[Biblemat] B> Gospel Observer 2/18/07
tedwards at onemain.com
tedwards at onemain.com
Sat Feb 24 18:51:21 CST 2007
____________________________________________________
THE GOSPEL OBSERVER
____________________________________________________
"Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations...teaching
them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you
always, even to the end of the age" (Matthew 28:19,20).
____________________________________________________
February 18, 2007
____________________________________________________
Jesus, the Way, the Truth, and the Life
by Grover Stevens
Our study is "Jesus: the way, the truth and the life." This
statement, and claim, of Jesus is found in one of the most
favorite, familiar, and endearing texts in the Bible. "Let not your
heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in Me. In my
Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have
told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare
a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself;
that where I am, there ye may be also. And where I go ye know, and
the way ye know." Thomas, desiring to understand says, "Lord, we do
not know where You are going, and how can we know the way?" The
Lord then makes the statement of ur text -- one of the most
remarkable and profound statements ever made -- "I am the way, the
truth, and the life. No one comes unto the Father, but by Me."
How full of meaning is the message conveyed in these few brief
words. The Lord here and in the conversation that follows plainly
declares that he is God -- is Deity; not was, or going to be, but
is ("Am"). He here equates himself with the Way, the Truth, and the
Life. He is each of these as well as all of them together. He is
the true way of life. He did not say "I will show you the way," but
"I am the way." He did not say "I have the truth," but "I am the
truth." The Lord did not say, "I lead unto life," but "I am the
life."
"I Am the Way"
Christ is the way to the Father. A way is a path, a route, a
roadway. Some say, "How can I know the way when one preacher tells
me one way and another some other way? Dear friend, the Lord did
not say, "The preacher, or the Pope, or mother or father is the
way," but "I am the way." Dear friend, do not follow this preacher
or that, or the Pope, or anyone else, but the Lord Jesus himself.
He is the Way.
We have all, some time or other, followed a marked path to a
given destination. I read a story of one of our pioneer preachers
riding horseback along a road in unfamiliar territory, when he came
upon a barricade with a sign warning that the bridge was out.
Distressed, he looked about to study just how he might proceed when
he saw what appeared to be a marker showing the way. He went to
investigate and sure enough just before he reached the first marker
he could see the next, and so on through the heavy wooded section
of the river bottom.
By following the marked trail he was able to pass through the
unfamiliar territory and reach his destination. Just so with the
Lord Jesus; he is the marked trail -- "the way" through this old
sinful world to the wonderful city of God and to bosom of the
Father. He says, "Follow me and I will take you to the Father."
Christ is the only way to the Father. "No one comes to the
Father but by me." Hence, he is not only the way, but he is the
only way to the Father. This way is referred to as the "the way of
God," "the way of salvation," the way of truth, and "the way of
holiness" (Acts 18:26; Matt. 22:16; Acts 16:17; John 14:6; Isa.
35:8; etc.). Our Lord said, "Ye shall know the truth, and the truth
shall make you free" (John 8:32). Many say that it doesn't matter
what doctrine you believe just so you have Christ, but dear friend,
God tells us, "Whosoever...abideth not in the doctrine (teaching)
of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine (teaching)
of Christ hath both the Father and the Son (2 Jn. 9). Yes, indeed,
it does make a difference what you believe. Again, the Lord said,
"But in vain they do worship Me, teaching for doctrines the
commandments of men" (Matt. 15:9); and "Every plant (doctrine or
practice) which my heavenly Father hath not planted shall be rooted
up" (Matt. 15:13-14). Any doctrine that is not found in the Word of
God is "of men," not God. All spiritual blessings are in Christ
(Eph. 1:3). We have redemption through his blood in Christ
(Eph.1:7; Col. 1:14). We must be "in Christ" to be a "new creature"
(born again) (2 Cor. 5:17), and we get in Christ by being baptized
"into" Christ (Rom. 6:3-4; Gal. 3:26-27), and we are "born again"
by "obeying the truth" (1 Pet. 1:22-23; Rom. 6:17-18).
There is no other way. All religion that seeks to "come unto
the Father" in some other way than in and through Christ (Jews,
Moslems, Buddhists, etc.) is doomed to failure, according to this
word of Christ (John 14:6). Again we hear the Lord say, "He that
rejecteth me, and receiveth not My words (the gospel of the New
Testament), hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken,
the same shall judge him in the last day" (John 12:48); and all who
"obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ...shall be punished
in flaming fire with everlasting destruction from the presence of
the Lord" (2 Thess. 1:8-9). This also applies to those who claim to
believe in Christ, but reject his teaching. The Lord further said,
"Why do you call me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I
say?" Many teach that it doesn't make any difference what you
believe, or whether you are baptized or not, or "how" or "why" you
are baptized, or whether you worship or not and how you worship,
etc. Such people are not following Christ, the way, but their own
way -- the way of their choice. The way of Christ is the way of
truth. You must believe what Christ tells you to believe, the
truth, the gospel (Mk. 16:15; 1 Thess. 2:13); you obey Christ's
command to be "buried" in baptism (Rom. 6:3-4), "to be saved" (Mk.
16:16), "for remission of sins" (Acts 2:38), to get "into Christ"
(Rom. 6:3; Gal. 3:27) who is the true way; and he will add you to
the church he established (Acts 2:41,47), not some denomination
(Acts 20:29-39; Gal. 1:6-9); and you worship the way Christ tells
you to worship (John 4:23-24).
"I Am the Truth"
Truth is truth only because of God. Without God there would be
no right or wrong, or truth. Truth, righteousness, holiness, light,
and love, in any and all fields, whether mathematical, logical,
moral (ethical or religious) are all basically the same thing --
just different aspects; and they all derive their meaning from the
inherent nature and character of God, who is the origin, source,
and essence of each. The statement that two and two make four, or
that honesty is good and lying is bad, expresses an everlasting
principle in the eternal character of God. God and Truth have the
same attributes and character; things equal to the same thing are
equal to each other. God and truth are both eternal, immutable,
perfect, unchanging, accurate, consistent, immortal, infinite,
incorruptible, harmonious, faithful, reliable, trustworthy,
dependable, right and righteous. Men can say, "I speak the truth,"
but only God can say, "I am the truth." The God of the Bible is the
only true God because no other being possesses these attributes.
Jesus Christ is one with the Father. To know Jesus is to know the
Father. To "see" Jesus is to "see" the Father. He is not speaking
of the fleshly body. The words of Christ are the words of the
Father. The Father is in Christ and he is in the Father.
"I Am the Life"
God is life. In every nook and cranny of the world around us
there is abundance and variety of life -- living things. Among the
millions or billions of kinds of life, human life stands out in
uniqueness and singularity. God tells us this is because it alone
is a combination of physical life and spiritual life (Gen. 1:26;
2:7). All life is from God (Gen. 1; Psa. 36:9; Acts 17:24-29).
Something is eternal. Something cannot come from nothing, therefore
something has always been. All that is in existence had to be in
that eternal "something." Hence, that which existed eternally
possessed life. J.W.M. Sullivan, one of the world's greatest
physicists, says, "Life never arises except from life...this (fact)
leads back to some supernatural creative act" -- GOD! (Limitations
of Science 94). The Lord Jesus said, "I am come that (men) may
have life, and that they may have it more abundantly." "Abundantly"
refers to the fullness and richness of the life in Christ --
Christ's way of life -- that higher and nobler life of which human
life is capable. See John 8:12; Luke 12:15; Jude 10.
Eternal Life. Life is union (Gen. 2:7), and death is separation
(Jas. 2:26). Man has both physical life and spiritual life. At
death (separation) both go back to their point of origin -- the
body to dust, and the soul/spirit to God (Eccl. 12:6-7). Spiritual
life (eternal life) is to be united with God, and spiritual death
is to be separated from God, banished into darkness and despair
(Matt. 25:41,46; Rom. 6:23). The Lord Jesus said, speaking
spiritually as he points out in v. 58, "Whoso eateth my flesh, and
drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at
the last day...so he that eateth Me, even he shall live by Me. This
is that bread which came down from heaven: not as your fathers did
eat manna, and are dead: he that eateth of this bread shall live
forever" (Jn. 6:54-58). Again God tells us, "He that hath the Son
hath life (eternal life, v.13), and he that hath not the Son of God
hath not life" (1 Jn. 5:12). Again, Jesus said, "I am the
resurrection and the life: he that believeth in Me, though he were
dead, yet shall he live" (Jn. 11:25). Indeed, "I am the way, and
the truth, and the life."
-- Via Guardian of Truth XXXVIII No. 23, pp. 18-19, December
1, 1994
____________________________________________________
MYRTLE STREET CHURCH OF CHRIST
1022 Myrtle Street
Denham Springs, LA 70726
(225) 664-8208
Sunday: 9:15 AM, 10:00 AM, 4:00 PM
Wednesday: 7:00 PM
evangelist/editor: Tom Edwards (225) 667-4520
e-mail: tedwards at onemain.com
web site: http://home.onemain.com/~tedwards/go
____________________________________________________
More information about the Biblemat
mailing list