Pre-Introductory Message: “The World War on Truth”
Scriptures: Rom 1:25; 1 Tim 3:15
Theme: In the light of the widespread dismissal of revealed truth, those who know
God should renew their confidence in His Word as truth.
Outline:
How can we know what is true? Indeed, is anything “true”?
1. Realize how our world’s view of truth has changed.
No longer a distinct vista, but only diverse viewpoints (there is no
longer anything “out there,” merely differing perceptions.
Common understandings of reality (including those found in the
Bible) are merely the product of those with the most power
2. Recognize the unique person and claims of Christ (John 14:6; cf 1:14; 8:32)
His presence and work utterly transforms the common worldview
within which we live; Christ, by His coming, crucifixion and
resurrection has introduced a transforming element into our
understanding of reality (1 Cor 2:5-8)
3. Renew your confidence in Christ as the personification of truth, and in His
Word as the documentation of truth
Introduction:
Long ago, Pilate asked Jesus, “What is truth?” The question has new urgency in a
world where many traditional associations of the categories right and wrong have
been set aside. In another age, the parental challenge to children, “Be a good boy,”
and “Be a good girl” meant pretty much the same thing in all the houses along the
block and across the city. Not so any more. Not only have the lines between good
and bad become blurred, we are no longer sure if there is such a thing as good and
bad, or truth and error. Instead, all truth, including morality, becomes a matter of
personal preference and perspective. How can we know what is true? Indeed, is
anything “true”?
In a previous era, we assumed that humans, the world and even the whole universe
were out there to be discovered. Accordingly, with a sufficient budget and a smart
research team we could uncover all truth. In the worldview people call
“modernism,” knowledge was something out there to be discovered and truth was
that which corresponds to reality. In the worldview of “post-modernism,”
knowledge is a social construct; it is the way communities of people describe the
world as they experience it. Beyond that, the assumption is that the capacity of the
group to define the world derives not from knowledge or truth, but rather the
power of that community.
You may have heard these things before or not. Yet, in order to fully appreciate how
incredibly significant the Bible is, we need to grasp something of the condition of
our world. Romans 1:25 comes in a middle of a vivid summary that the apostle Paul
gives of this world’s departure from God: Romans 1:25 They exchanged the truth
about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the
Creator—who is forever praised. Amen. The most immediate context is the descent
into sexual sin, especially homosexuality. This isn’t a message about sinful sexual
practices, but it is a message about how our understanding of truth directly
influences how we live and all we do. Particularly, we will learn that when we don’t
fully receive all that God says in His Word, we will soon depart from His ways and
experience all the consequences that come with that. We need a brief exploration of
the mindset of our day. Let’s first,
1. Realize how our world’s view of truth has changed.
We just read, They exchanged the truth about God for a lie… When the Bible uses the
word, “truth,” it means, “that which corresponds to reality.” If you are a Christfollower, you should understand it that way too. Truth is what is, and the truth
about God is what He is truly like – not just what we think about Him.
Yet, that is not the mindset of our world. The French philosopher, Jean-Francois
Lyotard said: “I define postmodern as incredulity toward metanarratives.”
“Incredulity” means non-belief, and meta-narrative essentially means, “big story.”
He was saying, “I reject the notion that there is any big story out there.” How could
someone who is really smart come to such a conclusion? Actually, how could the
prevailing mindset of our entire world come to such a conclusion?
We need a moment to explore another word that has been given a new meaning –
“pluralism.” Pluralism simply means, diversity. We have evident / empirical /
observable pluralism everywhere. You can see it in the people around you, as well
as in all of nature − dogs, frogs, and fruits. You can also find it in cultures, beliefs, and
value systems. But we live in a world that has taken observable pluralism a huge
step further.
A good label for this is “Philosophical pluralism.” This is the view that there is not
just ideological and religious diversity, but that no view can claim superiority over
any others, and that all such claims are necessarily wrong. Thus pluralism itself
becomes the only supreme standard. All truth claims must be judged not on whether
they correspond to reality, but on whether they embrace all other truth claims. If I
claim to have the truth, and I say you don’t, that is interpreted as a power move on
my part to victimize you.
This finds expression in “Pluralism in Religion.” The idea here is that even though
there are real differences among the beliefs of the world’s religious traditions, each
tradition constitutes a fully legitimate means by which its followers can relate to and
experience the Divine. Thus, pluralism in religion declares all religions are true.
Correspondingly, to say that one is superior to others, or offers universal truth to all,
is just a power move, and therefore wrong.
Thus, in today’s worldview, truth is no longer a distinct vista – to be equally
perceived by all. Rather there are only diverse viewpoints. In other words, according
to popular understanding, there is no longer anything “out there,” merely differing
perceptions and experiences. Truth is no longer something external to be
discovered, but merely each person’s and each community’s description of the
world as they experience it. The assumption is that perceptions of reality that
command a following are simply the product of having the most power. Our world
concludes that a Christian understandings of reality including what we would call a
“biblical worldview” is simply because we came out on top. How do we as Christfollowers minister in such a world? How can we affirm the Bible as truth in a world
that rejects the very notion of such a claim? An important first step is to …
2. Recognize the unique person and claims of Christ
The big thing to see here is that Christ’s coming changes everything. The apostle
Paul sought to help the Corinthian believers see that, when he described his
ministry among them: 1 Cor 2:1 … When I came to you, I did not come with eloquence
or human wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. 2 For I resolved to
know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. Here he
echoes what he had already declared as his central mission – to preach the gospel:
1:17 For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel—not with wisdom
and eloquence, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.
He says, I didn’t come to gain a personal following, or to win you over with clever
speech, or compelling eloquence. I didn’t even come to teach you a philosophical
system, or a compilation of human wisdom; I came to present what God has done in
Jesus Christ, and on this earth. God has spoken into this world in the person of
Christ; that is a historical reality. It is verifiable and true, and thus defines our whole
concept of truth.
The Gospel, as its core, is not so much a Christian teaching as a transforming event.
It is about what God did, not just what Jesus taught. What God did in Christ, utterly
transforms the common worldview within which we live; by His coming, crucifixion
and resurrection Jesus the Messiah has introduced a transforming element into our
understanding of reality.
If the death and resurrection of Christ are true events, then Jesus is who He claimed
to be. He is indeed God in human flesh. Therefore what He taught is true. He
declared of Himself: John 14:6 “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes
to the Father except through me.” Jesus gives us no option of seeing Him merely as a
good man or moral teacher. Similarly He gives us no option of our being selective in
what we accept of what He said. So, let’s quickly check out what He said about the
divine authority of the Scriptures.
Jesus repeatedly affirmed both the final authority and the divine origin of Scripture.
For example: Matt. 4:4 Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘People do not live on bread
alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” Jesus declared Matt.
5:18: 18 Truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not
the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is
accomplished. The Scriptures clearly carry with them the authority of God Himself.
He also asserted the ultimate supremacy of God’s Word over all human teaching
about it: Matt. 15:3 Jesus replied, “And why do you break the command of God for the
sake of your tradition?
A final example for our purposes: He identified the Creator-God who spoke
humanity into existence as the same who spoke the Scriptures: Matt 19:4 “Haven’t
you read,” he replied, “that at the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female,’
5 and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his
wife, and the two will become one flesh’? Notice; “the Creator made them … and said.”
There are numerous other examples, but these are sufficient to help us see the
correlation between the divine-human nature of Christ, and the divine-human
character of Scripture.
Recognizing Christ as the Word of God in flesh compels us to see the Scriptures as
the Word of God in written form. Accordingly, what we believe about Jesus Christ
determines what believe about God, about God’s Word, and about the character of
truth. So, what difference does this make? Because of what Christ has done, you can
…
3. Renew your confidence in Christ as the personification of truth, and in His
Word as the documentation of truth
While the truth of all Jesus taught and said about Himself was certainly confirmed
by His miracles, the final confirmation was His resurrection, an event about which
we can be absolutely certain. 1 Cor. 15:20 But Christ has indeed been raised from the
dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. 21 For since death came through a
human being, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a human being.
The reality of Christ’s resurrection sheds a bright light into His true identity as the
God-Man as well as onto everything He said. Only Jesus regularly prefaced His
statements with the unique word “Amen” traditionally rendered “Verily,” or more
commonly now, “Truly.” (30 times in Mt., 13 in Mk. and 6 in Lk). The word comes
from a Hebrew original that emphasizes firmness, security, and that which provides
reliable support. Used by God’s people, it expresses affirmation, in the sense, “So be
it.” However, it looks first to the God whose word is secure, because His sovereignty
is unassailable. John, in his account often records Jesus repeating the Amen
(rendered “Verily, verily,” or “Very truly”). It is appropriate to see here, Jesus
identifying Himself with ancient name “I AM” and saying in effect, “I who am the
Amen [Truth itself] tell you as a most certain and infallible truth.”
The Gospel writer John who heard Jesus speak this way recognized that what Jesus
did directs our attention into the identity of Christ and back into the very nature of
reality. John 1: 1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the
Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were
made; without him nothing was made that has been made.
If the only reality is observable elements and all events are random interactions of
mass and energy, then truth is only what I perceive. But if before all time, before this
universe existed, there was a Creator-God, then there is a reality outside what I can
observe. There’s more. Not only is there a Creator-God, but with God there was One
who was God, this One John calls the Word. He is the One through whom all things
were made. And He is the One who (John 1:14) became flesh and made his dwelling
among us. He is not, as our Muslim friends conceive, detached, remote and ruling by
His unassailable will, but rather We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only
⌈ Son⌉ , who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
As Heb 10:35 reminds us, “Don’t throw away your confidence.” Renew your
confidence, first in Christ as the personification of truth. He is the Lord of all, who
made us, died for us, and now lives to intercede for us. And we wait to see Him as He
is and be with Him forever. But, for now, He has given us His Word. So let us renew
our confidence in His Word as the documentation of truth. I love Deut 29:29:
The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things revealed belong to us and
to our children forever, that we may follow all the words of this law. We get reminded
there are lots of things we cannot know – perhaps especially things such as “Why
did this happen to me? Why did my baby die? Why did dad get cancer?” But there is
a vast compilation of things we do know, a treasury from God’s mind and heart to
ours. We can know beyond all doubt it is true – because Jesus, God’s Son has
authenticated its truth. Of course, it is not just ours to learn, but ours to love, and
above all, to live.