Title: The Way I Go
Contents
the way i go
John 14:1 - 6
Sometimes when you go to church when you are asked to preach, you don't know how frustrating it can be if you don't know the way. I check the route in advance and look at the map several times, but when I actually go there, there are always parts where I am hesitant as to whether I should go this way or that way. Choosing where to turn the steering wheel is not easy because if you go wrong, you have to go back the way you came. Unfortunately, there are many times when you have to make such a decision momentarily in order not to interfere with traffic, so there are many times when you decide and go, ‘Oh, this is not the way. Even if you leave with plenty of time, by the time you arrive, there are many cases where you barely make it in time.
It's frustrating and hesitant when you don't know the way. But where is the road only talking about the way we travel? We're not just talking about walking and driving roads. Isn't life itself the way we live? What if you feel frustrated and anxious even though you don't know the way you are walking, but you don't know where your life is going or where you need to go? So, it is said that an ancient philosopher walked around with a lamp on even in broad daylight. He did not know which way he was going, so he kept a lamp on even in broad daylight to find his way.
How could he not know the way he was walking? He must have visited his house and his lectures dozens or hundreds more times. It wasn't that he didn't know the way, it was a kind of performance for those who saw him. ‘Do you know where you are going now?’ Well, maybe there is a message like this?
That's right. We need to know where our lives are going now.
This is a story that people who have such troubles must hear. We are talking about the path our life should take. Today, I hope that you and I can clearly confirm this path and go now with unwavering confidence.
■ First, the way is none other than the way to believe in God.
It is clearly presented in the part where Jesus talks about the way. It means to believe in God.
Guys, life must go the way of believing in God. There is no other way than that. No other way gives us the true meaning of life. It is the only way to perish forever. We must all go on the path of trusting God.
But the problem is that it is difficult to know what kind of way to believe in God is. No one has ever seen God.
You say you know God, but what about that knowledge? In fact, it is extremely limited. No matter how much you know, you only know a very small part of God. Knowing the invisible God is not easy.
Think of the Israelites in the wilderness. Has there ever been a people like them who have been led by God so intensely? Is there any other nation that has experienced God's direct work as much as they did? There is not. In that sense, they are a blessed nation.
But what does the nation of Israel, who were guided by God so intensely, show us? Isn't that betraying God and forgetting God when the time is right? Why were they killed by fiery serpents in the wilderness? Why did they have to be killed when they were rolled into the ground in the wilderness? It is because they doubted the God who works powerfully, and they began to have unbelief in that God.
However, the lesson for the Israelites who experienced God's meticulous touch directly and historically is that it is not easy to believe in an invisible God no matter how much guidance they receive. There are many times when we stumble because God is invisible. It is believing in an invisible God and continuing to go the wrong way. That is why God sent Jesus.
In order to have unwavering faith in the invisible God, the Son, the second God, came to this earth in human form, that is, as a person who can be seen, touched, and directly communicated with.
Jesus existed on this earth in the form of a true man and true God at the same time. The disciples could touch Jesus. We could talk together. We ate food together. And by living together, he set an example for living in the kingdom of God. God, whom we can no longer doubt, has seen, heard, and touched is on this earth.
See today's text. Are you not saying that the way to believe in God is none other than to believe in Jesus? Jesus came to this earth to make our faith in the invisible God stronger and more unwavering. And Jesus himself speaks. “Believe in God, believe also in me” (verse 1).
This means that believing in God and believing in Jesus are the same thing. In fact, the story that has continued since then emphasizes it. What do you say to Philip when he asks to see God? Doesn't it say, "To see me is to see the Father"?
That's right. The path we are taking is clear. The way we go is the way we believe in God, the way we believe in Jesus. It is not easy to believe in an invisible God.
But we can trust and believe in the invisible God. He came to this earth in the form of Himself to be seen. That is Jesus. Even after 2,000 years, we clearly know what the life of Jesus is through the Bible. So we can see the Lord saying this again. “Where I am going you will know the way” (verse 4).
Our Bible (the New Testament) is somewhat ambiguous because it is expressed in the future tense. However, if you interpret this part in the present continuous tense (Revision Bible), your understanding will become clear. The disciples clearly know the way the Lord is going. Because that's the path we've seen so far.
If we apply this word to us, it means that we can know the way we are going because we also saw Jesus through the word. The way Jesus went should be our way.
Beloved, do you not know where your life should go? Like some ancient philosopher, do you try to light a lamp in broad daylight because you do not know where the path of truth is? No, are you so frustrated? The only way is to believe in God. And that path is the path that Jesus clearly showed us. All you have to do is follow Jesus and follow that path. To believe in Jesus is to believe in God. We have only this way.
■ Second, sometimes the road is not visible.
what do you mean? They said that all you have to do is believe in Jesus.
That's right, of course. However, there are times when the path feels vague. We are