Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man comes to the Father, but by me” (John 14:6). Jesus Christ is not just a prophet pointing out the way; He is the way. He is not just a teacher teaching the truth: He is the truth. He is not a philosopher explaining life: He is life. Apart from Him there is no way to God. No one will ever come to know God through a personal encounter with the dead founders of other religions, such as the founder of Islam—Mohammed, the founder of Buddhism—Buddha, or the founder of Confucianism—Confucius. Instead, the only way to an experiential knowledge of God is through a personal relationship with the risen, living Lord Jesus Christ.

Truth is not a certain ideology or philosophy. It is not the compilation of scientific facts and data. Truth is a man, Jesus Christ. It is coming to know the truth; that is, coming to know Jesus Christ, that makes men free (John 8:32). When Christ makes us free we are “free indeed” (John 8:36). We are free to be all that God created us to be, free to do all that God created us to do, and free to live as God created us to live.

The Apostle Paul wrote to the Colossian Christians about the divine mystery that had been hidden from past ages and generations, but which God now wanted revealed to all men everywhere (Colossians 1:26-27). What was the great mystery that God called Paul to unveil? It was simply this: “Christ in you, the hope of glory.” The Greek word for “glory” means becoming what something was created or meant to be. The only hope any of us have of ever being what God created us to be is if the resurrected Christ lives in us in the person of the Holy Spirit. Only the indwelling Christ can enable and empower us to live the lives God means for us to live and to do the things God means for us to do.

With Christ standing before him, Pontius Pilate asked the question: “What is truth?” (John 18:38). Like Pilate, most people today would not recognize the truth even if it was standing right in front of them. As far as they are concerned truth is relative, it differs from individual to individual and changes from day to day. What is your truth may not be my truth and what is truth today may not be truth tomorrow. The absolute truth of Jesus Christ is therefore inconceivable to those blinded by today’s relativism.

Jesus said, “As my Father has sent me, even so I send you” (John 20:21). Why did the Father send Jesus into the world? According to Jesus, it was to “bear witness to the truth” (John 18:37). Why has Jesus sent us into the world? It is for the same reason the Father sent Him, to bear “witness to the truth.” The church’s presence in this world is for the sole purpose of proclaiming the absolute truth of Jesus Christ.

Proclaiming the truth to a lost and dying world will prove to be no more popular today than it was in Jesus’ day. The preaching of the cross has always been and will always be an “offense” (Galatians 5:11). There is no possibility of Christians palling with the world while preaching the gospel within it. Today’s church should therefore discontinue its foolish efforts at befriending a world at enmity with Christ.

Although the church should give up on befriending the world, the saints should never give up on befriending sinners. Jesus was called a friend of sinners (Matthew 11:19). There is no better way to lead a sinner to find a friend in Jesus than for them to first find a friend in you. Still, the church should once and for all give up on the notion of being embraced by a world at enmity with God.

  Jesus forewarned His followers to expect the same treatment from this fallen world that He received (John 15:18-21). The Apostle Paul taught that the only thing true Christians can count on in this world is persecution, not popularity (2 Timothy 3:12). Any Christian bearing witness to the absolute truth of Jesus Christ will surely suffer the ire of today’s relativists.

To suggest that we Christians are the sole stewards of absolute truth is totally intolerable in today’s politically correct world. To even hint at such a thing leads to our being condemned by today’s thought police for the crime of intolerance. Intolerance, once defined as denying everyone a right to their opinion, is now an accusation leveled against anyone who denies that every opinion is equally right.

Ironically, the only hope for our lost and dying world is the truth of the Gospel, which the world persecutes the church for preaching. Our love for the lost translates itself into our proclaiming of “Jesus Christ and Him crucified” (1 Corinthians 2:2). In response to our labor of love on their behalf the lost repay us with condemnation. Interestingly, that’s the same way the world repaid Christ’s love; it condemned Him to death on a cruel Roman cross. No wonder the Bible teaches that we share in the sufferings of Christ and are actually completing what remains of them for a lost and dying world (1 Peter 4:13, Colossians 1:24).   

Are you willing to suffer for Christ because of your witness to the truth?

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