Encouragement
JN 14:5 Thomas said to him, "Lord, we don't know where you are going, so how can we know the way?"
JN 14:6 Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
Whenever I have gotten into discussions with enlightened co-workers and friends, (read “New Agers”) the discussion invariable comes to a statement such as, “If God is good, then there are many ways to reach him. It’s only important to find one that works for you or makes most sense and then sincerely believe it.” As Christians, you already know that is error. Before crossing a bridge over an abyss, the traveler must first find a worthy bridge. Then, walking it (no matter how much faith or fear he has in the walking) will be his deliverance. But walk an unworthy bridge over the same chasm, the faith level makes no impact on a the fall. The truth is like the worthy bridge. And it is unforgiving. That is, Truth is exclusive. Two plus two must always equal four to remain a true statement. Anything other than four as a solution to the equation is error. And yet the world chafes at the exclusivity of Truth. What the world misses is that truth is not merely a collection of provable, scientific facts. It is not merely a collection of true facts. Truth is a Person. And being Truth, it also makes Him Life and the Way to Life. His name is Jesus. And those were His own words.
So, He is either a frightful liar or a maker of incredible, but Truth-filled statements. So, find the worthy bridge over the chasm between God and Man. Then walk it confidently. But even if you are in fear as you walk it, if you still walk it despite your fear or pain, it will still deliver you safely over to the other side. But how much more honoring to the Designer of the Bridge if you walk it in joy and peace, in faith and confidence in His ability to construct a bridge for your life from your own certain destruction into his Life of Delights, a life that knows the Designer.
So, if Jesus is the Way, and he is – what kind of way is he? When I was a girl in school, I looked forward to starting subjects that had the same kinds of titles that my older brother and sister had in high school. I thought it was really cool the day we had a “science” class. We cut open potatoes and put iodine on them and watched the chemistry before our very excited eyes. I was so very proud of my first composition notebook (you know, that black-and-white bespeckled, string- bound notebook). And History. The first thing my teacher told me was that History is His Story: God’s story. Once I got into it a little deeper, I was thinking God needed a better story teller! But I wasn’t thinking big enough.
History is indeed God’s story, but it’s not just Civil War, World War II, or walking on the moon. These are merely facts in the story, but the Truth embraces more than these. The Truth is that there are two Kingdoms: The Kingdom of God, and the kingdom of darkness. It’s easy to be a part of the kingdom of darkness. We’re born into it. That’s part of the First Adam’s contribution to the story; but it’s not hard to be part of the kingdom of light: it will only take you crowning Jesus King of your life and moving from your dungeon to his castle. Translation: you receive Jesus not merely as Savior, but as Lord and live under His terms for living, and not your own. This is how our lives become part of His story to redeem the world. And while we long for an end to evil and the “beginning” of eternity, the Truth is, that we are already in eternal life. Jesus also said, “This is eternal life: knowing the Father.” And earlier in the same discourse, Jesus said that knowing him is knowing the Father and the way to Him.
Jesus was all about that: knowing the Father. He regularly broke away to have private conversations with him, receiving marching orders, strength for the journey, the love of His Father. He stole away and took his disciples with him. Peter followed that example one day on his rooftop and thereby brought the message of salvation to the Gentiles by God’s marching orders. Paul certainly had the time as a house prisoner to spend it with the Lord, and we have the meat and potatoes of the New Testament as a result.
Jesus is the Way to the Father, the Way in to His Story, and the Way into His Story for you. The story of the church is His story continued in this day, to bring others into the story to write our paragraph of redemption.
Whenever I wonder in awe of heaven, I usually come round to I wonder what God was doing when THAT happened, letting us write into His story? And I return to this idea: that a part of Heaven, a slice of eternity, will be a great big campfire, complete with marshmallows for roasting, comfy chairs, and our favorite beverage, and when the singing dies down a bit, someone will call for a Holy Ghost story. And beginning with Adam and Eve, we will hear the Complete Story of God’s Grace, God’s amazing ability to bring Himself onto the scene, so that where there was no hope, no way, no life, a life was lived in honor of Him. At the culmination of the story (not the climax – the conclusion) of the story, when the last saint has told his or her story that is the end of the story of Earth, - we will understand those things that are now shrouded in mystery and confusion, those things for which we only hear sometimes unsatisfying words, “Trust Me.” So, seemingly passively, we do nothing but trust, but it is nonetheless, a journey and anything but passive.
So, if you are the traveler fearfully crossing the right bridge, I encourage you to trust the Bridge Builder. If you are the one standing in the fog of “Trust Me” know your courage and hope are not passive but mighty in God to deliver you safe into His purposes for you. If you are front line engaged in battle, know that the enemies’ supply line has been cut off, while yours is at hand. And if you take a hit, the story is not dead in your life, but only detoured and ready to spring out anew elsewhere. Jesus is the Way, The Truth and the Life. What he said was I am your Way, your Truth, and your Life. Following Him in your life will bring you into His story and His story leads to the Father. Where else would you rather go?
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Excellent! Excellent!
Outstanding! Well written with a wonderful analogy. I'll never look at a bridge the same way again. Thank you sharing this with us.
Very powerful message. Thanks for being straight-forward and bluntly honest. This is the kind of message that everyone, especially non-believers, need to hear. Keep up the good work!
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