Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life

This past Sunday our small group lesson was on the uniqueness of Jesus Christ - John 14:1-11. We talked about verse 6 where Christ tells the disciples, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."  Our faith is different than all of the other major religions in the world. We serve the One and Only living God. Our faith is the only one that has a savior that has died, been resurrected to life again, ascended to heaven, and now reigns with the Father. 

Jesus is the Life - our spiritual life! He is the prize for all believers. We are separated from God because of our sin and as Romans 6:23 tells us - "the wages of sin is death. We have to be delivered from death - our physical bodies, should we die before Christ's return, will be resurrected. Our spiritually dead hearts -  separate us from God, have to be made alive - and this only happens when we confess our sin, repent, ask Jesus to forgive us, and acknowledge that He is our Lord and Savior. Jesus came to the earth to make us alive when we were dead.

According to God's word - Our faith is based on God's grace and love - we are saved by His grace, not by anything that we do on our own. The author of last weeks lesson reminds us that other religions are all offering a way to return to God's favor by good works, self- effort, or religiosity. Self-effort can never get us back into a right standing with God.

Jesus is unique because of what He says - the Truth - Jesus reveals God. he is God's revelation of Himself to us. The Gospel of John provides us with many evidences of Christ being God's self-disclosure to the world - Check out these passages John 1:14, 1:18, 10:25,30, 14:9-11; 5:33, 18:37, 8:40, 45-46; 8:32. Jesus reveals God because He is God! 

(The author of the lesson was Afshin Ziafat, The Gospel Project)

Do I Walk in the New Life I have from Christ

 Ephesians 2:1-10 (HCSB) And you were dead in your trespasses and sins in which you previously walked according to the ways of this world, according to the ruler who exercises authority over the lower heavens, the spirit now working in the disobedient. We too all previously lived among them in our fleshly desires, carrying out the inclinations of our flesh and thoughts, and we were by nature children under wrath as the others were also. But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love that He had for us, made us alive with the Messiah even though we were dead in trespasses. You are saved by grace! Together with Christ Jesus He also raised us up and seated us in the heavens, so that in the coming ages He might display the immeasurable riches of His grace through His kindness to us in Christ Jesus.  For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift— not from works, so that no one can boast.  For we are His creation, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared ahead of time so that we should walk in them.

In the previous chapter of Ephesians, Paul tells us of God’s power – power that raised Jesus Christ from the dead. As believers, we have access to this power. We too have been raised from the dead – the death of our sin – raised to walk in a new life with Christ!

This past year has been full of changes – in December of 2012 our household went from having 3 people living in it to 6. In December of 2013 we added one more – a new life, a precious grandson, Maverick Leo, born to our daughter and son in law. What I am learning is that God’s plan for my life is not my plan, but His plan is so much better. As I read through Ephesians 2, listen to sermons on the passage, and truly ask God what I am to be learning, I see a new life in front of me and I get a glimpse of what Paul is writing about. I see an innocent baby who doesn't know right from wrong at this moment, but being born into this world, he is a sinner. He will grow, walk, and learn in this world. It is my responsibility, as his gram, to continue to live out, in front of him, God’s grace and love. It is also my responsibility, to teach him as I talk to him about the gift of God’s power and salvation. I believe God’s plan has allowed me to not only raise two children, praying and teaching them of God’s grace, but also to pray for and teach my grandson. (I’m not saying his parents are responsible for this too, but I am blessed to be a part of this little guy’s life!)

My prayer from Maverick is that he grows and learns of God’s grace; that he receives the power that only God can give; and that he recognizes that he was created for God’s glory and plan and that he will walk in God’s plan. A new physical life joined our family – already praying for his spiritual life.