This is the second of a series in the Family Talk Blog which considers one or more of the statements in Song Number 194, “I Am The Way.” We began the study of the 14 New Testament verses where Jesus says “I am the way” in John 14:6, ” Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
Quoting from Vincent describing Jesus as the truth – “As being the perfect revelation of God the Father: combining in Himself and manifesting all divine reality, whether in the being, the law, or the character of God. He embodies what men ought to know and believe of God; what they should do as children of God, and what they should be.”
The only being to have ever walked this earth with perfect knowledge of creation, the law given to Moses, the words spoken to the prophets, and the requirements of universal justice was the creator and guide of man, himself being the son of God, Jesus. From Genesis 1:1 to Revelation 22:21, the Bible is the story, both in word and description, of Jesus who is “Both Lord and Christ.” (Acts 2:36)
Every major article of the tabernacle and later the temple, is a picture of the Christ and His Kingdom. In types and analogs, the sacrifices and feasts of the law looked forward to the perfection of the Christ. The Passover was a memorial of judgment, death to evil and life to God’s children. Christ is the true Passover, Eternal life to the saved on eternal punishment to the lost. The Atonement sacrifice provided temporary hiding of sin but Jesus provides complete forgiveness of sin. The curtain in the temple provided limited access to the Mercy Seat of God but Jesus provided access for everyone, at any time, to the throne of God through prayer and the hope of eternity in His presence.
The deliverance of Israel from Egypt and Babylon were shadows of the deliverance from sin and death made real in the death of the Christ.
In writing to the church at Colossae, Paul says this about the Christ. “And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist. And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence. For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell…” (Colossians 1:17-19) The fullness is defined in Colossians 2:9 as “…all the fullness of the Godhead bodily;” All that God is, knows, has done, does, and will do are a part of the truth which is in Jesus the Christ. There is no question about the universe, the earth, people, godliness, salvation or any other subject that is beyond His knowledge. The only omission in His knowledge is the exact time of His return for final judgment (Matthew 24:36).
In His prayer, recorded in (John 17:17) Jesus declares that the only truth is the word of God when He says “Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth.” It is evident that the Spirit through John determined to prove that the truth, which is the word of God, is complete in His son whom He sent to this world. The book of John begins, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.” (John 1:1-3) He further explains in verse 14, “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.”
In talking to the Jews who could not release their traditions for the truth, Jesus said: “I do nothing of Myself; but as My Father taught Me, I speak these things.” (John 8:28). Later, when those looking for the material things He could miraculously do for them, He speaks of the eternal things He could do. “Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set His seal on Him.” (John 6:27) So the miracles were the evidence that Jesus spoke the truth, did the truth, and in all respects, was the truth.
So that we might know Godhood, and specifically God the Father, The Son of God came to earth to explain what was necessary for us to know. Everything that came before was to prepare mankind for the truth which could only come from the mouth of God. Even Moses, who could not see the face of God was told only enough to prepare Israel to serve through physical acts of worship. But God “Who is Spirit must be worshiped in Spirit and in Truth” (John 4:24). So. John in referring to truths about God said in John 1:17-18, “For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.”