THE TRUTH

let it go. Turn away and slam the door. I don't care what they're going to say. Let the storm

rage on. The cold never bothered me anyway. It's funny how some distance makes everything seem

small and the fears that once controlled me can't get to me at all. It's time to see what I can do

to test the limits and break through. No wrong, no wrong, sorry, no right, no wrong, no rules for me,

I'm free. Now for those who aren't familiar with those words, it's probably because you don't have

young children and specifically young girls. They are some of the lyrics from the song Let It Go

in the Disney movie Frozen. It won the 2013 Oscar for the best original song. It's sung by a character

in the movie, determined to no longer be the good girl that her family and her society want her to be.

Instead, she would let go and she would express what she'd been holding back inside all this time

and she declares that there's no right, no wrong, no rules for her anymore and now she will be truly free.

That definition of total individual freedom is not just Disney philosophy 101.

The Supreme Court of the United States declared this in one judgment on abortion where it said,

at the heart of freedom is the right to define one's own concept of existence or meaning of the universe

and of the mystery of human life.

In other words, that view, relative worldview declares that there is no such thing as universal truth

that all people have to agree with or have applied on their life.

Truth is what you make of it.

It's whatever's right for you is the relative worldview

and it's the common worldview in our society.

Any form of absolute truth is regarded as ultimate bondage

and especially religious truth

and especially in our country, Christianity and its truth is particularly stifling

because it's been tried for a couple of centuries and been found wanting.

So American pastor Tim Keller wrote this,

the late modern mind presents itself like this,

we have come to realize that we don't need God to explain the world we see,

science does that job for us.

We don't need God or religion to be moral, to love and work for a better world

or to have meaning and fulfillment in it, fulfillment in life.

What we need is to be free to live life as we see fit

and to work together to make the world a better and more just place to live.

And religion gets in the way of all of this.

It constrains our freedom to live as we wish

and it divides us so that we cannot work together.

That's the world in which we speak into and the Christian faith speaks into.

Universal truth is seen as being oppressive,

relative truth for each individual.

You make up what is right and wrong for you and live accordingly.

That's regarded as true liberation.

It's one of the highest values, if not the highest value of our culture.

And yet, it is totally unlivable.

The Supreme Court in the United States will make that declaration in one case,

but it will oppose a standard of truth in every case.

It's based on the Constitution of the United States.

The citizens of the United States are not free to live however they want, whenever they want.

The law courts will see to it that's not the case.

The law courts will make that declaration in one case.

Exclusively the way, exclusively the truth, exclusively the life.

And so Jesus does what's unacceptable in our society.

He makes exclusive claims.

But as we saw last week, everyone is making exclusive claims.

To state that all truth is relative,

and that there is no such thing as universal truth,

is in fact an exclusive claim in itself.

It claims to have the sole truth,

and that is that all truth is relative.

And so the question is,

which truth is ultimately liberating?

Which truth is the liberating truth?

And so my hope for this series is for the thinkers amongst us to be led to belief in Jesus,

and for the believers amongst us to think a little bit deeper about what it is that we believe.

And our focus today is the second one of those truth claims of Jesus,

that is that he is the truth,

the exclusive truth,

the truth that is applicable for all people and all times.

And there are three main points.

What is truth?

A truth that sets you free,

and discovering truth and freedom.

That's my three main points today.

So first of all,

let's start at the beginning of this Christian worldview of what is truth.

And right at the very beginning is where it starts to be laid out for us.

Genesis 1 verse 1 makes a very significant point

Genesis 1:1

that there is no reality that existed before God.

It says,

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

Now the earth was formless and empty.

That is,

before creation,

before the universe was banged into existence by God,

God was.

He existed outside of everything that's created.

He stands outside of all created things.

And he spoke,

according to the Bible,

the universe into existence.

He speaks,

and he creates history.

He doesn't create,

just interpret reality and interpret history.

He creates reality,

and he creates history.

That's what happens when God speaks.

And this God,

as creator,

is the one who defines all things,

because he is ultimate reality,

because he stands outside of all things.

Therefore,

he is ultimate.

Reality is created,

it's determined,

and it's defined by this God.

And so the absolute,

the absoluteness of God,

his existence,

is totally incredible for us

to consider.

A God who never had a beginning,

never ending,

never becoming,

never improving,

simply and absolutely there to be dealt with on his terms,

or not at all.

That's the absoluteness of God.

When he speaks,

he reveals reality.

He reveals things the way they actually are.

They are.

And Psalm 119,

Psalms 119:160

verse 160,

says this about God when he speaks,

all your words are true,

all your righteous laws are eternal.

What,

to take a shortcut here,

what Psalm 160 is saying,

is that the sum total

of everything that God reveals

is true.

The sum total of it is true.

It's truth.

But notice the second part of it,

in verse 160,

all your righteous laws are eternal.

And it says this various ways,

from 155 to 160.

It's not just that the sum total is truth.

That is,

it's not just the vibe of the word of God,

which is true.

It's all the individual parts are true.

Every part is true.

Even the bits that we don't like,

the little parts that we want to ignore,

are true.

It is reality revealed.

So the whole and the parts are all true.

They are true because when God,

who is ultimate reality,

speaks,

he reveals things the way they actually are.

Truth is when reality,

God,

and the communication of reality

are in aligned with one another.

That's what truth is.

It's when reality and the communication of reality

are in alignment with one another.

The opposite of truth is lies.

And lies are when reality

and what's communicated about that

don't align with one another.

And we all,

hopefully we all get a sense within us

when we get this feeling

when someone's lying to us.

Because what's being communicated to us

and what we perceive

to be right

don't seem to align.

When God speaks,

he always reveals reality.

And as finite human beings

who have a beginning

and who have an end,

we have no ability

to discover the full picture of reality.

You see,

when I think someone's lying to me,

my perception is that they're lying to me,

but my perception may be wrong.

Not with God.

The creator God

has to reveal

the way things actually are.

because that is who he is.

He can only ever reveal reality.

And that's exactly what he says he's done.

And in fact,

this is the unique claim

of the Christian faith

that we looked at last week.

How do we know

the unknowable?

How do we know

the unknowable?

Well,

the unknowable

has come to us.

It's what

John chapter 1

John 1 · chapter mention

affirms.

In the beginning

was the word.

That is,

this is a reference

back to Genesis chapter 1.

Genesis 1 · chapter mention

In the beginning

was the word.

That is,

he existed before everything

was made.

And the word was with God.

And the word was God.

And he was with God

in the beginning.

Through him,

that's through the word,

all things were made.

Again,

back there,

Genesis chapter 1 verse 1.

Genesis 1:1

And without him,

nothing was made

that has been made.

So this word

was the creator

who existed

before all things

and is God.

And then down

into verse 14

of John 1,

we see something startling.

the word

became flesh

and made his dwelling

amongst us.

We have seen

his glory,

the glory

of the one and only,

that is,

the glory of God

who came from the Father

full of grace

and truth.

And so you ask yourself

the question,

who is verse 14

talking about?

Who is this one

who is God

who existed

before creation,

who created everything,

who is full of grace

and truth?

Verse 17.

For the law

was given

through Moses,

grace and truth

came through Jesus Christ.

Where reality,

the way things

actually are

and the representation

of reality,

the communication

of that reality

so that we can see reality

come together

in the most profound sense

is in the person

of Jesus Christ.

that's the unique

claim of Christianity.

Jesus

is to God

what a photo

of me

is to me.

Now,

I could run a competition

for us here this morning

and ask you all,

hand out pieces of paper,

some colouring pencils

and stuff

and what I'm going

to get you to do

is I'm going

to get you all

to draw

and colour in a picture

of what I look like

as a four-year-old

and some of us

are going to come up

with better versions

of that

and I will love you

for that

and some of you

are going to come up

with totally wrong versions

and we could all

have a competition,

we could all put them

all up here on the board

and then judge the competition

and see who's got

the best example

of what I look like

as a four-year-old

and there might be

a whole bunch

of similarities

in those pictures

but the only way,

the only way

that we could end speculation

as to who is right

is by producing a photo.

Thank you.

Thank you for those

who immediately went,

oh,

I appreciate that.

That's the only way

to end speculation

is to produce the photo

and that is what Jesus says

he has done

with ultimate reality.

He's revealed things

the way they actually are

by showing us reality.

He shows us God

and ultimate reality

and what he does

is he shows us truth.

That's why he claims

this astounding,

profound claim.

I am the way.

I am the truth.

He doesn't just speak the truth.

He doesn't just reveal the truth.

I am the truth.

I am reality

and the communication

of that reality

at one and the same time.

And I am the life

and no one comes to the Father

except through me.

And so the most ultimate reason

why Jesus could say

that he was the truth

is because he is the God.

He doesn't just communicate

a message from God.

He doesn't just speak the truth

although he does speak the truth.

He is God.

He is the communication

of God to us.

He is truth.

And as I said,

the place where ultimate reality

and the representation

or communication

of ultimate reality

come together

in the most profound sense

is the person

of Jesus Christ.

And what Jesus does

at a number of points

as the word of God

who came to dwell amongst us

is what he does

is he confirms

and affirms consistently

that the historical

Christian scriptures

as being the self-revelation

of God.

He does that consistently.

Luke 24 he does it

where he goes along

walks the road to Emmaus

and he shows the disciples

how all the scriptures

point to him.

He confirms it as truth

that accurately represent reality

the way things actually are.

So the 66 books of the Bible

with Jesus at the centre

is truth.

That's why we got our

core value in this church

a Christ-centred Bible saturation.

Jesus declares it as truth

and therefore the authority

by which all things are measured.

The Bible is where God speaks

what is real and absolute

and therefore what is true

and the Bible is where we meet Jesus

it's where we meet reality

it's where we meet God.

The Bible is the way God

the ultimate

all important reality

reveals himself to us

with clarity

and authority

today.

And so if God is more important

than anything

then the Bible is more important

than anything but God.

It's why we have this core value

at St. Paul's.

The God who made everything

the God who controls everything

has a purpose for everything

this God

has spoken to us

with absolute clarity

and authority.

2 Timothy 3.16 says

all scripture is God breathed

and is therefore useful

for teaching

rebuking, correcting

and training in righteousness.

God breathed

literally

it came out

of his mouth.

in what God

has revealed

to us

we are not left

without a knowledge

of his will

we are not left

without a knowledge

of him

at work

in his world

we are not left

without wisdom

we are not left

without a revelation

of the way

of salvation

and friends

if we could

awaken our hearts

and our minds

with absolute confidence

that this is so

just imagine

how we would

navigate

the complexities

of life

and its millions

of absolute truth claims

that we face

day by day.

The Bible

is God's provision

for us

it is sufficient

for life

and for faith.

So secondly

why would we

or our society

want to know

this truth?

Why would we

want to know

this truth?

Because

the truth

sets you free.

That's why.

Jesus said

an astounding thing

in John's gospel

he says

if you hold

to my teaching

you are really

my disciples

then you will

know the truth

and the truth

will set you free.

See the connection

there between

truth

conformity

to the truth

and liberty

and freedom.

Know Jesus

treasure Jesus

and you will know

true and enduring

freedom.

And I take it

that everyone

sitting in this room

wants to be free.

free.

I mean free

in the deepest

fullest sense.

If the opposite

of course

of freedom

is bondage

and slavery

I'm just assuming

no one here

wants that.

I'm just

I don't need

to do a poll

at all

I just assume

no one wants

that kind of

kind of life.

All of us

would rather

be happy

in freedom

than enslaved

to even

the most pleasant

of addictions.

we all

want to be

truly

free.

And yet

what our society

claims

is that

absolute truth

leads to bondage.

What Jesus

claims

is truth

leads to

freedom.

And Jesus

makes this

walloping

statement

in John

8.

If you

hold to

my teaching

you are

really my

disciples

then you

will know

the truth

and the

truth

will set

you free.

And so

people

who heard

Jesus

say that

in the

first century

just as

some of us

might say

it right

now

Jesus

what are

you talking

about?

You know

we are

already

free

we don't

need you

to free

us

we're

already

free

in fact

they answered

him

we are

Abraham's

descendants

and have

never been

slaves of

anyone

how can

you say

that we

shall be

set free?

You're not

offering us

anything here

Jesus

is what

they're

saying to

him

and what

Jesus

says is

you're

thinking

about

one

aspect

of

freedom

but

Jesus

is

thinking

about

something

totally

different

something

more

important

something

they

can't

see

and so

Jesus

immediately

clarifies

what

he

chooses

to set

them

free

from

I

tell you

the truth

anyone

who

sins

is a

slave

to

sin

Jesus

is saying

that

everyone

sins

and

therefore

everyone

is enslaved

to sin

and

when

you

use

your

freedom

when

you

use

your

individual

freedom

to pursue

your

personal

desires

at the

cost

of

God

that

sin

and

while

it

might

be

exhilarating

for a

moment

it

leads

to

bondage

that's

what

he's

saying

this

means

here

that

sin

is

not

just

a

bad

act

sin

is

in

fact

a

power

over

our

hearts

over

our

lives

that

makes

us

do

bad

acts

and

sets

us

against

God

and

other

people

there

are

many

many

kinds

of

freedoms

that

we

can

make

for

ourselves

but

this

is

one

freedom

that

we

cannot

make

for

ourselves

this

slavery

is

too

deep

this

slavery

is

too

all

encompassing

and

all

entangling

sin

enslaves

us

by

making

anything

and

everything

look

more

desirable

than

knowing

Jesus

it

also

enslaves

us

by

eventually

damning

us

forever

and

it

enslaves

unless

someone

or

something

intervenes

which

is what

Jesus

says

in

verse

36

if the

son

sets

you

free

you'll

be

free

indeed

the

son

who

is

Jesus

is

Jesus

talking

about

himself

here

the

son

of

God

who

is

Jesus

who

is

the

truth

who

sets

free

in

verse

32

is

the

son

who

sets

free

in

verse

36

he

frees

us

from

the

damnation

of

slavery

by

becoming

damned

for

us

in

his

death

on

the

cross

as

our

substitute

he

frees

us

from

the

dominion

of

sin

over

our

hearts

by

changing

our

hearts

to

see

him

as

more

desirable

than

anything

we

become

truly

free

to

be

who

we

are

who

we

are

made

to

be

to

love

him

and

to

love

others

so

if

the

son

sets

you

free

you

are

free

indeed

so

let me

give

you

a

definition

of

full

and

complete

freedom

you

are

fully

free

when

you

have

the

desire

the

ability

and

the

opportunity

to

do

what

will

leave

you

with

no

regrets

forever

you

are

fully

free

when

you

have

the

desire

the

ability

and

the

opportunity

to

do

what

will

leave

you

with

no

regrets

forever

so

firstly

if

you

don't

have

the

desire

to

do

a

particular

thing

you're

not

fully

free

to

do

it

because

more

than

likely

you're

being

forced

to

do

something

you

don't

want

to

do

so

if

you

have

the

desire

to

do

something

but

no

ability

to

do

it

you

can't

do

it

so

you're

clearly

not

free

to

do

it

but

if

you

have

the

desire

to

do

something

the

ability

to

do

something

but

no

opportunity

to

do

it

again

you

can't

do

it

so

you're

not

free

to

do

it

but

if

you

have

the

desire

to

do

something

the

ability

to

do

something

the

opportunity

to

do

it

but

doing

it

destroys

you

then

you're

not

fully

free

if

it

destroys

you

in

the

end

you're

not

free

doesn't

lead

to

liberty

leads

to

bondage

to

let's

let me

get

slightly

practical

here

for a

moment

let's

talk

about

parachuting

you

make it

to the

airport

without

having

an

accident

in

the

car

tick

that

box

you

now

have

the

freedom

of

opportunity

you've

done

the

classes

you

know

how

to

jump

out

of

an

airplane

and

to

pull

a

rip

cord

tick

that

box

you

now

have

the

freedom

of

ability

you're

up in

the

plane

you

look

out

the

door

and

you

just

can't

wait

to

jump

tick

that

box

you

have

the

freedom

of

desire

that's

because

you're

not

frozen

with

fear

when

you

look

out

the

door

and

so

you

jump

and

as

you

free

fall

you

are

enjoying

every

moment

of

this

unbeknownst

to

you

that

your

parachute

is

in

fact

defective

and

it's

not

going

to

open

on

you

no

matter

what

you

do

and

it's

not

a

tanned

jump

are

you

fully

free

are

you

free

indeed

for

about

30

seconds

or so

what

you

are

doing

so

happily

so

freely

will

kill

you

you

don't

know

it

but

the

moment

you

jumped

out

of

that

plane

you

are

in

fact

enslaved

to

destruction

you

don't

know

it

but

you

are

there

is

no

way

to

help

you

from

that

moment

you're

now

enslaved

to

destruction

you're

oblivious

but

in

just

a

matter

of

time

you'll

find

out

it

feels

like

freedom

right

up

until

that

moment

when

you

pull

the

rip

cord

and

in

that

moment

all

of

the

exhilaration

will

prove

to be

an

illusion

it

will

all

the

exhilaration

will

just

go

it's

now

fear

and

the

realization

you

are

now

enslaved

to

death

to

be

fully

free

we

must

have

the

desire

the

ability

and

the

opportunity

to

do

what

makes

us

happy

forever

no

regrets

it

will

never

come

back

and

it

will

never

bite

us

that's

what

Jesus

promises

us

and

it

is

utter

foolishness

for

Christians

to

envy

the

so-called

freedom

of

those

who

jump

out

of

the

airplane

of

self

preoccupation

and

sin

and

revel

for a

season

in the

exhilaration

of

free

fall

of

greed

and

free

fall

of

fame

the

free

fall

of

sex

the

free

fall

of

power

the

free

fall

of

comfort

and

holiday

homes

and

travel

and

free

fall

of

adventure

fall

of

security

oblivious

to

Jesus

all

this

so-called

freedom

is the

exact

opposite

of

God's

design

for

humanity

and

it

is

a

vapor

only

Jesus

the

son

of

God

who

died

and

rose

again

to

life

can

set

us

free

and

make

us

live

happily

forever

only

Jesus

that's

the

truth

that

will

set

us

free

and

to

be

happy

forever

all

of

our

sins

must

be

forgiven

and

God's

wrath

must

be

removed

and

Christ

must

become

our

supreme

treasure

our

supreme

desire

Jesus

has

already

done

it

he

died

on

a

cross

he

absorbed

God's

wrath

and

he

rose

from

the

dead

and

is

today

supremely

precious

if

the

son

sets

you

free

you'll

be

free

indeed

so

one last

thing

for those

of us

who have

embraced

Jesus

as

the

way

the

truth

and

life

and

as

a

church

we're

in

the

middle

of

mission

month

and

we

want

people

all

over

this

world

to

come

and

know

this

freedom

that's

in

the

truth

in

Jesus

so

how

is

how's

it going

to happen

in our

society

like ours

that has

rejected

Christianity

and is

addicted

to relative

truth

and the

belief

of the

sovereign

self

that each

one of us

is in

ruler of

our own

individual

lives

and we

choose

our own

way

how does

this message

of exclusive

claim of

Jesus

trump

every

other

exclusive

claim

2

Corinthians

4

gives

me

the

answer

to

that

in

2

Corinthians

4

in

verse

4

it

says

that

all

people

are

blinded

to

the

truth

of

the

gospel

blinded

to

the

glory

and

the

truth

of

Jesus

Christ

by

ourselves

we

simply

cannot

and

we

will

not

see

the

truth

it's

a

matter

of

the

will

of

our

lives

to

say

I

will

not

accept

this

truth

verse

6

in

2

Corinthians

4

says

that

the

God

who

created

all

things

at

the

beginning

in

Genesis

Genesis 1 · chapter mention

chapter

1

shines

light

into

our

blindness

into

our

dark

hearts

and

when

he

does

that

darkness

is

pushed

out

and

we

see

Jesus

for

who

he

is

we

trust

him

and

we

have

freedom

verse

4

verse

6

blindness

sight

darkness

light

verse

5

is

right

in

the

middle

and

that's

the

means

that

God

uses

to

take

us

from

darkness

to

light

this

is

what

it

says

what

we

preach

is

not

ourselves

but

Jesus

Christ

as

Lord

and

ourselves

as

your

servants

for

Jesus

sake

that's

the

means

the

means

God

uses

to

take

people

from

a

relative

truth

to

the

truth

of

Jesus

and

see

him

as

glorious

and

right

and

true

and

needs

to

be

embraced

for

my

freedom

is

the

proclamation

that

Jesus

is

Lord

of

the

universe

he

is

who

he

says

he

is

he

is

God

he

is

true

he

is

the

master