Monday, July 08, 2013 Bet Your Life on Jesus Christ by Rick Warren “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6 NIV) Truth is not a principle. Truth is a person. Truth is relational. Truth is Jesus Christ. God came to Earth in human form to personify truth. The Bible says that Jesus was full of grace and truth. He incarnated truth. He personalized truth. Truth is someone you can relate to. One of the clearest and the most well known verses in the Bible is John 14:6: “Jesus answered, ‘I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me’” (NIV). Notice Jesus says “I.” The path to God is not a religion or a race or a ritual. It’s not rules and regulations. It’s a person. Jesus is “I am” — not “I might be” or “I’d like to be.” Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life — not “one truth” or “part of the truth.” This is what separates Jesus Christ from every other leader from every other faith. Mohammed said, “I am a prophet of the truth.” He claimed to teach truth, but he is not “the truth.” Even Buddha said at the end of his life, “I am still searching for the truth.” The Hindu scriptures say truth is illusive, but many leaders say that they’re teaching the truth or they point to the truth or they’re a prophet of truth. Jesus says, “I’m it. I am the truth.” That is an incredibly divisive statement. It’s either right or it’s wrong. He’s either who he says he is, or he’s the biggest liar in history. A lot of people say, “I think Jesus was a great teacher.” But he couldn’t just be a great teacher. It’s impossible, because no great teacher would claim to be God if he wasn’t. Those are the options. Jesus says in John 14:6, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (NIV). He’s either conning 2.3 billion people in the world who totally believe a lie, or he is who he said he was. Everybody’s betting his or her life on something. The atheist is betting that there is no God. He’d better be right, or he’s making a big mistake. I am betting my life that Jesus is who he said he was. What are you betting your life on? Whatever it is, you better have a good reason for it. Have you examined the evidence? Have you checked it out? “Anyone who examines this evidence will come to stake his life on this: that God himself is the truth” (John 3:33 MSG). Talk About It What are the things that you believe to be true about Jesus? How do you know these things are true? *** *** *** This devotional is based on the current Daily Hope radio series at rickwarren.org. Rick Warren has helped people live with hope and on purpose for more than 40 years. He’s the founding pastor of Saddleback Church in Southern California and author of several books, including “The Purpose Driven Church” and “The Purpose Driven Life,” read by more than 100 million people in 137 languages. He created the PEACE Plan (plant churches of reconciliation, equip servant leaders, assist the poor, care for the sick, educate the next generation), which is used by churches in 196 countries. His radio teaching and daily devotional, Daily Hope, is offered across America. This devotional ©2013 by Rick Warren. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
Posted on: Wed, 10 Jul 2013 02:00:17 +0000
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