Thursday, July 12, 2012

Jesus is The Way, The Truth, and The Life


John 14:6

We live in a religiously pluralistic society.  A society that says there are many ways to reach Heaven.  Does that make sense?  Does it sound plausible that Jesus came to the earth, bled and died only to leave us without specific direction on how to follow him?  The answer is simple.  He left us a way. John 14:2,3 --  “In my Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you.  I go to prepare a place for you.  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. And you know the way where I am going.”

Jesus’ teaching is exclusive in nature meaning we must follow his word and his alone; leaning not on our interpretation. 

What does the Bible say?

In John: 14:6 Jesus says…
“I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life; no man cometh to the Father but through me.”  (NASV)

Taking this verse, let us look closely at what he is saying.

1.  Jesus is the answer to man’s “lostness”.
He is THE way! No other way will get us there.

From the beginning God had a plan to bring us back to himself; to redeem us from sin. But it is His way, not our way that leads us to salvation.

Proverbs 14:12 “The is a way which seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.”  This statement is so important that it is repeated verbatim in Proverbs 16:25.

Proverbs 3:5-6 “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding.  In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.”

Left to ourselves we are lost.
Jeremiah 10:23 “I know, O Lord, that a man’s way is not in himself, nor is it in a man who walks to direct his steps.”

Jesus came to save us.  In John 10 we have the “I AM” statements.
Verse 9  “I am the door; if anyone enters through me, he will be saved….”
Verse 11  “I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.”

Verses 14-15  “I am the good shepherd, and I know My own and My own know Me, even as the Father knows Me and I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep.”


Christ is our mediator; our intercessor, or go-between, to God. There is only one—Christ Jesus.

I Timothy 2:5,6 – “For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.”

Acts 4:10,12 – Peter, speaking to the elders of Israel, said, “Let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by this name this man stands here before you in good health. He (Jesus) is the stone which was rejected by you, the builders, but which became the chief corner stone. And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved.”

2.  Jesus is the answer to our ignorance, because He is THE Truth.  He is the personification of TRUTH.  He is the essence of TRUTH.

John 1:14 – “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.”

John 1:17 – For the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ.”

John 8:31-32 – “So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, ‘If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.’ “

We must thirst for truth.  Francis Bacon said, “Knowledge is power.”

John 17:17 -- In a prayer to God prior to his crucifixion, Jesus prayed – “Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.”

III John 3,4 – “For I was very glad when brethren came and testified to your truth, that is, how you are walking in truth.  I have no greater joy than this, to hear of my children walking in the truth.”

I Tim 2:3,4 – “This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.”

3.  Jesus is the answer to man’s mortality.  Just because God wants all of us to be saved, it does not mean we will.  We are free moral agents with the choice of following God or not.
Jesus is THE Life through His cleansing blood. Forgiveness is ready and at hand.  All we have to do is obey.


I John 2: 1-6 – “My little children, these things write I unto you that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ, the righteous; And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world. And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments.  The one who says, I know him, and does not keep his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.  But whoever keeps his word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected.  By this we know that we are in Him; the one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked.”

John 14: 15 – “If ye love me, ye will keep my commandments.”

1 John 5:3 – “For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments; and his commandments are not grievous.”

Mark 7: 6-9 – And He said to them, “Rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written: ‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far away from me.   But in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the precepts of men’  Neglecting the commandment of God, you hold to the tradition of men.  He was also saying to them, “You are experts at setting aside the commandment of God in order to keep your tradition.”

John 15: 9-11 – “Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you; abide in My love.  If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love.  These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full.”

Ecclesiastes 12:13 – “The conclusion, when all has been heard, is: fear God and keep His commandments, because this applies to every person.”

Jesus is The Way, The Truth, and The Life.

Points based on a sermon given by Mel Futrell
July 8, 2012
Shades Mountain church of Christ
Birmingham, Alabama