On Truth // John 14:6
How do you view truth? There is a movement in our culture that works to convince us that truth is individual. You might hear someone refer to “my truth” or “your truth”. If that’s the case, then truth is arbitrary. This calls to mind the exchange Jesus had with Pontious Pilate in John 18:37, “I was born and came into the world is to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.” Pilate retorted as recorded in verse 38, “What is truth?” With that, Pilate went to the people and declared he didn’t find any fault in Christ. That didn’t satisfy the people, though; in fact, the crowd called for Jesus’ execution because He did not live up to their expectations, i.e., the sense of how truth should be on their terms. This, my friends, is the essence of original sin that has plagued humanity since the fall of Adam and Eve from grace.
We still see this play out within today’s cultural movement that tries to make truth individual — and therefore, arbitrary. Be mindful that this isn’t unique to us, because it’s been an arrow in Satan’s quiver since the Garden of Eden when he tempted Eve with the question, “Did God really say…?” (Genesis 3:1). This is precisely why Jesus came in the first place: to lead the rescue mission for humanity and deliver us back to God by destroying the power of sin over every single human being.
I hope that strikes you as you read our verse for the day from John 14:6 where Jesus said, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (NIV). Jesus emphatically stated that truth is personal, but not arbitrary, because Jesus is truth in the flesh! This is the difference between absolute truth (the things that do not change) versus relative truth (the things that change with the prevailing winds of culture).
We need to be mindful of how Satan uses relative truth to try and discredit absolute truth. It starts with the same simple question, “Did God really say?” What is so insidious is it can almost make sense. In fact, the devil uses our godly values against us to turn away from truth to comes across as kind, tolerant, accepting. This is why we need to root our lives in God’s absolute truth since Jesus is the way to God and entrance into the abundant and eternal life the Lord longs to give.
So, how do you view truth? What do you need to change? How can the truth of God empower you today, even when the onlooking crowd might call for your crucifixion? Let’s commit to live into the truth today, shall we?
