Series Pt 4 – The Five Transcendent Truths
Sola Christus
John 14:6 “I am the way and the truth and the life”
In John 13:33, Jesus said, “My children, I will be with you only a little longer. You will look for me, and just as I told the Jews, so I tell you now: Where I am going, you cannot come.” This prompted Peter to ask where He was going (verse 36). Peter and the others did not understand that Jesus was speaking of His death and ascension to heaven. Jesus’ response was, “Where I am going, you cannot follow now, but you will follow later.” Peter was still misunderstanding and declared that he would follow Jesus anywhere and even lay down His life if necessary. As Jesus patiently continued to teach His disciples, He began speaking more plainly about heaven, describing the place He was going to prepare for them (John 14:2–3). Then Jesus said, “You know the way to the place where I am going” (verse 4). Speaking for the others, Thomas said they did not know where He was going, so how could they know how to follow Him there? It was in answer to this question that Jesus uttered one of the seven famous “I am” statements found in John’s Gospel.
Today’s message is the fourth part of this “Sola Series.” So far we have look at Sola Gratia, Sola Scriptura, Sola Fide and today Sola Christus.
In this verse that we are considering this morning Jesus makes for claims or declarations help us to understand why He is Sola Christos or Christ only or Christ alone.
I. His Claim of Deity
ILL: The most distinctive name by which God was known in Israel is Yahweh (Jehovah), which comes from the same root as “I AM”…
In the Greek language, “I am” is a very intense way of referring to oneself. It would be comparable to saying, “I myself, and only I, am.” Several other times in the Gospels we find Jesus using these words. In Matthew 22:32 Jesus quotes Exodus 3:6, where God uses the same intensive form to say, “I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” In John 8:58, Jesus said, “Truly, truly I say unto you, before Abraham was, I am.” The Jews clearly understood Jesus to be calling Himself God because they took up stones to stone Him for committing blasphemy in equating Himself with God. In Matthew 28:20, as Jesus gave the Great Commission, He gave it emphasis by saying, “I am with you always, to the end of the age.” When the soldiers came seeking Jesus in the garden the night before His crucifixion, He told them, “I am he,” and His words were so powerful that the soldiers fell to the ground (John 18:4–6). These words reflect the very name of God in Hebrew, Yahweh, which means “to be” or “the self-existing one.” It is the name of power and authority, and Jesus claimed it as His own.
ILL: “I Am’s” significant meaning in Exodus is that Moses credentials for being the one to lead Egypt out of bondage are found in him using the name “I AM.” He is the One giving permission to Moses to use His name to deliver the Israelites.
ILL: He is not the great I Was or the great I Am going to be, He is the great I AM.
Quote: “As the grave grows near, my theology is growing strangely simple, and it begins and ends with Christ as the only refuge for the lost.”—Bishop Whipple
II. His Claim to Be The Way
If Jesus is “the Way” then how can some say that all religions are equally true? Many people think so. This belief is referred to as religious pluralism. It is the idea that all religions are each, on their own terms, legitimate roads to God. Moreover, God has somehow ordained various paths for various people and cultures. Therefore, no one is within his rights to say that his religion is better than anyone else’s. All ways to God are equally valid. Jesus is the path for Christians, but others have legitimate paths of their own. Str.org
In our text Jesus used the definite article to distinguish Himself as “the only way.” A way is a path or route, and the disciples had expressed their confusion about where He was going and how they could follow. As He had told them from the beginning, Jesus was again telling them (and us) “follow me.” There is no other path to heaven, no other way to the Father. Peter reiterated this same truth years later to the rulers in Jerusalem, saying about Jesus, “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). The exclusive nature of the only path to salvation is expressed in the words “I am the way.”
The Road to Safety”
A news correspondent, forced to jump from a crippled plane over New Guinea, landed safely. He sought a way out of the jungle. Up mountains, down the rivers, through the thick jungle growth he traveled, only to return discouraged to his starting point.
Day by day, week by week, he took one way after another – but there was no road. At last he suddenly came upon a break in the tall grass where apparently some animal had passed. Following the break he found himself on a narrow road! What joy! Later he was found by missionaries and taken to a hospital and the safety of civilization.
Think what that road meant to that correspondent! Just that does the Word of God mean to man as he wanders through the wilderness of a sinful life. Seeking his own ways by himself, he constantly returns to his starting point – still lost, without hope, unable to find the way to eternal life.
How good it is to know that there was One who said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” D. J. Evans in Open Windows
III. His Claim to Be the Truth
The Bible teaches that truth is not relative, regardless of the subject matter. There is an objective spiritual reality, just as there is an objective physical reality. God is unchanging (Malachi 3:6); Jesus likened His teachings to a solid, immovable rock (Matthew 7:24). Jesus is the only way of salvation, and this is absolutely true for every person at all times (John 14:6). Just like people need to breathe in order to live, people need to be born again through faith in Christ to experience spiritual life (John 3:3).
In the text Jesus uses the definite article to emphasize Himself as “the only truth.” Psalm 119:142 says, “Your law is the truth.” In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus reminded His listeners of several points of the Law, then said, “But I say unto you . . .” (Matthew 5:22, 28, 32, 34, 39, 44), thereby equating Himself with the Law of God as the authoritative standard of righteousness. In fact, Jesus said that He came to fulfill the Law and the prophets (Matthew 5:17). Jesus, as the incarnate Word of God (John 1:1) is the source of all truth, absolute truth!
When someone says that truth is relative, what he normally means is that there is no absolute truth. Some things may appear true to you but not true to me. If you believe it, it is true for you. If I don’t believe it, it is not true for me. When people say things like “that’s fine if God exists for you, but He doesn’t exist for me,” they are expressing the popular belief that truth is relative.
The whole concept of “relative truth” sounds tolerant and open-minded. However, upon closer analysis, it is not open-minded at all. In essence, to say that “God exists for you but not for me” is to say that the other person’s concept of God is wrong. It passes judgment. But no one really believes that all truth is relative. No sane person says, “Gravity works for you, but not for me,” and proceeds to jump off tall buildings believing no harm will follow. Gotquestions.org
FAITH AND HUMAN KNOWLEDGE
The late Billy Graham said, "Millions of people today are searching for a reliable voice of authority. The Word of God is the only real authority we have. His Word sheds light on human nature, world problems and human suffering. But beyond that, it clearly reveals the way to God. The message of the Bible is the message of Jesus Christ who said, 'I am the way, the truth and the life' (John 14:6). It is the story of salvation; the story of your redemption and mine through Christ; the story of life, of peace, of eternity. Our faith is not dependent upon human knowledge and scientific advance, but upon the unmistakable message of the Word of God."
There is a phrase that is used in popular culture today, “The Inconvenient Truth. This phrase is used by those in the climate change industry. The REAL Inconvenient Truth that every person alive today must deal with. In John 14: 6, Jesus says, “I am the Way and the Truth and the Life; no one comes to the Father except through Me.”
You must not die without being “in Christ.” This seems dreadfully inconvenient to many people. Are you one of them? Do you feel Jesus to be grossly unfair to say salvation from eternal damnation comes only by Him?
What Jesus spoke while living on the earth was true then, is true now and will always be true. God never changes. Every time Jesus spoke something he wanted his listeners (and us as readers of his Word) to really pay special attention to, he would preface it with “I tell you the truth…” (NIV) or “Verily I say unto you…” (KJV) and “Assuredly, I say to you…” (NKJV) Note especially, John 3:3, he prefaces the statement to come with “Verily, verily…” (KJV) or “Truly, truly…” (ESV), He doubles up what is to come for emphasis meaning what you’re about to hear is TRULY TRUE – so pay attention!! Then Jesus says in order to enter the kingdom of heaven,
“You must be born again.” Gotquestions.org
IV. His Claim to Be the Life
Jesus had just been telling His disciples about His impending death, and now He was claiming to be the source of all life. In John 10:17–18, Jesus declared that He was going to lay down His life for His sheep, and then take it back again. He spoke of His authority over life and death as being granted to Him by the Father. In John 14:19, He gave the promise that “because I live, you also will live.” The deliverance He was about to provide was not a political or social deliverance (which most of the Jews were seeking), but a true deliverance from a life of bondage to sin and death to a life of freedom in eternity.
Conclusion: In these words, Jesus was declaring Himself the great “I Am,” the only path to heaven, the only true measure of righteousness, and the source of both physical and spiritual life. He was staking His claim as the very God of Creation, the Lord who blessed Abraham, and the Holy One who inhabits eternity. He did this so the disciples would be able to face the dark days ahead and carry on the mission of declaring the gospel to the world. Of course, we know from Scripture that they still didn’t understand, and it took several visits from their risen Lord to shake them out of their disbelief. Once they understood the truth of His words, they became changed people, and the world has never been the same.
So how do we follow Him today? The same way the disciples did long ago. They heard the words of Jesus and believed them. They took His words and obeyed them. They confessed their sins to Jesus as their Lord and God. They believed that He died to take the punishment of their sins and rose from the dead to give them new life. They followed His example and command to tell others the truth about sin, righteousness, and judgment. When we follow Him in “the way,” we can be assured of following Him all the way to heaven. Gotquestions.org
Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
1. He is the “I Am…”
2. He is not a way. HE IS THE WAY!
3. He is not a truth. HE IS THE TRUTH!
4. He is not a life. HE IS THE LIFE!
When I was a student at Asbury College in the late 1960s, we used to sing the old Gospel Chorus:
Let’s talk about Jesus
The King of Kings is He,
The Lord of Lords Supreme throughout eternity,
The Great I AM the Way, the Truth the Life the door
Let’s talk about Jesus more and more.
On His Glorious Resurrection Day let us honor and exalt Jesus Who has conquered sin and death and is THE GREAT I AM.
R. David Reynolds
JESUS IS THE GOSPEL.
"Fundamentally, our Lord’s message was Himself. He did not come merely to preach a Gospel; He himself is that Gospel. He did not come merely to give bread; He said, "I am the bread." He did not come merely to shed light; He said, "I am the light." He did not come merely to show the door; He said, "I am the door." ...He did not come merely to point the way; He said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life."
--J. Sidlow Baxter, pastor and theologian
IT MATTERS WHICH WAY YOU GO
In Lewis Carroll's classic story Alice asks the Cheshire Cat, "Which way do I want to go? Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?"
"That depends a good deal on where you want to get to," said the Cat.
"I don't much care where" says Alice.
"Then it doesn't much matter which way you go," replied the Cat.
Do you want to cross the finish line? Do you want to make it home where you belong? Then there is only one way to go. Jesus said, "I am the gate for the sheep. All who ever came before me were thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved...I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."
