the best I can do, go ahead and plant your potatoes now.”
Sometimes we are like the stubborn earth that stands in the way of experiencing a completely transformed life in Jesus Christ. Instead of being willing to trust, to take direction, and to accept the rewards Christ offers. We remain a potential garden…a potential garden in need of resurrection…a potential garden that needs to find the way, the truth, and the life…a potential garden just waiting to accept the victory that’s found in Jesus Christ.
There’s another passage in John that speaks to this. It’s found in John 11:17-27…
In it, we have the story of Martha and Jesus standing at the tomb of Lazarus. Martha tells Jesus that he’s late, that if he would have been there just a little sooner, this death could have been avoided.
But Jesus, knowing Martha’s grief, told her that not only would Lazarus rise again at the resurrection of the last day, but that he would live today. Jesus said, “I am the Resurrection and the life, He who believes in Me, though he may die, yet shall he live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die.” (v.25-26)
And then he asks her with a simple question, “Martha, do you believe this?” And her response is that of the well plowed soil, “Lord I believe that You are the Christ, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.” And within a mere number of verses, Jesus told those present to “take away the stone” and Lazarus was alive once more.
This Jesus had challenged Martha’s faith over time. She had learned to trust him, she was willing to look for His direction, and she readily accepted the reward for doing so.
How many of us here this morning need a resurrection in our lives?
How many of us may doubt that Jesus is only the Way, the Truth, and the Life.
How many of us are in need of a transformation from the potential garden of our lives to the
abundant garden that God has planned?
In this passage, we have three steps of making this transformation occur….
I. First and foremost, we must be willing to trust in the right things…
A. John 14:1…”Let not your heart be troubled, Trust in God, trust also in me. (NIV) This type of trusting goes against what we find it easier to do, doesn’t it?
We understand that in order to trust in something means that we can hear, see, touch it…we can sense that its there…but on the flip side of that thinking, there is nothing here on this earth that can be trusted in forever. In fact, we know that all things are temporary.
The vehicle that brought you here today…won’t be here forever. This building, the pews on which you sit, won’t be here forever. This pulpit…temporary. The organ…temporary. My physical bodies…temporary. Your physical bodies…temporary.
Jesus said those if you want to trust in something that lasts beyond a lifetime…consider God, consider his Son. Jesus’ presence will last for an eternity… “I will never leave you nor forsake you…” are words that we can trust. So, we trust in God’s presence…
B. John 14:2 tells us we need to trust in his promises as well. “I am going to prepare a place for you…” Jesus said, I will come back to take you home.
Home is a place where we can be ourselves. Home is where we can take off the church clothes and put on some sweats. Home is where we can say what we’re thinking without recourse. Home is where we’re accepted and loved….Jesus said, “Don’t get discouraged…I’m going to prepare a home where we can be together.” There you won’t be a guest…you won’t be a visitor…you’ll be a resident…it will be your home as well as mine.
Can we trust in this promise? Well,
God promised the Israelites a new homeland…he delivered.
God promised never to destroy the earth by flood again…hasn’t done it yet.
God promised a Messiah…Jesus the Savior was born.
So when God, through His Son, promises a day when he’s coming back for us, that a place is being prepared, and that one day, one victorious day, he will come and take all of his family to live under one roof…many dwelling places…many rooms…many mansions.” - we can trust in that promise.
But stop and think about it for a moment…if you’re a Christian…maybe even that promise is being fulfilled. Isn’t most of us already there? Our name is written there. Our citizenship is there. Our God is there. Our Savior is there. Our inheritance is there. We even know and hope that some of our loved ones are there. God is fulfilling his promise to us even as we speak!
So we can trust not only in his presence, but also in his promises…
But what about his person, can we also trust in who he says he is?.
C. John 14:4 says, “You know the way to the place where I am going.”
Thomas, being Thomas answers…no we don’t! There’s no road map…you’ve only talked in confusing parables…what about your reign as King…what about us, what’s going to happen to us… “Lord, how are we going to know the way.”
I can see Jesus now, looking with all compassion at Thomas when he said, Thomas, “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life, No one comes to the Father except through me.” As if to say, Thomas you have known me, and since you know me, you know my Father as well.
So, we trust in Jesus the person…because through him we know the way.
II. This brings us to our second point, it’s not just trust. Transformation means that we are willing to look for His direction as well.
And in order to get us thinking in the right direction, Jesus made a very bold statement. In his claim to be THE WAY, THE TRUTH, and THE LIFE (not just a way, a truth and a life), Jesus made it clear that his thinking does not fit within our pluralistic society that encourages tolerance of all beliefs. But he didn’t stop there. Jesus also said no one would come to the Father God except through Him. To be willing to look for His direction means that we forsake all others. Jesus leaves no room for the inclusive mentality that believes all paths will eventually lead to God.
Jesus shows His disciples a future reality that is greater than their current difficulty. Jesus tells the disciples they can trust Him because He is not going to be defeated; He will be with the Father.
Jesus’ direction is simple…
-The Father has an eternal dwelling place.
-Jesus is going there to get a place ready.
-Jesus will return to bring them with Him into the eternal dwelling He has prepared.
What Jesus wants is for us to have the same confident assurance that He has.
We should not be overcome be our circumstances; we headed in the right direction.
Our faith is not a blind faith. Ours is a faith based upon the right map, the right directions.
We are not a bunch of wishful thinkers nor do we deny any reality.
Why? Because our faith sees a greater reality than whatever negative situation we may presently face. It is the SUBSTANCE of things we hope for and the EVIDENCE of things we don’t see. Faith is linked to our willingness to follow the directions.
As said earlier, everything is temporary. No matter how great any city may stand today, it will one day crumble and fall; only God’s eternal city will last through out eternity. This is the place where Jesus has gone to prepare for all those who would follow the direction he has set before us.
John 14:6 makes those directions clear even though the pluralistic and tolerant mindset of the twenty-first century cannot accept it.
As I’ve told you before…this is what separates any other religion from Christianity…
We believe that Jesus is THE WAY.
I Corinthians 11:1-3 – Follow me as I follow Christ.
We believe that Jesus is THE TRUTH.
Psalm 43:3 says, “Send forth your light and your truth, let them guide me; let them bring me to your holy mountain, to the place where you dwell.” (NIV)
We believe that Jesus is THE LIFE.
Colossians 2:13 “God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins. (NIV)
We believe that NO ONE can come to the Father apart from Christ.
Acts 4:12 “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved." (NIV)
OH…but there are some who try…
Buddhism teaches that the ultimate goal is Nirvana where all pain and suffering exist no
more. And the way to reach this Nirvana is by following the 8-Fold Path to
Enlightenment, and then you reach that place of total nothingness.
In Hinduism, the ultimate goal also is Nirvana, but Nirvana is different. Instead of being
snuffed out like a candle, Nirvana for a Hindu is being reunited with the all-
pervading force of the universe through reincarnation. Depending on how you live your life determines whether you move up or down the food chain.
In Islam, heaven is a paradise of wine, women, and song. And the way to achieve this
blissful paradise is, ironically, to abstain from these things in this world. In addition,
a Muslim must follow the Five Pillars of Islam to achieve paradise.
And, of course, Judaism denies that Jesus Christ is Lord. That it is through the following of
the Law that one obtains eternal life. But one is never able to live up to the Law
100% so…what do you do?
These so-called ways to God and to paradise completely contradict Christianity.
It does not mean we are any better, or that we should look down on people who follow such religions. That, in itself, is contradictory to the Christian life. We should actually learn from them.
But, we must also recognize that there are real and serious contradictions that cannot be reconciled. And that we must do all that we can to share our faith so that they can see their own faith for what it is.
The direction is clear. Only Jesus Christ is the WAY is illuminated by the TRUTH and energized by the LIFE! If we commit to follow the directions he has given, we can trust in his promise that he will bring us into the presence of the Father
.
III. And that leads us to our last point this morning….being transformed means that we are willing to trust, willing to follow His direction, and willing to accept the rewards for doing so.
Do you want eternal peace?
There’s a word that been tossed around lately. But eternal peace is not based on the whims of humanity. Jesus rewards us with a peace that is secure even in the most insecure times. It is firm when everything else falls short. It is a peace that penetrates our deepest pain. It is a peace that supports us in our greatest grief. It is a peace that comforts us when nothing else can. It is a peace beyond all comprehension. Jesus said, “I do not give as this world gives… my peace I leave with you.”
Perfect peace will not come to this land until Christ comes again. Does that mean we quit
striving for peace on earth, of course not! But, as Christians, we do it with a
different mentality… True peace can only be gained by putting our trust in Christ.
Do you want eternal security?
Jesus has prepared a place for each person who believes in him. And there will be a moving
day. A day when we will move into our home that will not know, sorrow, pain, suffering, or war…just a full experience of happiness and God’s grace.
But heaven will be more than just a place of residence. It will also be a place of restoration where all things will be made new. It will be a place of reunion where we will not only be reunited with family and friends who knew Christ, but most importantly, we will be reunited with Christ himself.
Do you want to never get lost again?
We have been given the way to reach heaven through Jesus Christ…he is our way…our
truth…and our life. No road maps needed guys! And when we ask for his forgiveness and the Spirit’s leadership in our lives, we’ve been assured a place through the Resurrection
power that only He can offer. We never have to be lost again.
And the lists of rewards could be endless, so let me end with the greatest reward of all...the reward of God’s complete and grace-filled love for an eternity.
Let me paint you a picture…Picture a father with 3 year old daughter. The daughter wants her father to pick her up, to embrace her, to carry her, to hold her close. All the daughter wants is to be in her father’s arms.
So, the little girl lifts her hands desperately reaching for his father’s neck, so that she can be lifted up. She reaches and reaches, and urges her father to pick her up. But she’s never quite able to reach up high enough. In desperation, she keeps trying in many different ways to reach it, but she’s never quite reaching high enough.
But now picture a Father and this same 3-year-old child. The child reaches up to her father to be lifted up and held in his arms. But instead of just looking down at his child waiting for her to make it work, he lovingly reaches down to where the child is, and with compassion and strength lifts the child up into his arms and draws the child close to himself.
God came down to us in the form of Jesus Christ, and made a way for us to be lifted up into the loving arms of God. There is no greater reward.
CONCLUSION
Jesus Christ is the Resurrection, the Way, the Truth, and the Life. He is the Light of world bringing light in the midst darkness. He is the Door & The Good Shepherd bringing his protection, the Bread of Life bringing us sustenance, and the True Vine sustaining our security.
Will you join me in prayer?
Does it seem too good to be true? Have you wanted a transformation in your life and now this seems to be a little too easy? Maybe you’ve made that commitment, but now you find yourself drifting having difficulty finding the way. Maybe you’re confused about all the world religions out there and just want to experience the truth.
Whatever the case may be…Jesus Christ is offering you a Resurrection this morning. Today can be the day when you experience the transforming power of God for yourself. Will you trust Him? Are you willing to follow His direction? Will you accept the rewards that he offers.
If so, I invite you to pray with me this morning….
Heavenly Father,
We come to you this morning as a people needing your grace.
We come to you as a people needing your assurance and the hope that only you can give.
The world outside these doors offers no grace, no hope, no assurance. But we know that through your Son, we have the Way, the Truth, and the Life to guide us if we only ask.
Lord, we need a Resurrection. So we come. We come admitting our sin, acknowledging that we have fallen short of the plan you have for our lives. We come to you believing that you sent your Son, Jesus Christ, to die in our place and that your raised him on the third day. We come believing that through your Sprit, He still lives and works in us guiding and directing, as we commit our lives to Him.
We trust you…we will follow your direction…we will accept the rewards that you have promised only through the grace and mercy you’ve shown to us.
Thank you for the opportunity to begin this journey with you. Thank you for the opportunity to refresh our spirits along that journey…may our true victory in this life be found in you and you alone….Amen.
#370 – Victory In Jesus
Blessing – As we leave this place…may we go into the world as the transformed people of Jesus Christ, walking in grace and in his love. In the name of the Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer, may this be our prayer…Amen
NOTE: If you did not find this sermon helpful, please contact me (gb@clergy.net) and tell me why. I appreciate everyone’s advice. Thanks.
