Sermon Illustrations - Tag: truth
Posted by Douglas on Aug 04, 2008

In our "pluralistic" society, people seem to be very comfortable with the idea that no one religion has the corner on truth, and that there are many ways to get to heaven (if heaven does, in fact, exist). As a consequence, members of any one religion are made to feel as though they are being arrogant and narrow-minded if they suggest that their religion is "true." In the midst of all of this, Jesus's statement found in John 14:6 makes people feel very uncomfortable.

"I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life," Jesus says, and you can almost hear the capital letters at the beginnings of each of those words. "The Way," he says, not "A Way." And to make matters worse, he then has the audacity to say that no one can get to heaven except through him. Not only is He the Way, He claims He is the only way.

So people tend to look at Jesus and say, "That's pretty arrogant and small-minded of him to suggest he's the only possible way."

Not arrogant and small-minded at all. Why can Jesus say things like "no one can come to heaven except through me"? Because he owns heaven. Paul tells us in Colossians 1:16 that Jesus is the creator of heaven. It belongs to HIM!

If you stop by to visit my home, who gets to decide whether you are invited in? I do! It's my place. And if you have chosen to disregard and disdain me, is it unreasonable to think that I wouldn't want you to live in my home? Of course not!

The real arrogance is for mankind to think "I will spend my life in pursuits other than the pursuit of Truth, and at the end of it all, I'll just assume that there's an eternal dwelling ready for me."

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