DATE: 10th May, 2020
THEME: JESUS, THE WAY TO THE FATHER
SCRIPTURE READINGS
Acts 7:55-60
1 Peter 2:2-10
John 14:1-14
PSALTER: Psalms 31:1-5
INTRODUCTION:
In John 14, Jesus brought out the ‘I AM’ claim in a different setting. In this setting, the disciples were confused and troubled. Jesus could see their anxiety in their faces.
Things were leading up to the crucifixion. They may have felt they didn’t know what was going to happen to them in the upcoming days. They were losing their sense of direction.
When something changes in your life you may feel that you have become disoriented. Where do you turn? What if you are not on the right path? What if the things you always believed are not that way at all/ What if?
Thomas was confused by all that was going on around him. He seemed to be the one who had the courage to speak up for the group. Jesus wanted to set their hearts at ease. He said to them, “Stop being troubled.” He spoke to them with CALMNESS and ASSURANCE. He pointed out to them the promises that they would have a place in the eternal world.
Thomas spoke up and said, “We don’t know WHERE you are going, and we don’t know THE WAY.” Thomas was saying, “I’m totally confused. No, I DON’T KNOW the Way, I Don’t GET IT. I don’t understand what you are trying to tell me.”
In this setting of confusion, anxiety, and troubled hearts, Jesus made the ‘I AM’ claim. “I AM the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father but by me.”
BODY
I. ARE THERE OTHER WAYS TO GOD?
People today want to believe all paths, all roads, and all faiths lead to God; they want to believe that all religions are equal. So, for instance, they believe Mohammed, Buddha, and Confucius are on a par with Jesus and the faiths or religions started by these men are as valid as the Christian faith in bringing one to God and heaven.
A study of the Bible shows us that humankind has tried all sorts of ways to get to God and heaven.
▪During the Old Testament period, for instance, Israel’s neighbors thought they could get in touch with God through the sacrifice of their children, or by dancing and screaming as they did with Baal in the contest against Elijah.
▪During the New Testament period, there were those in Israel – like the Pharisees – who thought they could get in touch with God by observing the Law and its rules and regulations.
▪Others, today, attempt to get to God and heaven by killing themselves, because they are promised an instant trip to Paradise.
I’m always taken aback by anyone who thinks all roads lead to God, that all religions are equally valid.
I wonder why anybody believes that about religion. That can’t be true.
II. JESUS THE ONLY WAY
Thomas expressed this despair of the group by saying, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going and how can we possibly know the way to get there?”
Jesus’ reply is personal in that He didn’t just claim to KNOW the way, the truth and the life as a formula He could impart– but He actually claimed to BE the answer to human problems.
Jesus’ solution is not a recipe, it is a RELATIONSHIP with Him.
As we get to know Him better, we develop the trust we need to believe Him.
▪He is the WAY to the Father because He has a knowledge of God, unmarred by human sin.
III. I NEED AND WANT TO KNOW THE WAY.
I have discovered over the years that, for me, the best way is not always my way. The results were not always the best. A lot of people have messed things up doing it their way. How about you?
Jesus said, “I am the way.” He didn’t say “a way.”
▪There was a FINALITY with which He spoke.
▪There was an ABSOLUTE to His expression.
I need to decide if it will be my way or if it will be His way.
▪His, is the way away from sin and guilt.
▪His, is the way toward restoration of all I was created to be.
▪His, is a narrow way; it is not an easy way. (Matthew 7:13-14).
IV. I NEED AND WANT TO KNOW HOW TO CONNECT WITH GOD.
I have discovered that I cannot produce that for myself. It only comes through Jesus Christ.
Jesus said,
▪“I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6).
▪In John 10:30, He states, “I and the Father are one,” and
▪In John 14:9-10, “Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show me the Father?’ Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me?”
Jesus loves us enough to tell it like it is. It is impossible for anyone to have right relationship with the Father, unless it is through Jesus Christ. His atoning work on the cross was designed for all humankind. NO JESUS, NO SALVATION.
APPLICATION
To get to the Father lets:
▪BE AWARE OF HOW YOU ARE LIVING YOUR LIFE.
▪BE AWARE OF WHO IS LEADING YOU
▪BE AWARE OF WHERE YOU ARE LOOKING AT
CONCLUSION
PRECIOUS ONE! Jesus has made His claims. That is settled. What are we going to do with these claims? I am the WAY–the starting point to the Father by simple belief in Him. You’ve got to believe that He IS INDEED the WAY.
Let us come to Him who is the WAY today as Thomas and the other disciples did. STAY BLESSED.
SOON THE STRUGGLE WILL BE OVER. THIS CORO TOO, SHALL PASS.
PREPARED BY
VERY REV. SAMUEL YAW DODD
CALVARY METHODIST CHURCH
ADABRAKA – ACCRA
Thank you very much.God bless you