“Pilate said, ‘So you are a king?’ Jesus responded, ‘You say I am a king. Actually, I was born and came into the world to testify to the truth. All who love the truth recognize that what I say is truth.’ ‘What is truth?’ Pilate asked.” (John 17:37-38a NLT)
Truth is not relative to circumstance, opinion, time, stage of life, or someone’s “strong” belief. Truth is not dependent on how smart the person is who speaks or lives it; it is inherent in the person, life, and teaching of the Lord Jesus Christ. He IS the embodiment of all Truth. If it violates His name, ministry, mission, or holds up anything false or contradictory to who He is or what He taught it’s a lie and is not Truth.
Jesus said of Himself in John 14:6: “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through Me.” “Well,” you may think, “that’s just one man’s opinion. I could say that about myself, but it doesn’t make it true.” And that’s “true!” But the word Jesus used that is translated “truth” in this verse means: “what is true in any matter under consideration; truly, in truth, according to truth; of a truth, in reality, in fact, certainty.” It has other dimensions of meaning, but the fact is Jesus IS the Truth, period!
Truth isn’t how you feel about something or what you’ve deduced by research or investigation, unless and until it complies with the Person of Christ. What does that even mean? It means Truth liberates, it doesn’t confine or suppress. In the moral morass that exists in our world today “truth” is relative. Essentially, truth, as it’s defined in our world today, is however each person defines it, thus, there is no absolute “truth” that applies to every person in every age in every circumstance.
The problem with that is that it’s a lie perpetrated from the depths of hell. Jesus said in John 8:32: “You are truly My disciples if you remain faithful to My teachings. And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” As many today, the Jewish leaders who heard these words initially rebelled against them and tried to deny them, claiming they’d never been enslaved to anyone. But Jesus told them: “I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave of sin.”
The Bible is clear that we’ve all sinned and can never forgive ourselves or make ourselves fit for heaven. “But,” some may ask, “what if I have no desire to go to ‘heaven,’ whatever that is?” Then follow whatever you believe is “true.” We have no obligation to follow Jesus, each person is completely free to follow the dictates of their own conscience, believing whatever is “true” in their heart and mind.
The problem with that is, to miss Jesus is to miss life as it was always intended to be. “Yeh,” some may object, “but I AM alive. I’m breathing, I have the capacity to make choices and to live anyway I desire.” And to that I would say, “You’re exactly right!” But remember the verse from John 14 above? Jesus IS the life! He’s not only the reason to live, but the reason to be alive, to have existence on this planet.
To exist as a slave to ourself, driven by our sinful desires, enslaved by our sinful nature, isn’t to live, it’s to exist without understanding why. It’s to breathe without knowing the purpose of who we’re made to be. There are people who don’t know Jesus who accomplish remarkable things and perform feats that improve living conditions and bless people worldwide, but they do those things for their own glory and benefit. Their reward will end with the acclaim of mankind, then they’ll die and be forgotten.
To know the Truth of who Jesus is and what He has created us to be frees us to be all He desires us to be while we’re here on earth, then we get to be rewarded for our life in Him for all eternity. Our creativity never ends because He frees us to be alive with Him forever and ever and ever.
That, my friend is life. And that’s the Truth!
Food for thought.
Blessings, Ed 😊
Walking With Jesus 
Praise God 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person