It is deeply disturbing to witness the extent to which truth is being ‘killed’ in the public square today; hung up and executed on the gallows of pernicious ideology while falsehood struts about in its arrogance and pride. But this is nothing new. There was a Day when men killed THE TRUTH and that was the day Jesus hung upon the Cross. On that most dreadful of days the world demonstrated what it thought of THE TRUTH by executing Him on a Cross.
But as much as the world demonstrated what it thought of THE TRUTH, the Christ, that day, the good news of the gospel is that while THE TRUTH died on a Cross, it was not finished; it was not the end of Jesus. He triumphed, He prevailed, He rose again from death and because He lives forever, truth stands forever! You see, what we must understand among all that we learn from the Cross is that you can contradict truth with lies, you can malign it, denounce it, deny it, reject it and kill it, but you cannot destroy or eliminate it. Truth is truth, it endures forever.
So why refer to the Lord Jesus as THE TRUTH? Among all the ways He is identified in scripture and by Himself, it was on the eve of His crucifixion that He said in response to a question from his disciple Thomas regarding the way to the Father, that is to God and to heaven:
“I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me” (John 14:6) He is the Way, because He is the Truth and the Life.
The Lord Jesus was and is truth personified; He was the embodiment of the divine. He most certainly spoke the truth as He taught about God, the kingdom and Himself and He spoke only truth for the Bible tells us that God cannot lie (Titus 1:2). He told Pontus Pilate that He had come into this world to witness to the truth (John 18:37), but He did all this because He is THE TRUTH. He is the full, perfect and absolute revelation of God in the flesh to man because He Himself is God, the Son of God. John chapter 1 verse 14 states that He was ‘full of grace and truth’ and again at verses 17 and 18 we read – ‘The law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him’.
Connected to the fact that Jesus is THE TRUTH, is His identity as THE WORD. We read at the beginning of John’s Gospel concerning Him:
‘In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God’ (John 1:1-2)
When you and I speak with words we are communicating what is in our minds, our thoughts. So, it is with Christ. He is the Word of God (Rev 19:13) because He communicates the mind of God and reveals what He is like. He is the WORD of TRUTH.
On one occasion Jesus said to what appears to be professing disciples:
“If ye continue in My word, then are ye My disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:31-32).
They would be free from the power of sin which binds every human heart and will, whether one is religious like these people were or otherwise; we all need set free from sin’s power and control. The Son of God can give us that freedom. This is why He went on to say to them:
“Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin. And the servant abideth not in the house for ever: but the Son abideth ever. If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed” (John 8:34-36)
So, what truth did they and do we need to know? The truth of who Jesus is and why He came to this world, that He is the Son who saves. Prior to these words he said:
“When ye have lifted up the Son of man, then shall ye know that I am [he], and that I do nothing of Myself; but as my Father hath taught Me, I speak these things” (John 8:28).
When Jesus used “I AM” here and at John 14 verse 6 and elsewhere, He is using the divine name revealed to Moses at the burning bush – “I Am” (Exo 3:14). You see, only one who is divine could make such a statement as Jesus made at John 14 verse 6. He is the ever existing, the eternal, the eternal Son of God who brought from heaven to men light, love and life.
So, to Know God we must know Jesus Christ. We must believe His testimony and we must believe in Him as Lord and Saviour. Who He is foundational to the gospel.
But, speaking generally, truth can be defined aswhat is; what is fact, what is actual, what is real. There are of course aspects to truth. Now, I’m neither a theologian or philosopher, but anyone is aware of at least three levels at which we understand truth-
Foundational Truth – Fundamental unalterable realities which govern the universe and our lives. There is the natural order of the world – it has been created a certain way according to certain unalterable laws such as gravity. Then there is moral order. The fact that right and wrong, good and evil unquestionably exist.
Practical Truth – Truth that governs our practice. We must live our lives according to truth at the practical level. We all know this. As we relate to others in our families, or at school or in work or in business and so on we do so on the basis of truth and trust otherwise life wouldn’t be liveable.
Universal Truth – This means truth that is applicable to all people in all places at all times. Facts about the world, life and human experience relevant to everyone irrespective of location, culture or background.
Of course, the scriptures show that truth is determined and defined by the reality of God’s existence. The foundational truth beneath everything is that God is the Creator who is above all and everything exists because of Him:
‘In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth’ (Gen 1:1 NKJV)
There is then, such a thing as Absolute Truth. Truth that applies to all people in all places and at all times. The truth that God is the Creator and moral law giver, that He holds men accountable for their sin, that He has spoken in His Son to the world and that He calls all men to repent in light of the Day of Judgment (Acts 17:30-31). These are statements of absolute universal truth according to the Bible.
The Lord Jesus brought such a revelation of truth to this world – how did the people among whom He lived and ministered respond? They crucified Him.
True are the often-quoted words of James Russell Lowell from his eighteen-verse poem ‘The Present Crisis’ written in 1844. The eighth verse says:
Careless seems the great Avenger; history's pages but record One death-grapple in the darkness 'twixt old systems and the Word; Truth forever on the scaffold, Wrong forever on the throne,— Yet that scaffold sways the future, and, behind the dim unknown, Standeth God within the shadow, keeping watch above his own.
Truth has so often and repeatedly been ‘hung up’ to die. ‘Executed’ by wrong as it holds sway over men who act in their arrogant pride in defiance of Almighty God.
But falsehood has not, cannot and will not win for not only does reality come back to face us, He who is THE TRUTH died on the Cross not in defeat, but in triumph. The powers of darkness and deception energising sinful proud men, wreaked their havoc and did their worst at Calvary against the Creator only to be defeated as the Lord Jesus came out of the other side of death in glorious resurrection power shattering the power of death and the grave.
Remember, while men sought to and thought they had killed Him, it only appeared as if they succeeded. Christ laid down His life in sacrifice upon the Cross to die for our sins, satisfy God’s justice and provide salvation for the human race.
The conflict between truth and falsehood continues as it ever has from the Garden of Eden. It climaxed at Golgotha and will again climax at the end of this evil age when antichrist will arise against the true Christ. The Bible tells us who the winner is.
The gospel assures us that ‘God our Saviour… will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; Who gave Himself a ransom for all’ (1 Timothy 2:3-6).
What is God like? What did He who is THE TRUTH show us?
‘He is the Rock, His work is perfect; For all His ways are justice, A God of truth and without injustice; Righteous and upright is He’ (Deuteronomy 32:4 NKJV).
We have to choose whose side we want to be on. Trust Christ today and be on the side of THE TRUTH. Sometimes the expression is used about being ‘on the wrong side of history’ on certain issues. What we want to make sure is that we are not on the wrong side of eternity.
AJC
Scripture quotations in this message from the KJV unless otherwise noted.