Recorded in the Gospel of John, our Lord made seven statements referring to Himself as I AM…
I AM The Light of the World
I AM The Bread of Life
I AM The Door
I AM The Good Shepherd
I AM The True Vine
I AM The Way, The Truth, and The Life
I AM The Resurrection and The LifeEach week during this season of Lent, here on the Seeking Him blog, we will be focusing our devotionals on a different aspect of Jesus’ revelation of Himself as I AM. The aim of Lent should be to prepare our hearts for the remembrance of Jesus’ sacrifice—His trial and torture, the Crucifixion and His death…and above all, the celebration of His Resurrection from the dead. We pray that this will be a great encouragement to each of you who read them. And that all of us will consider the significance of Jesus’ words and, through them, be helped as we remember and are thankful for all Jesus went through during the last few weeks of His life on this earth.
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Jesus said to him,
I AM the Way and the Truth and the Life;
no one comes to the Father except by (through) Me.
John 14:6
This week, here on the Seeking Him devotional blog, we have listened to the words of our Lord recorded in John chapter 14. Here Jesus made it clear that He is the only Way to the Father. Jesus was direct in His words…it was ‘all or nothing’ (as Cynda so succintly put it)! Our devotional writers have shared some insight on these words spoken by our Lord…specifically regarding the statement He made, “I AM the Way, the Truth, and the Life.” Here are a few highlights from the devotionals that Tina, Laura, Cynda, Ann, and Ahmee wrote to encourage us.
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In One Path, Cynda encouraged us to believe Jesus’ statement in verse 6.
“In this verse, Jesus makes a very bold statement—one that forces us to make a decision. It is an all-or-nothing deal. There is simply no middle ground. Either Jesus is the only Way to the Father or Jesus is not telling the truth. (That was so hard for me to type!)
Consider the following verses:
Jesus said to her, “I AM the Resurrection and the Life.
The one who believes in Me, even if he dies, will live.
Everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die—ever.
Do you believe this?”
John 11:25-26 HCSB
“Do you believe this?” That is the crux of the matter. Those four words sum it up in a nutshell. What do you believe?”
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In Your Compass, Ahmee reminded us of the importance of knowing the Truth from the Scriptures.
“If ever we wonder what we should do, we have a Compass to point us in the right direction. Jesus said that He is “…The Way, The Truth, and The Life.” So, when we come across new teachings we need to be diligent in comparing this teaching to the Word of God that we know.
Anyone can look at the Bible and interpret it the way they want; but that doesn’t mean that you should blindly follow every interpretation of the Bible. Go to it and read for yourself. What does God say to you about what you are reading, and what does He say to you about the teaching you just heard?
There are concepts and things in the Bible that we KNOW for a fact. We would know it immediately if we were to hear a teaching that contradicted what we KNOW to be true from our time spent in the Word.”
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In Jesus IS The Way, The Truth, and The Life, Ann pointed out the dangers of being without The Way, The Truth, and The Life!
“Without The Way? There is no going…where can you go if there is no way through? We cannot go to the Father except through Jesus. The way gives us access to wherever we want to go. Therefore Jesus is the True Access to the many blessings the Lord has in store for us.
Without The Truth? Wow, just having Christ in us and us in Him we are assured of having knowledge of the truth of the great things—for Christ knows all. For it means we know God, too!
Jesus is life. Without The Life? Well, “no Jesus=no life”. Accepting Him as the Lord and Savior gives us eternal life. We thank God for giving us life through Christ Jesus.”
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In The Map to Salvation, Laura reminded us of the practical application of being able to follow directions when we follow Jesus.
“Here on Earth, directions can be very confusing. Directions can especially be confusing when landmarks are similar, or the person giving them can confuse me if they start describing landmarks or road names when I have never been in the area. It is probably this way for a lot of people.
Yet, when it comes to eternal life, we have a great road map for directions! Jesus gave us this road map when He spent His last moments before the Crucifixion with His disciples. He told them that He is the Way to God. He is the Truth from God. Jesus brought God’s truth to us and gave us the life.”
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And in Know The Father Through His Son Jesus, Tina pointed out how Jesus, being the very image of His Father, made Him known to the Apostles.
“Through their training and living with Jesus, the Apostles may have just looked at him as just a man with an anointing from God. Not as Who He truly is—Jesus being the image of God. This thought is pretty cool though. Just think of being around Jesus, who is the image of God, for three years. I would imagine I might just take for granted Jesus being with us everyday, not thinking He was going to ever leave. I would, not intentionally, not listen as intently. I would hear, but not really. Then once He was gone I would regret not having been more intentional in listening, as well as noting everything being said…watching the miracles being performed…wishing I had asked for God to anoint me in much the same way as His Son. ”
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Have you had the opportunity to read through these blogposts this week? If not, I would encourage you to do so! Our bloggers have made these as well as some other wonderful points to direct us towards Jesus, Who IS The Way, The Truth, and The Life. Through Him, and ONLY through Him, do we have access to God the Father.
