“I AM: The Jesus We Think We Know”
Part 3 – The Way, Truth, & Life
NewSong Church – 08/05/07
To watch/listen to this message online go to www.newsongs.org or contact info@newsongs.org.
**NOTE: THIS IS A CONCEPT OUTLINE FOR THIS MESSAGE, NOT THE FULL MANUSCRIPT. GRAPHICS AND MULTIMEDIA ARE AVAILABLE TO SUPPORT THIS SERIES.
Video Clip - “Indiana Jones: Raiders of the Lost Ark”
[ch.18; 00:58:27 – 01:00:58]
“Why’d it have to be snakes?”
Indiana Jones has come to the opening of the Well of Souls, and as he looks in, he sees that the floor of the great room is filled with deadly snakes. If you have ever watched the movies or followed the series at all, then you know that Indiana has one overwhelming fear – snakes. You know that in his mind he is thinking, “How else can I get in here, what other way can I go, what alternative routes are there?” Unfortunately for Indiana, there is no other way. If he wants to enter into the Well, he has to go through the snakes.
Indiana Jones is faced with a dilemma – to continue on his quest, or to turn back.
Detours
I’m the kind of person who likes to have choices. I enjoy having options when I’m faced with a situation or issue. And I’m the type of person who often attempts to create an alternative when there doesn’t seem to be one.
• I don’t like being told “You have to do it this way.”
• More often than not, I reject the notion “This is the only way to do this.”
• My first inclination is to immediately begin to develop other possibilities.
• Some times that can be an advantage – it allows you to bring creative solutions to situations; you begin to look deeper for things that may have been overlooked; you check all the angles and perspectives to see if there is another approach that can be tried.
I have a friend who drives with this concept in mind – it does not matter how reliable the route, he will always attempt to create his own. And usually he comes up with a route involving traveling miles of winding back-roads, switching from road to road, cutting through small towns, and generally making a straightforward, easy trip into a quest of trial and error, and a lesson in patience and often forgiveness.
Because no matter how many different ways he can get from point A to point B, very seldom are the alternatives better than the original directions.
And to me, nothing is more frustrating than spending a huge amount of time, energy and resources on developing an alternative only to have to come back to the original way – not because I regret the loss of my time or resources, but because I failed to discover another option.
Just Do It
I grew up with the old saying “Do it right the first time and you won’t have to do it a second time” and to this day I find myself repeating it when I’m involved in a project. But even as I say it, there is always a small part of me that wants to resist that wisdom, to reject it as old tradition, and to spend the rest of the day experimenting and exploring other possibilities.
I think most people find themselves with these same feelings, dealing with this same nature at some point in life. It seems to be an instinctive drive that we all have to some degree, the desire to find our own way, discover things for ourselves, and to create our own path in life.
There is no one who tells us that we have to do this or that or be this or that – everyday there are people who quit their jobs to pursue a lifelong dream. Reality television is an example of this when you see people who have left their jobs and their families in order to become America’s Idol, or the Last Comic Standing, or the Next Top Model, or any other number of things.
The Okay Message
Do we think these people are crazy? Do we think they’re nuts? Do we question what is best for them and for their lives, and do we compare their lives to our own in order to judge who has made better choices and found greater fulfillment in life? I think we do, but in the end, we allow them to decide for themselves what is best for them the same way we reserve the right to decide for ourselves what is best for us.
We move into this mode: “I’m okay and you’re okay.” How I choose to live my life is up to me, and what you choose to do is up to you and as long as yours doesn’t interfere with or inconvenience me, we’re “okay.”
And we live out this mentality in some way in every aspect of our lives. With each situation and issue that we face, we begin to weigh our options, look at the possibilities, and determine what our choices are.
The Problem with the Gospel
Life moves smoothly – our decisions concerning our economics, our social structure, our careers, our physical condition – we spend life factoring and choosing, determining the best choice that will give us what we want.
And that works until we begin to address spiritual concerns. We are spiritual people, we have a part of us that is created for and desires to be part of spiritual things. But when we apply this method to faith and spirituality, we come to a place of decision
* because a search for God
* a search for meaning and purpose
* seeking the eternal
* pursuing spiritual things
* brings us one on one with the person Jesus Christ.
And the Bible tells, in Acts 4:12: “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.”
Flavors of Jesus
This morning we are continuing our series “I Am: the Jesus we think we know” by looking at one of the greatest - and most offensive - statements that Jesus ever made: “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life – no one comes to God except through me.”
This statement is not just a claim to Jesus’ divinity – it is a claim to his unique ability to bring people to God and make things right between them. He is basically saying that of all the religion that has been and will be, of all the theology and philosophy that humanity has put together to understand Life, the Universe and Everything, there is nothing that will get you to a relationship with God unless you go through Jesus.
What makes this such a great statement is that if it is true it means that the Almighty God had such love and passion for a relationship with us that He left everything in order to save us and bring healing to our broken lives and world. What makes it such an offensive statement is that in a matter of seconds, with one sentence, without leaving any room for misunderstanding Jesus puts himself above and beyond every other religious figure and declares that only through a relationship with him will anyone know God.
In today’s society, Jesus is mainly viewed in one of three ways:
• As a historical figure whom his followers deified in order to further their political/social causes
• As a religious figure who is an enlightened teacher on the same level of other enlightened philosophers trying to bring peace and good to the world
• As a divine figure who claimed to be God in the form of humanity in order to save the world from its sin and broken state and restore all creation.
Most people can accept the first type of Jesus – they are willing to admit that he existed and that he lived a good life trying to help people. This Jesus does not clash with their personal world-view, he does not speak to their life-style and he has very little influence in their lives. This Jesus never intended for things to get out of hand, he did not want people to think anything special about him. This is the Jesus of legend and myth. This is the Jesus of stories and tradition. This is the Jesus of the Discovery Channel. This is a Jesus without meaning, relevance or purpose.
The second Jesus is given a little more significance then the first. This Jesus is a wandering prophet, a traveling teacher, a philosopher and speaker of wisdom and guidance. He is equal with the Buddha, Confucius, Mohammed, Gandhi, Marx, and Deepak Chopra. Following his teaching can lead a person to inner peace, personal fulfillment, oneness with all creation and the betterment of the world. This Jesus is usually accepted as a great teacher by other faiths and people who are seeking spiritual enlightenment.
But the third Jesus is where most people begin to have problems, questions and doubts. Because if this Jesus is speaking the truth, then all the other religions of the world are wrong and flawed. If this Jesus is speaking the truth, just being a good person and believing that God exists is not enough. If Jesus is speaking the truth, then anything less than believing what he says about himself and our relationship with God will fall short of reaching and knowing God.
Jesus the Intolerant
This Jesus seems very intolerant. This Jesus seems to be very exclusive. This Jesus seems to put us in a situation where, like it or not, we have to choose to continue our journey with him, or reject him completely. There is no in-between. There is no alternate route. There is no creative workaround. If we desire to have a relationship with God, and if we want to share that relationship with others, it has to come down to knowing and experiencing Jesus Christ. Jesus’ statement brings an assuredness to believing in and following him – “Come this way, and I will make sure you find God.”
1 Timothy 2:5-6: “For there is one God and one mediator b/w God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself as a ransom for all men.”
Living the Way
Jesus stated, “I am the Way to God.” In saying this, Jesus wasn’t meaning simply the directional – he was talking about a lifestyle change; he was talking about our lives becoming like his. Living our life the way he lived.
Colossians 2:6,7 – “And now, just as you accepted Christ Jesus as your Lord, you must continue to follow him. Let your roots grow down into him, and let your lives be built on him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness.”
Ephesians 4:17-24: “Live no longer as the ungodly do, for they are hopelessly confused…but that isn’t what you learned about Christ. Since you have heard about Jesus and have learned the truth that comes from him, throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life, which is corrupted by lust and deception. Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes. Put on your new nature, created to be like God—truly righteous and holy.”
Living with Truth
The Truth that Jesus gives us is that God wants to have a relationship with us, and that we are unable to have that relationship apart from Jesus Christ. And because of what Jesus did to redeem us, we are able to live lives complete and full of purpose in pursuit of God’s plans and kingdom.
Ephesians 4:4-5, 8-10
But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much, that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!) God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.
