IS THERE MORE TO LIFE THAN THIS?

JOHN 14:6

 

 

 

 

What, if any, has been your experience of Christianity?

• Boring?
• Untrue?
• Irrelevant?

 

At the heart of Christian faith is the person of Jesus Christ.

 

• Boring? Jesus brings life to the full

John 10:10 The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.

 

He came once for all, that in Him we may have life. (John 6:50-51; John 10:28). This is one of the grandest of our Lord's claims. He gives life like God from overflowing stores (Titus 3:6). Those who receive life from him have within them perennial sources of life for others - fullness of being (John 7:38; John 4:14). Life is "abundance" of supply beyond immediate possibility of use. Life has the future in its arms. Life propagates new life. Life has untold capacities about it - beauty, fragrance, strength, growth, variety, reproduction, resistance to death, continuity, eternity. In the Word of God is life - and Christ came to give it, to communicate "life to the world.

 

We are reminded of the Shepherd-King's Psalm singing of the "green pastures," and "waters of rest," and "prepared table," and "overflowing cup"; and carrying all this into the region of the spiritual life we come again to the opening words of this Gospel, "And of His fullness did we all receive, and grace for grace" . . . "grace and truth came by Jesus Christ" (John 1:16-17).

• Untrue? Jesus claims to be “the truth”

Truth is rooted in the eternal God who’s all powerful and unchangeable. Jesus prayed, “Sanctify them by the truth; Your word is Truth” (John 17:17).

Truth is far more than facts. It’s not just something we act upon. It acts upon us. We can’t change the truth, but the truth can change us. It sets us apart from the falsehoods woven into our sin natures.

As Christ the living Word is truth, so his written word is truth. Though heaven and earth will pass away, God’s truth never will.

Truth is reality. It’s the way things really are. What seems to be and what really is are often not the same. “Things are not as they appear.” To know the truth is to see accurately. To believe what isn’t true is to be blind.

God has written His truth on human hearts, in the conscience (Romans 2:15). Shame and twinges of conscience come from recognition that truth has been violated. When the 

world hears truth, if spoken graciously, many are drawn to it by the moral vacuum they feel. The heart longs for truth—even the heart that rejects it.

As followers of Christ, we are to walk in the truth (3 John 1:3), love the truth, and believe the truth (2 Thessalonians 2:10-12). We’re to speak the truth “in love” (Ephesians 4:32).

Truth is far more than a moral guide. Jesus declared, “I am the way, the truth and the life; no man comes to the Father but by Me” (John 14:6). He didn’t say He would show the truth or teach the truth or model the truth. He is the truth. Truth personified. He is the source of all truth, the embodiment of truth and therefore the reference point for evaluating all truth-claims.

• Irrelevant? Jesus can transform the whole of our lives

Many confess to believe in Jesus Christ and still compartmentalize our lives so that we are, in effect, two persons living in the same body—a Christian and somebody else. We should learn to live without hiding our “shadow side,” but acknowledging it and bringing it into the light of Christ more and more every day.

 

Jesus Christ came that we might have life to the full, or in abundance (John 10:10). This means that in Christ we can find wholeness, and the potential to be all that God has created us to be. It also means that we do not have to be afraid any more. We have a God and a Saviour who have provided for us in every imaginable way, so that we can enjoy the life they have created for us. This grace makes possible a life of integrity, where we can be honest about our shortcomings, failures, and sinfulness, knowing that these were the very reasons God sent Jesus to bring us salvation. We received salvation and the gift of Holy Spirit not because we earned it but because we needed it and because God loves us.

 

Our salvation is secured when we believe the Gospel of Jesus Christ, distilled into its two key elements in Romans 10:9 and 10: his resurrection and his Lordship. We have to believe in our hearts that God raised him from the dead. This is relatively easy, once we understand the powerful historical arguments for his resurrection. It is also relatively easy to confess Jesus as Lord. That involves recognizing the authority of his exalted position at the right hand of God, and his provision of Holy Spirit

 

Getting saved is easy, and gets us in the game. The greater challenge is to “work out” this salvation and integrate it into our lives. That is what is meant by the phrase in Philippians 2:12 and 13, “…continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling.” We have salvation within, but we need to work it out into our whole lives so it benefits us and others. To do this we have to learn to submit all aspects of our lives to his Lordship and believe that our lives are not our own to do with as we please.

 

So in order to enjoy the life he gave us we must learn to give the Lord Jesus permission and authority to move in every area of our lives. He is a gentleman and will respect our boundaries. If we put up a “stay out” sign, he will generally honour our choice and stay 

away. In the flesh we are not whole. In fact we are full of holes, divided of mind, and have a host of mixed motives. Paul addresses this phenomenon in Romans 6 and 7. We do the things we don’t want to do and don’t do the things that we want to do. Galatians 5:17(KJV) says that the flesh lusts against the spirit. That means that we desire things that hurt us, and which go against what the Holy Spirit in us is all about. If the goal of our Christian life is to be more like our Savior, then we have to learn how to integrate the truth of God’s Word into every aspect of our lives, and allow the spirit of God to influence us more than our fleshly desires. This is a challenge, but we have to remember that we have been given the ability to overcome.

 

RECOMMENDED READING

 

Mere Christianity - C.S. Lewis

What’s so Amazing About Grace? - Philip Yancey

The Return Of The Prodigal Son: A Story Of Homecoming - Henri J.M. Nouwen

Does religion Do More Harm Than Good? - Nicky Gumbel