Title: Jesus is the visible truth
Contents
The content of the text is 1 John 1:1-4.
What is truth? As I studied the contents of the Korean dictionary, I summarized it into three things: ① The true principle ② The fundamental principle of all things in the universe ③ It was a valid perception that everyone could sympathize with. This is not a correct understanding, as unbelievers do not know what truth is and treat truth as something similar to or identical to reason.
The truth that the Bible speaks of is “it is more than reason, it is the life, the power, and the ruling essence of all things while being above reason.” Since truth is the life and essence of creation,
First, it must remain unchanged.
The principles, laws, traditions, knowledge, and culture of the world can change, but the truth does not change. New clothes and new houses become dirty, old, and rotten with the passage of time, but the truth is neither corrupt nor defiled.
Ecclesiastes 1:9 says, “What has been will be again, and what has been done will be done again later. There is nothing new under the sun.” What remains the same? In James 1:17, “God does not change, nor does the shadow of turning change.” Hallelujah! Only God the Creator is unchanging. Therefore, God is the truth. You are the essence of truth.
Second, truth must be eternal.
It is not the truth to be and not to exist. The world also existed from the time God created it, and when the purpose of creation is fulfilled, its existence ceases to exist, so it says, “The heavens departed like a rolling axis of paper, and each mountain and island was removed from their place” (Rev 6:14). )
In Exodus 3:14, God says “I am”. The self is eternal from eternity to eternity; therefore, only God is eternal and eternal in Himself. Therefore, the word that proceeds from his mouth is eternal. Matthew 24:35 “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.” Jesus Christ, who became flesh, is eternal. In Hebrews 13:8, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.” The Holy Spirit, the Comforter, who came in the name of Jesus, is also eternal. Matthew 28:20 “Teach them to observe all that I have commanded you. Behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Come as the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, and be with us. John 16:7 “Nevertheless, I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; the Counselor will not come to you unless I go away; but if I go, I will send him to you.”
Dear brothers and sisters, God is the invisible truth, and Jesus is the visible truth. Because God is truth, ① His Word is the truth (John 17:17 “Sanctify them by the truth, your word is truth.”) ② Jesus who became flesh is the truth (John 14:6 “ I am the way, the truth, and the life.”) ③ The Holy Spirit who came in the name of Jesus is the truth. (John 15:26 “When the Spirit of truth comes…” , John 16:13 “When the Spirit of truth comes…”)
God, who is truth, is spirit.
Spirit cannot see. There is one who made the invisible God visible, and that is Jesus Christ. That is why Jesus clearly declares it in John 6:63. “It is the Spirit that gives life; the flesh is of no avail. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and are life.”
“Lord! May my spirit live by your word.” Jesus is the truth. The Word of truth, the Spirit, and the life became flesh. That Jesus came to this world as the Word of God that was in God's bosom and became God's only begotten Son and our Savior. His greatness lies in the truth that, although his death on the cross, he revealed to us through the incarnation God, the Spirit, the invisible God, and the Word, God. So Philip asks Jesus in John 14:8. “Lord, show us the Father, and it will be enough.” In John 14:9, Jesus said, “Philip, I have been with you for so long, and do you not know me? He who has seen me has seen the Father, so why show the Father? Do you?” he says. Today's text explains three main things about Jesus, the visible truth, who showed us the invisible Heavenly Father.
1) Jesus is the word of life from the beginning (1:15) “About the word of life that was from the beginning” It was translated as “before it was created” and the New Translation of the Bible is translated as “from the beginning”. A similar expression is Genesis 1:1 “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” John 1:1-3 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning, and all things were made through him, and without him nothing was made that was made.”
Jesus is ① the Word of God. ② This is the Word that existed before the creation of heaven and earth. ③ It is the Word that created heaven and earth. ④ It is the word that gives life.
2) Jesus is the visible God made flesh (John 1:2)
3) Jesus is the Lord of eternal life (1 John 1:2) “We have seen this eternal life...”
John 10:10 “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life and have it more abundantly.”
1 Corinthians 15:45 “As it is written, The first man Adam became a living spirit, so the last Adam became a life-giving spirit.”
Dear members of Suwon Shepherd Church, I pray for the blessing of knowing God through Jesus Christ and possessing eternal life. Amen