Sign up to save your podcasts
Or
Share Knowing the Father
Share to email
Share to Facebook
Share to X
Share to email
Share to Facebook
Share to X
Or
Knowing the Father
Shaun Rossi // The Gospel of John
Believing that Jesus is the way, truth & life will offer you access to the gracious Father through Him.
“5 Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” 6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7 If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.” 8 Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.” 9 Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? 10 Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his works. 11 Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else believe on account of the works themselves.”
— John 14:5-11
Sermon OutlineI. Jesus Reveals Our Need for a Saviour vv 5-6
Jesus is the way
Jesus is the truth
Jesus is the life
“For just as the Father has life in Himself, even so He gave to the Son also to have life in Himself.”
— John 5:26
“Eternal life means knowing the only true God and Jesus Christ, whom He sent.”
— John 17:3
II. Jesus Reveals the Way to a Relationship with the Father vv 7-11
“For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form.”
— Colossians 2:9
Living as a Servant in a Pluralistic Age
In age of increased pluralism, how should Christians treat persons of other faiths? Bethany Jenkins in her article “living faithfully in a pluralistic culture” (found at gospelcoalition.com) points out that we should serve them. She writes:
“the gospel, though, gives us the freedom and courage to serve others, not condemn them, because it shatters any sense of pride and arrogance. When we see that Jesus, the King of kings and the Lord of lords, did not grasp for equality with God, but “emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men” (Phil. 2:7) we see that assignment is not about honoring or exalting ourselves, but about serving others (Mark 10:45).”
This means the Gospel enables and even demands Christians to to serve all types of people because, even though our differences may be significant, we do not expect our neighbors to see as we do, because we know that “a person cannot receive even one thing unless it is given him from heaven” (John 3:27).
John Newton, author of the hymn, “Amazon Grace” confirms this:
“He has graciously accommodated himself to my weakness, borne with my mistakes, and helped me through innumerable prejudices, which, but for his mercy, would have been insuperable hindrances: I have therefore no right to be angry, impatient, or censorious, especially as I have still much to learn, and am so poorly influenced by what I seem to know.”
To be clear we should never compromise the exclusivity of Christ (John 14:6) but as we hold fast to our confession we are called to live up to its demands.
Is there only one way?Jesus’ claim to be the way, the truth, and the life, the only way to the Father (verse 6), confronts our relativistic times in two ways: First, there is such a thing as absolute truth in the spiritual realm; second, Jesus only is the absolute truth; all other ways are wrong. People today don’t have a problem if you say that Jesus is a way to God or that you personally believe in Him, as long as you don’t say that all other beliefs are false. But when you claim that Jesus is the exclusive way to God; that He is the only spiritual truth, so that all other beliefs are false; and that He alone can impart eternal life—you will be accused of being intolerant.
To those that will bring this accusation R. C. Sproul (in Tabletalk magazine) points out the following. The notion that all religions are valid is logically impossible because, if all religions are valid, then Christianity is valid. But Jesus said that He is the only way to God, which eliminates all other ways. So either He was right or He was wrong. Sproul concludes, “If He was wrong, then Christianity has no validity at all. If He was right, then there is no other way.”
Back to Bulletin
View all episodes
By United Community ChurchShaun Rossi // The Gospel of John
Believing that Jesus is the way, truth & life will offer you access to the gracious Father through Him.
“5 Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” 6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7 If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.” 8 Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.” 9 Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? 10 Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his works. 11 Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else believe on account of the works themselves.”
— John 14:5-11
Sermon OutlineI. Jesus Reveals Our Need for a Saviour vv 5-6
Jesus is the way
Jesus is the truth
Jesus is the life
“For just as the Father has life in Himself, even so He gave to the Son also to have life in Himself.”
— John 5:26
“Eternal life means knowing the only true God and Jesus Christ, whom He sent.”
— John 17:3
II. Jesus Reveals the Way to a Relationship with the Father vv 7-11
“For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form.”
— Colossians 2:9
Living as a Servant in a Pluralistic Age
In age of increased pluralism, how should Christians treat persons of other faiths? Bethany Jenkins in her article “living faithfully in a pluralistic culture” (found at gospelcoalition.com) points out that we should serve them. She writes:
“the gospel, though, gives us the freedom and courage to serve others, not condemn them, because it shatters any sense of pride and arrogance. When we see that Jesus, the King of kings and the Lord of lords, did not grasp for equality with God, but “emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men” (Phil. 2:7) we see that assignment is not about honoring or exalting ourselves, but about serving others (Mark 10:45).”
This means the Gospel enables and even demands Christians to to serve all types of people because, even though our differences may be significant, we do not expect our neighbors to see as we do, because we know that “a person cannot receive even one thing unless it is given him from heaven” (John 3:27).
John Newton, author of the hymn, “Amazon Grace” confirms this:
“He has graciously accommodated himself to my weakness, borne with my mistakes, and helped me through innumerable prejudices, which, but for his mercy, would have been insuperable hindrances: I have therefore no right to be angry, impatient, or censorious, especially as I have still much to learn, and am so poorly influenced by what I seem to know.”
To be clear we should never compromise the exclusivity of Christ (John 14:6) but as we hold fast to our confession we are called to live up to its demands.
Is there only one way?Jesus’ claim to be the way, the truth, and the life, the only way to the Father (verse 6), confronts our relativistic times in two ways: First, there is such a thing as absolute truth in the spiritual realm; second, Jesus only is the absolute truth; all other ways are wrong. People today don’t have a problem if you say that Jesus is a way to God or that you personally believe in Him, as long as you don’t say that all other beliefs are false. But when you claim that Jesus is the exclusive way to God; that He is the only spiritual truth, so that all other beliefs are false; and that He alone can impart eternal life—you will be accused of being intolerant.
To those that will bring this accusation R. C. Sproul (in Tabletalk magazine) points out the following. The notion that all religions are valid is logically impossible because, if all religions are valid, then Christianity is valid. But Jesus said that He is the only way to God, which eliminates all other ways. So either He was right or He was wrong. Sproul concludes, “If He was wrong, then Christianity has no validity at all. If He was right, then there is no other way.”
Back to Bulletin