BY GREG CRUM
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.” Isaiah 55:8-9
“What is truth?” That was Pilate’s question to Jesus not too long before he would follow the desire of the Jewish mob and condemn him to death by crucifixion. It’s a great question, and despite what many modern “thinkers” believe, one that has a definitive answer. Truth is an accurate reflection of reality; it’s how things really are. Now, this definition of truth is universally accepted, even by non-believers, but to really know the truth, the absolute truth that is only found in Jesus, you have to understand things through the perspective of his reality.
You see, truth is an accurate reflection of the ways things really are, but many people still aren’t enjoying the truth that Jesus is because their reality isn’t God’s reality. They don’t see things the way God does or understand things the way God does. Of course, the only way to see things the way God does is to see the world and your life through the lenses of faith. Once you begin to see the truth of God’s reality that way, and embrace it, you can begin to enjoy it in your everyday life.
For some time now, we’ve been thinking about who Jesus really is. Those of us who have grown up in what was once called the “Bible Belt” would like to think we know, and that everyone else knows, but honestly, this knowledge, while readily available in the Bible, seems lost to our generation. Oh, it’s true that most people have their conceptions of Jesus, the world has their opinions of him, in ways subtle and overt they’ve conveyed them, and religion has painted a certain picture of him, but sadly, not always so accurately. That’s why it’s so important that in our day we discover for ourselves who Jesus really is—who those early disciples believed him to be, and most importantly, who he declared himself to be.
Friends, Jesus is much more than most have been led to believe. He’s all that he said he is and he’s all that the Bible declares him to be. So far in our writing we’ve noted in particular who he said he was, we’ve focused on those “I am” statements. Last week we left off with Jesus’ bold statement that he was the truth. Wow, “the” truth, not “a” truth, profound, right? It is if you believe him to be truthful, those ramifications are eternity altering!
So, connecting our thoughts from earlier and last week—Jesus is the truth, the accurate reflection of how things really are according to God’s perspective, but what does that mean for humanity? First, it means that we’re sanctified (set apart) for good things for eternity. In John 17:17-19 we read that it is the truth that sanctifies us. God has used the power of truth to rescue us from death, Hell, and the Lake of Fire. We are no longer appointed to that wrath because the truth came to save us!
Secondly, it means that we’re free to live life the way God has designed—free from anything that would hold us down. Remember that in John 8:30-36 we are told that it’s the truth that makes us free! Addiction, bondage of any kind, can’t chain us when we choose to embrace the truth instead.
Thirdly, it means that we’ve escaped the plans of our ultimate enemy. II Timothy 2:22-26 warns how the enemy traps people who don’t love the truth. Our love of the truth keeps us free from the hunter’s snare! Finally, it means we’re always going to have a friend who will tell us the truth. John 1:14-17 and John 15:15-17 lets us know that since truth became flesh, we now have a Truth that is committed to stick by our side always.
Brothers and sisters, we should be so thankful that Jesus is the truth. That truth has made us free and will keep us throughout eternity in the good graces of our Heavenly Father.
Greg Crum is the pastor of Calvary Temple in Lovely.