Sermon Central
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The Living True Way
Contributed by Jerry Flury on Jul 15, 2012 (message contributor)
Summary: In John 14:6, Jesus Christ made a profound statement that asserts the exclusiveness of the Gospel. In three simple words (way, truth, and life), Jesus made it very clear that He, and He alone, is the answer to man’s greatest need.
The Living True Way
In John 14:6, Jesus Christ made a profound statement that asserts the exclusiveness of the Gospel. In three simple words (way, truth, and life), Jesus made it very clear that He, and He alone, is the answer to man’s greatest need.
I. The Life
A. Man was given life by God when God created man. – Genesis 2:7 “And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.”
B. However, man forfeited that life by disobedience to God’s command. – God told man in Genesis 2:17 “...of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die."
C. The very moment that Adam and Eve disobeyed they died. When they ate of the fruit they did not physically die that day. They did begin to die physically that day. But God said “in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” How could that be?
D. When Adam disobeyed God, he died - spiritually.
E. Spiritual death is identified as separation from God. – Isaiah 59:2 (ESV) “your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear.”
F. Adam, in the day he ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil was separated from God. Though his body continued on for a total of 930 years, his spirit died that very day
G. Adam brought death to mankind. - Romans 5:12 (NKJV) “Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned.”
H. All men by nature are separated from God and are spiritually dead. – Ephesians 2:1 declares man to be “dead in trespasses and sins”.
I. But just as Adam brought death into the world Jesus Christ came to bridge that gap of separation between God and man and provide eternal life as the very source of life.
J. Jesus Christ said “I am the Life” (John 14:6)
K. John 5:24 (ESV) Jesus said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life”
L. Eternal (Aionios - perpetual) life is a relationship with God that is permanent, ceaseless, and continues without interruption.
M. Jesus is the source of life. There is no spiritual life outside of Jesus Christ.
N. Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
II. The Truth
A. When Pilate asked Christ at His trial in John 18:38 “What is truth?”, little did he know that Truth incarnate was standing before Him.
B. Since the beginning of time Satan has been the father of deception and continues to do so today. Adam and Eve believed the lies of Satan in the Garden. And men today still believe his lies.
C. One of the biggest lies is that truth is relative, there are no absolutes, therefore it doesn’t matter what you believe.
D. In doing so man has in the words of Romans 1:25 “who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator”
E. Jesus said “I am the Truth” (John 14:6)
F. The word 'truth' is used 22 times in the Gospel of John.
G. Truth is absolute. Truth is a representation of things as they are. As such, Jesus is not just some truth but the entire truth. Jesus Christ is the full revelation of God. He’s God’s definitive and perfect Word expressing who God is, what He’s like, who we are, and what we need to do to be saved Truth is reality.
H. Mohamed, Confucius, and Buddha all claimed to be no more than seekers of truth. Christ declared Himself as the Truth.
I. Because Jesus is truth we can have confidence that what He says is real and not the figment of man’s imagination.
J. That is why Peter could write in 2 Peter 1:16 “For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty.”
III. The Way
A. Jesus also said He was the way and that no one comes to God except through Him. (John 14:6)
B. Everyone wants to believe that there are many ways to God, but there are not. There is only one way and that is by way of the cross of Jesus Christ.
